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You are here: Home / Baby / Routines and Rituals

Routines and Rituals

November 6, 2007 by GreatDad Writers Leave a Comment

Learning to use the toilet

After 12 months of dealing with diapers, parents may want a change.
Parents often say, “I’ll be so glad when she can use the toilet!”

The key is not when you are ready, but when your child is ready.
Problems with getting children out of diapers almost always come from
trying too soon.

Typically, girls are ready before boys. Some children are ready around age
18 months, while others are not ready until age three.

When is a child ready?

Your child is ready to learn to use the toilet when she has:

Physical ability

  • is able to walk.
  • has a larger bladder, so she urinates fewer times a day.
  • wakes up from a nap with a dry diaper.
  • can control the muscles that hold and release urine and bowel
    movements.
  • can take underwear off and put it back on.

Mental ability

  • understands the body’s signals for needing to use the toilet.
  • understands words such as “pee-pee,” “poo-poo,” and “potty.”
  • understands what is expected: when to go, what to do and where
    to do it.
    Social and emotional ability
  • can express her needs, like telling you that her diaper needs to be
    changed.
  • wants to learn to use the toilet.

When all these abilities are in place, your child can move out of diapers
easily. A child who is not ready may resist learning, and parents may
become frustrated. Don’t force it!

This content has been provided freely by CMC. Click Healthy Start, Grow Smart—Your-Twelve-Month-Old for your free download. Click GreatDad Free Ebook to download the entire Health Start, Grow Smart series.

Note: For info on sex after delivery, subscribe now to the GreatDad newsletter for new dads.

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Great Dad Talks is a series of conversations with experts on all aspects of the family adventure. With the perspective that “dads don’t always think like moms,” our mission is to support dad voices and our slightly different approaches to parenting. We’ll try to find solutions to every day challenges like getting kids off the couch and making STEM classes available for both boys and girls. But we’ll also tackle bigger issues when they come. The one main theme will be to support dads in the most important role of their lives that of being a great dad. Connect with us at greatdad.com and watch the video version of these podcasts at YouTube.com/greatdadnews

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Michael shares the transformative power of his unique “spin” method—a tool rooted in Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP)—that helps kids, parents, and even whole families quickly change negative emotional patterns in just minutes. Listen in as Michael walks Paul through an anxiety-busting spin live, explains why dads’ involvement is critical to healthy families, and shares actionable tips on self-forgiveness and resilience.

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