During potty training, girls have special considerations when learning the correct way to sit on a toilet and wipe. The female anatomy also puts girls at a higher risk for infections, so parents need to be extra vigilant. Begin by introducing your toddler to the idea of potty training, encourage her with positive reinforcement and fun rewards, and soon she will be diaper free.
Determine If Daughter Ready
Only begin the potty training process when your toddler is physically and psychologically ready to transition. Your child should be able to walk, pull her pants up and down, hold in urine for short periods of time, sit still for at least four minutes, notify you when she is having a bowel movement, obey simple commands, have a vocabulary for urine and bowel movements.
Choose Adaptor Seat Or Child Potty
Toddlers are too small to comfortably use an adult toilet and need a child-sized toilet chair or an adapter seat. If your child is terrified of the toilet, start with a separate child-sized toilet. You need to empty and disinfect the child potty after each use. An adapter seat fits over your toilet seat. Provide a step stool for your toddler to safely climb up.
Introducing Toilet
Gradually build your child's confidence in using the toilet by taking small steps. Let your child sit on the adult toilet with the seat down. If your child is comfortable with the height, try the adapter seat. Ask if your child wants to try sitting with her pants and underwear off. Let your child decorate her potty chair with her name and fun stickers. Practice sitting on the seat several times a day.
Role Play With Toys
Use your child's favorite stuffed animal or doll to demonstrate toilet use. Make a toy potty out of cardboard and decorate it. Tell your child she needs to help her toy use the restroom. Let her place the toy in a seated position on the cardboard potty. Whenever she has to use the restroom, let her bring the toy to use its potty too.
Learning Procedure
Position your toddler far enough back on the toilet seat so she does not spray on the seat. Show her how to move her knees apart to relax the muscles. If you are a woman, let your child watch you use the restroom. Demonstrate how to wipe from front to back to keep bacteria from causing a UTI, urinary tract infection, or teach your child to pat herself dry. Never wipe from back to front.
Underwear Or Training Pants?
Decide whether to switch to regular underwear or training diaper-pants. Consult your pediatrician. Some recommend underwear so your child learns to feel the wetness, but training pants can prevent accidents and long-term wetness for your child. Look for bright colors and cartoon characters to attract your child to her new underwear. Be sure your child can easily pull the underwear or training pants up and down.
Positive Encouragement
Try to hide your frustration when your child has accidents. Harshly scolding your child will cause them to fear the potty training experience. Use small rewards, like stickers, to keep track of successful bathroom trips. Encourage your child by reminding her that "big kids" use toilets; let her do other "big kid" things when she is successful.
Nighttime Potty Training
Allow your toddler to sleep in diapers until she is successfully potty trained during daytime. Nights require her to hold her bladder much longer than she can during the day. Limit any beverages three hours before bedtime so she will go to sleep with an empty bladder. When she is accident free more than half the time, make the official change to underwear night and day.
Watch for Signs of UTI
Watch your toddler for signs that she may have contracted a UTI, urinary tract infection, as she learns to wipe correctly. Holding urine in the bladder too long, wiping back to front, and wearing wet underwear for a long time may cause bacteria to get into your child's urethra and bladder. UTIs need to be treated immediately before the kidneys are infected. Watch your child for suspect behaviors: frequent urination, uncontrollable urges, complaining of pain when peeing or stomach pains.
