All About Potty Training

Potty training made for an interesting time in our household. It's always exciting to see your children get to the age when they are ready to be trained. I like to think it's because they are getting older and it is one of the first of many accomplishments you will see your children have. Actually, it because you know that it is one less bill you have, the diaper bill, and one less chore....changing the diaper. Still, the excitement of watching your children grow up is invaluable.

Having three children, our approach to potty training has been different for each. Being new parents we felt it was our duty to make sure our daughter was able to go the bathroom at an early age. She got the concept pretty quickly. It was amazing to see how excited our daughter was the first times going to the potty. We made sure she knew she was doing a good thing with plenty of praise and high fives from us. Even though we worked towards training our child we made sure it was an enjoyable experience.

With our second child, we were a little more relaxed. We remembered how hard it was on us to get the eldest to the potty on time every time. This time it was actually easier. We were less stressed because we refused to stress ourselves out and we had a very ambitious learner this time around. She followed her older sister around and wanted to do everything her older sister did. It was pretty cool to see. Well, every time our eldest, who was only 44 months at the time, went to the potty, she wanted to go as well. We weren't too surprised because she walked pretty quickly too.

By the time we got to child number three we realized that potty training was not such a big deal. She would go potty when she was ready. Which, is exactly what she did. Boy did she take her time! She would do everything except go on the potty. She would tell us when she went in her diaper and then laugh about it. What a character!

After owning a child care center for a few years now we realized that children go when they are ready and there is nothing wrong with them if it takes them a bit longer. I wish we had known that as brand new parents. Still, with all three girls, we made potty training fun and exciting. We never made our kids feel bad when they made mistakes. You know, after really thinking about, I am definitely happier to see my kid's new accomplishment way more than the worries of bills and chores. In reflection, those are good times. Make the most of that time period with your kids. It's a good opportunity to build courage in them and for them to see that you are learning to trust them too.