Potty Training — Parent Guide
Potty Training
Where to start, how to keep the routine steady, and how to hand each step over to your child.
Suggested use: Read this first, then work through the rest of the kit in order.
Preview
Readiness is not about age. Look for longer dry stretches, interest in the bathroom, and the ability to follow a simple two-step direction.
Pick one routine and keep it identical for at least two weeks. Predictability does more work than any reward.
Accidents are data, not setbacks. Change clothes calmly and move on.
Independence is built by removing your help from the end of the routine backwards, so your child always finishes the last step alone. Note which step still needs help each week; once a step is independent for five days, stop helping with the one before it.
Rewards help most at the beginning. Read Keeping Rewards Exciting in this kit for simple ideas on choosing rewards and rotating them before your child gets bored.
- Choose scheduled sit times rather than asking "do you need to go?"
- Keep sits short — two minutes is plenty.
- Reward the sitting first; the rest follows.
- Use the same word for the bathroom everywhere: home, school and therapy.
- Fade your help gradually: hand-over-hand, then a touch, then a gesture, then a word, then nothing.
- Stay nearby but quiet, and celebrate the finish every time.