Somewhere around the first birthday, parents start wondering what the right time to quit using diapers is. Information that reaches us first is that paediatricians advise that it should not be before 18 months, because child reaches the phase of controlling sphincter then. One of the mandatory rules is that the child should not be forced, pushed or insisted on. Most mums surely consults with online mums, thus I was also reading online pieces of advice. Some of them speak about quitting diapers within three days or even over a weekend. The favourite online “bestsellers” speak about a mother of four children who advises how to quit the diapers immediately. Surely, topic is very interesting and there is a lot of literature on the subject.
Every mum will surely wonder what the right measure for her child is. What is our recipe? Before you enter these discussions, ask yourself the following:
1.How important it is for me that it happens fast? (weekend, three days or it may last as long as it is needed)
2.How important it is for me that it happens as soon as possible? (diapers and tissues are not a cheap item in the budget. For some parents, this is a strong motive to persevere the quitting)
3.What is your parenting style? If you cannot give a precise answer to this question, remember how your dearest see you – as a authoritative, democratic or permissive parent?
4.How is your child? Could you already say that he has a certain character or that he reminds you of one of the family members the most?
Next thing is that you arm yourself with tricks that will draw your child to the potty or toilette seat. Let’s say that you are going shopping together and pick a potty for him, or that you bring him, on your own, a potty shaped like an animal, and then you design it together and put different stickers, glitters or favourite heroes. For the toilette seat, you can always pick a colour for water that will be interesting to him while peeing, and you may also promise the use of toilette brush after the achieved success, kids can be very fond of them. When you think about these things, you may start with the tactics and see whether it has any effect. If there is none, and the child shows equal lack of interest for the potty, the answer is simple. Buy a few more packages of diapers and wait a bit longer. Each child is a story of its own. There is no recipe which would guarantee success for every child, without exceptions.
Some of the readiness signs:
Physical signs: coordinated running and walking, urinating almost always at the same time, there are periods when the diaper is dry for at least two continuous hours or during sleeping.
Behaviour signs: he can sit still in one position from two to five minutes, he can take off and put on the pants, he doesn’t like the feeling of wearing wet or dirty diapers, he shows interest in the activities related to bathroom (he wants to see your activities in the bathroom), he shows no resistance when learning how to use the toilet.
Cognitive signs: he understands the physical signs signalling that it is time to use the toilet, he can follow simple instructions, he says the words related to the toilet.
