Why I waited until 3 1/2 to toilet train my boys
A little disclaimer: Im not an 'expert' in toilet training but being a mum of three boys and now having toilet trained them all I feel I have some information to share that might be useful. Remember all kids learn and develop at different stages and I truely believe as a parent you need to do whatever YOU feel is right for your child.
I remember being told that I should start to think about toilet training when Patrick was 18months old (what the!!??) I didn't and even when he got to 2.5yrs he still definitely wasn't ready. Not one part of him showed any desire to learn and I remember feeling like he would be behind if I didn't start. #mumguilt
Lucky I had another mum (with older kids) who said to me 'we all end up with kids that are toilet trained by a certain age. Why rush it when they aren't ready?' This has stuck with me for all three boys.
Did i want to helicopter parent them asking 'do you need the toilet'. Did I want to be constantly dealing with accidents when I could possibly wait a little long? By waiting a little longer they would be old enough to understand holding on, understand the brain signals to tell them to go and so much more.
For me this answer was simple.
Hence for all my boys i waited until close to 3 1/2 and by doing this they were trained in a couple of day and minimal accidents.
- We waited until close to 3 1/2 to toilet train as I believe they had a better understanding of what is required to be toilet trained.
- We did a lot of positive chat around toilets and wee + poo prior to starting anything.
- We got them involved in the designing the reward chart, choosing underwear etc.
- We made an achievable reward chart. We started off with a quick reward after a couple of wee's then spaced it out longer to now having none.
- We did nappy free swimming lessons and home time.
- We waited until they were ready and didn't push them.
You may think that because Frankie + Roy is a smaller fit that they aren't suited for toilet training but speaking from recent experience with Sebby I found the Frankie + Roy Rye pants were by far the easiest pants for him to wear. They are easy for kids to pull up and down + wash and dry quickly.