Toddler steps of diaper weaning become dry

Many parents wonder when their child will finally become diaper-free and how you can speed up this process. Unfortunately, you cannot force children to be clean: children will only use the potty if they want to, can and understand it. Don’t force your child to become diaper-free, this only makes it harder for the child. Of course, you can already encourage it. Be patient. When a child is ready, it becomes almost diaper-free by itself.

WHEN IS your child ready??

The child must first physically be able to feel when it needs to pee or do a business. Initially, your child will notice that it needs to pee right now, but cannot determine this beforehand. Only later will it notice the need before it happens. As a parent, you often notice that your child is doing business in the diaper with a certain facial expression or in a certain posture. You can draw your attention to this yourself, for example by asking your child whether they are currently perturbed.

In addition to being able to feel the need, a child must also have sufficient control over his sphincter to make it to the toilet or potty. Mostly children around the age of two are able to do this. Girls generally manage to become diaper-free a little earlier than boys.

If you start teaching your child too early, or put too much pressure on them, this can lead to fear and insecurity. This makes it even more difficult for the child to become diaper-free. Above all, do not let a struggle for power come between you and the child, because you will definitely lose it: your child can decide when it does its business and not you.

STIMULATE, ENCOURAGE, REWARD

When your child is physically ready, the next step comes. It has to understand the meaning of the potty and the toilet, and even want to get rid of the diaper. If you think your child is physically ready, try to get them interested. Place an appealing potty nearby and explain what the point is. For example, you can put it on the potty as soon as you think your child needs to use the toilet or show him what you are doing in the large toilet

Don’t get angry if your child doesn’t sit on the potty, but praise him if he sits on it, with or without a diaper. If it gets into the potty a little, it will be very proud.

Do not force your child and expect that many "mishaps" will happen, especially in the beginning. Especially when it’s playing, it won’t always think of the potty in time. When a child is old enough, it will almost automatically become clean.

Do you have to reward your child or not? The best thing is, of course, if your child has a lot of fun going into the potty himself. Don’t promise him a big reward (many small Children don’t understand that anyway), but praise it every time it shows that it needs to use the toilet or after using the potty.

For example, if you want to introduce a reward, you can use a sticker card. Make a card, hang it up in the toilet or in the bathroom and agree with your child that they will receive a sticker every time they have done their business on the potty. As soon as 10 pictures stick to the card, you can give him a small gift or do something nice with him.

In short, praise your child if it works. But don’t punish it if things go wrong. Simply pay little attention to the "mishap" and make it away. Next time it will definitely work!

PRACTICALLY

Instead of a potty, you can also teach the child to go straight to the big toilet. You can provide a small stool if the toilet bowl is too high. Some children don’t really dare to sit on a normal toilet. There are toilet seat attachments to buy that you can put on the normal toilet seat. This makes the opening smaller and less scary.

There are many beautiful books about cleanliness that you can read to your child.

CLEANLINESS IN STEPS

A child first gets clean about pulling during the day, and only later in big business. There are quite a few children who are already diaper-free, but still ask for a diaper if they have to do a big business. This may be because children see their chair as "part of themselves" and are afraid of losing it, or find it scary to drop their chair into a deep, dark hole instead of the diaper.

Only when your child is clean during the day will he learn to be clean at night. Don’t suddenly give him less to drink because it will make her pee less. However, make sure that you visit the potty or the toilet briefly before going to bed. Don’t leave the diaper out at night until you’re pretty sure the bed won’t get wet. It is very uncomfortable for a child to wake up in a cold and wet bed at night. To prevent damage to the mattress, there are special covers available, these have a soft top and a plastic-like underside to prevent the mattress from getting wet.

RELAPSE

Sometimes children who are already clean have a relapse and suddenly come back on the pants or want to wear a diaper again. This can have a physical reason (e.g. a bladder infection). Very often, however, the reason is also stress or excitement, a sudden change such as having a sibling, illness, tensions in the relationship or in the after-school care. Try to find out if your child is afraid of something and how you can change the situation. Pay positive attention to your child!

In this case, do not pay so much attention to the cleanliness itself, it usually comes back by itself.