The Easy Guide to Potty Training Girls

 

According to popular myth, potty training girls should be easy. Although girls are generally easier to potty train than boys are, most parents find toilet training takes a little more effort than they have been led to believe. Thankfully, the process of teaching good bathroom habits is fairly straightforward, and with consistency, praise, and patience, most little girls can be fully potty trained within a couple of months.

Before you begin, honestly assess your daughter’s readiness. She should be able to pull her pants on and off, keep her balance when bending over, and be able to move quickly enough to get to the bathroom in time. She should be able to give you some sort of sign that she needs to use the toilet; verbal cues are great, but physical cues work just as well for observant parents. At about 18 months of age, her bowel movements should be mostly solid and somewhat predictable. Children who dislike having a dirty diaper and have started taking off their own clothing are usually ready for potty training.

Once your daughter has started showing an interest in the bathroom, it is time to bring in the potty chair. If the bathroom is too small for a training toilet, put a seat adapter on the family toilet, and provide a stepstool. Adapters with handrails may help young children feel more secure while perched on the toilet. If you choose to use an adapter seat, make sure it can be easily removed and replaced by older children and adults, but is still stable when sat upon.

When choosing a potty chair, consider starting with the most basic model available. While some children may find it amusing to hear music when they use the toilet, others may be frightened by the unexpected noise. Basic seats are also less expensive, and the transition from the potty to the toilet may be easier if the child is not accustomed to lights, music, or other distractions while using the bathroom.

Fun and praise are important when potty training girls. Girls in particular usually like training charts with cute stickers, and regular praise helps cement the idea that using the toilet is good. Small rewards after a day of potty training may be helpful, as well, although many children do just as well without them.

With all the equipment in place, start toilet training slowly. Take your daughter into the bathroom with you every time you go, and model the habits you want her to have, such as hand washing, putting the lid down, and so on. Even if she doesn’t use the potty, encourage her to wash her hands before leaving the bathroom. Praise her when she sits on the potty seat, even if she still has her clothes on, but offer to help her take her pants down if she wants.

Within a week or so of introducing the potty, start watching for signs that your daughter needs to use the toilet. Bathroom cues may be as obvious as crossed legs or squatting, or as subtle as a glazed look in her eyes. Verbal cues may be grunts, sighs, or words. Pay attention to her cues, because you will need to know them to set up a potty schedule.

Establishing a regular bathroom schedule will help your daughter learn to use the toilet consistently. Watch her for bathroom cues, and note the time she usually needs to use the toilet. If the rest of her day is fairly regular, her bathroom schedule will be more predictable, as well. After a few days of watching, start taking her to the bathroom a few minutes before she usually needs to go. When she does manage to make it to the toilet in time and use it, reward her with lots of praise, a sticker, or another small treat.

Many parents swear that the fastest way to potty train a girl is to allow her to spend time naked, or wearing nothing but panties. Most toddlers go through a nudist stage at around twenty months anyway, so if you want to take advantage of this stage, it may make potty training easier. Besides making you more vigilant about watching for bathroom cues, being naked allows young children to be more aware of their own bodies. Only use this method if you have an area in your home where accidents can be easily cleaned up. Obviously, naked training is a bad idea in homes with wall-to-wall carpet or distracted parents.

Whichever method you use, there is more to potty training girls than just using the toilet. Teach your daughter to wipe properly, from front to back, to avoid possible bladder infections. If needed, teach her to use one piece of tissue to dry the front, and another to wipe the back. Nothing can derail toilet training faster than a painful infection, and teaching good hygiene habits now will help avoid problems later.