Potty University Part 1: Potty Prep

Dear [your username] (don"t have one? sign up! it"s free. We"d love to have you.)

Congratulations on yor acceptance to the Potty University! You are now challenged with the very important task of training your kid to trade in their Pampers in favor of some Fruit-of-the-Looms and an American Standard.  We know that this can often be an extremely daunting task for a noodad thinking about potty training.

We, at the Potty University , recognize the importance of your decision and the commitment it entails to learn and develop by means of association with an outstanding center of learning. As awesome as it may sound, how you potty train your kid may very well have an impact on the quality of your life. I believe that the Potty University offers not only a a superb educational experience, but also promotes individual growth and development. We encourage you to visit our campus if you can. My very best wishes to you for a successful potty training experience, and I sincerely hope you will be joining us here at PU next semester.

Sincerely,
foodad
the Potty University
Dean of Emissions

One of the most difficult things to remember is that potty training is not a sprint, it"s a marathon.  The tendency is seems to be to get there as quickly as possible. Afterall, who wants to be changing diapers any longer than they absolutely have to?  You"ll find websites that say you can train your kid in 3 days. You"ll also find a range of ideas as to when your kid is ready to being potty training.  That stuff is all based on statistics done by people with a lot of funding and free time.  The fact is this: Your kid is the only one who can determine when they"re ready to make the transition. Two and a half years old is early.  Three to three and a half is about the average although 78.5% of all statistics are made up on the spot..  

So how do you get them there sooner than later?  I can only tell you what worked for us and that as far as I can tell, we at PU are the first to put together such a curriculum.  As soon as your kid is old enough to walk, has a few words and is comfortable with eating solids, you can begin to teach them about the potty.  This does not mean you tell them that they need to go to the bathroom. This does not mean that you put them on one.

Course materials:
 Textbooks: Potty education books like Everybody Poops, Once Upon a Potty and The Potty Book.  These help you train them what the potty is for.
 Lab: Let them in the bathroom when you"re going potty or if you"re more conservative, just tell them about your experience.  That lets them know how it"s done.  Encourage them that someday, they can go "Just like mommy and daddy".  This is a phrase you want to use often. Always in a positive way. Do not threaten them.
 Kid Potty: Just have it there and let them know that it is theirs to use when they are ready.  Let them sit on it. Let them stand in front of it.

The important take aways are these:
"Just like mommy and daddy."
No pressure. Just teach. Read them the stories, do the lab.
You can start this phase around 18 months.

 Next time we"ll talk about transition from education to actual training.