Roshan's Blog: Potty Training

Written Monday, February 28th 2011 by Alexandra

Roshan's Blog: Potty Training

Ah, I remember this next big step as a huge milestone for both child and parents. The feeling of pride in our child managing the most natural function in their lives – just like mommy and daddy! My children were always potty trained the first summer after they turned 2 years old, which required my total commitment to both child and parent being successful.

This week I learned that there are “potty training wars” going on between parents and preschools because children who are 3-4 years old are still not potty trained. The facts are that in 1962 90% of children were trained by 2 years old, and in 1998 only 22% were trained. The two main reasons for this drastic change are disposable diapers and more moms returning to work after maternity leave.

Even though disposable diapers were just coming into the market 30+ years ago, I preferred to use cloth diapers for various reasons. Mainly I felt they were more natural and softer against a baby’s skin. Disposable diapers are a godsend for many but are costly and lead to a lot of landfill. However, they also lead to children having less sensation of wanting or needing to be changed because of the absorption technology etc. This was a known fact and cause for concern that potty training would be delayed in children compared to cloth diapers which provide more awareness.

I would spend the first week at home as much as possible while they ran around naked from the waist downwards (which they loved) and I took them to the potty on an hourly basis. If there were no deposits of any kind in a couple of minutes, we got up and continued playing until the next hour. Success was rewarded with hugs and words of encouragement about how clever they were. If I had to be away from the house, I made sure we were near a bathroom so that we made it within the hour.

As the days passed, the hours were spread apart as they began to get the idea when to use the potty. All in all it would take about a month to claim they were daytime potty trained. It was a time commitment, but the rewards to have them out of diapers and the pride on their little faces was worth entering into this next phase of “growing up.”

-Roshan

Roshan Kaderali is a registered nurse, midwife, lactation specialist and CEO Mommy's Bliss^®. Originally from Tanzania and later a resident of Scotland, she has lived permanently in America for over thirty-five years. You can read more about Roshan here.

Tagged as Potty training, diapers
Written Monday, February 28th 2011 by Alexandra
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