Is Your Child Ready for Potty Training?
Let’s face it: you can know the best potty training tips and tricks in the world - if your child isn’t ready, it just isn’t going to happen.
Are you curious if your child is ready?
Take this quick quiz created by Elizabeth Pantley, author of a series of awesome books, including “The No-Cry Potty Training Solution”, and find out within minutes!
The No-Cry Potty Training Solution
Gentle Ways to Help Your Child Say Good-Bye to Diapers
The Potty Training Readiness Quiz
Potty training is easier and happens faster if your child is truly ready in all three areas: physical, cognitive and social. But the big question is: how do you know when your child is ready?
If you have never traveled this road before, you likely don’t even know what signs to look for. Take this quiz to find out where your child is on the readiness spectrum.
1. I can tell by watching that my child is wetting or
filling his diaper:
a. Never.
b. Sometimes.
c. Usually.
2. My toddler’s diaper needs to be changed:
a. Frequently, every hour or two.
b. It varies.
c. Every two to three hours–sometimes
less frequently.
3. My child understands the meaning of wet, dry,
clean, wash, sit, and go:
a. No.
b. Some of them.
c. Yes.
4. When my child communicates her needs, she:
a. Says or signs a few basic words and I guess
the rest.
b. Gets her essential points across to me.
c. Has a good vocabulary and talks to me in
sentences.
5. If I give my child a simple direction, such as,
"put this in the toy box," she:
a. Doesn’t understand or doesn’t follow directions.
b. Will do it if I coach or help her.
c. Understands me and does it.
6. My child can take his pants off and put them on:
a. No.
b. With help he can.
c. Yes.
7. When I read a book to my child, he:
a. He ignores me.
b. Sometimes listens, sometimes wanders off.
c. Sits, listens and enjoys the story.
8. My toddler wants to do things “all by myself”:
a. Never.
b. Sometimes.
c. All the time!
9. I think that it’s the right time to begin potty
training:
a. No.
b. I’m undecided.
c. Yes.
Total the number of responses for each letter:
a. __________
b. __________
c. __________
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Most answers are a:
Wait. Your little one doesn’t seem to be ready just yet. Test again in a month or two.
Most answers are b:
Time for pre-potty training–get ready!
Your child is not quite ready for active training, but you can take many steps to prepare your toddler for the future. Gradual introduction of terms and ideas will make potty training easier when the time comes.
Most answers are c:
Your toddler is ready to use the potty!
It’s time to start your potty training adventure. Good luck, and have fun!
Are you between two scores?
Just like any parenting situation, there are choices to make. If your child is hovering between two categories, it’s time to put your intuition to good use. Your knowledge of your own child can direct you toward the right plan of action.
Excerpted with permission by McGraw-Hill Publishing from
The No-Cry Potty Training Solution (McGraw-Hill 2006).
November 27th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
My 19-month-old daughter take their diapers off all the time — they love to get into their dirty diapers and get it on their bed. Everybody keeps informing me to potty train them now, the problem my precious isn’t really talking. How can I teach when my baby can’t tell me when its potty time? any suggestioms orhelp?
December 27th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
Hello Leah,
I am sorry I haven’t responded to you sooner - I got side-tracked with “holiday stuff” :). I agree, I think this would be a great time to start potty training. My son actually started using the potty for #2 when he was 13 months old - nowhere close to using words. In a nutshell, this is what I did: Whenever my son Julian was in the process of pooping into his diaper, I imitated his grunting sound. Most kids make some kind of sound, so if you are not aware of it yet, listen to your daughters when they go. And whenever he peed, I made a “sssss” sound. Then whenever I thought he needed to go, I sat down with him on the toilet so that he could lean against me, and then repeating the sounds. It worked like a charm for us.
The next thing you can do is to empty the poopy diapers into the toilet. Tell your daughters that poop and pee go into the toilet. If you consistently repeat it, they’ll catch on quickly what you are trying to teach them, even though they may not talk yet.
And lastly, about the issue of her spreading poop over the bed (rest assured, you are not the only mom going through this experience): if they do it at night and you are not ready to potty train them at night yet, a quick fix is to use tape to make sure the diaper stays closed all night. And the sooner you can start to train them at night, the faster you can say “good-bye” to this part, too :).
Good luck, and keep the questions coming!
Marion Solis