How to Potty Train a Girl

Time to potty train your girl?

Potty training is one of the major milestones in the life of a toddler and most experts agree that girls train much faster than boys. Little girls cherish that moment when they get to be big girls. Once the timing is right, you can train your daughter to use the potty.

Things You'll Need

• Potty seat
• Rewards chart
• Prizes
• Potty training book

Instructions

1. Make certain that the time is right. Nothing is worse that trying to train a girl who is not ready and/or willing to be potty trained. Your daughter must be both physically and emotionally ready. She's physically ready when she can feel the sensation that she has to go the bathroom and she can alert you. It also means she can pull her pants down with little assistance and shows interest in using the potty. She's emotionally ready when she wants to ditch the diapers in favor of big girl panties.

2. Let her see you going to the bathroom. Don't be shy. Your daughter can learn by example, and although you may not want the audience, she can learn a lot just by watching you. This is a great time to explain to her the difference between the ways that boys and girls use the potty.

3. Take her shopping. Once she has observed you a few times and you have confirmed her interest in potty training, go shopping for big girl panties, for the perfect potty seat and for videos or books about potty training. The more that you can get her interested, the better your chances of success.

4. Let her practice. One of the best ways besides watching you go to the bathroom may be showing her doll going to the bathroom on her new potty seat. If her doll can do it, maybe she can too. Let her sit on her new potty seat without any pressure and read her new potty books or watch the videos. For a few days, even try putting the big girl panties over her diapers so that she can get an idea of what the panties will look like on her. This is very motivating.

5. Make another shopping trip to pick out prizes or some other motivational tool such as M&M's or Fruit Loops. This should be separate from the other shopping trip, because this is solely to get her excited about being rewarded for going to the potty. Letting her pick out these prizes will ensure her excitement because you know that she wants them. When she sits on the potty, reward her by giving her one treat. If she goes, give her two.

6. Get naked. Not you, but your daughter. Give her a little naked time. She should spend some time without diapers to get a little more used to the sensation of having to go to the bathroom. Make sure that the potty is easily accessible and let her run around naked for a while. The longer that you can keep them out of diapers, the more successful the potty training will be.

7. Take away diapers during the day. This is the same method to use when she is ready to wear panties at night as well. This seems much more real to a child when they are told no more diapers. This is a very exciting day for your daughter when she can say that she is a big girl and that there are no more diapers.

8. Finally, celebrate, praise and reward. Celebrate every little success--the first time she pees, the first time she poops and everything in between. Praise her efforts every day by telling her what a big girl she is and how proud you are of her. Reward her efforts no matter how small. A few M&M's or stickers go a long way with your praise to motivate her for her next trip to the potty.

Tips & Warnings

• Bribes almost always work. The key is finding your daughter's currency and making sure that she gets it when she is successful.

• Watch for signs that your daughter has to go to the bathroom. She may be holding herself or dancing from side to side. Ask and ask often. Make sure that you are always reminding her to go to the potty.

• Nighttime potty training is a little harder than daytime training. Your daughter must be able to hold her urine during the night and many children are not able to do this for many months after the daytime potty training.

• Make certain that your daughter has clothing that can easily be removed for easy potty access. Avoid overalls or buttons that may be hard for a child to undo.

• Make sure that you spend some time teaching your daughter to wipe properly. Explain about using the toilet paper from front to back. You may have to show her several times.

• Exercise patience. Most children do not get it right away and there may be many accidents. Use accidents as a learning tool to figure out what to do next time instead.

• Never punish a child for accidents. Always try again.

Resources

• Potty Training Concepts