Toilet Training
John's Most Recent Articles
Starting Toilet Training Early Pays Off
Posted on 12/27/2022
Q: My grandmother maintains that her children – my mother and her two siblings, all born in the 1950s – were completely toilet trained at 18 months. Her terse explanation: “I just gave...
Read MoreThe Problem With Pull-Ups
Posted on 11/1/2022
I finally tracked down the fellow who invented the so-called “pull-up.” His name is Lucapher (Big Lou) Saytan. Reputedly, Mr. Saytan lives in an underground bunker from which he develops and...
Read MoreOn Chores, Discipline, Potty-Training
Posted on 3/29/2022
Q: When I give my 5-year-old daughter a chore, she does it, but all the while she is muttering under her breath, huffing and puffing, and so on. Do I discipline that behavior or just let her...
Read MoreThe Keys to Relatively Quick, Painless Toilet Training
Posted on 1/12/2022
Q: I recently tried toilet training my 32-month-old, but after a few days of no success, I decided to stop. A friend tells me to hang in there, but my pediatrician says my son isn’t ready. She...
Read MoreWhere We All Went Wrong
Posted on 8/25/2020
My profession, psychology, began demonizing traditional childrearing in the late 1960s. I was in graduate school at the time and on fire for the promise that the proper use of psychological...
Read MoreSome Benchmarks on Toilet Training
Posted on 6/9/2020
“There’s no one-size-fits-all model of childrearing for all the world’s parents,” opines Alma Gottlieb, Professor Emerita of Anthropology at the University of Illinois. Gottlieb was quoted in an...
Read MoreToilet Training Is Not Rocket Science
Posted on 9/26/2018
Talking today’s mother through her first experience with toilet training is akin to talking someone off a ledge. Both situations involve massive anxiety, high drama and lots of yelling and...
Read MoreDebunking Hot Potty Training Myths
Posted on 8/14/2018
“Potty training is a nightmare.” So begins advice from Meghan Leahy, advice columnist for The Washington Post. More accurately, potty training has, of late, BECOME a nightmare, thanks to advice of...
Read MoreI Spy Toilet-Training Atrocities
Posted on 7/10/2018
Strolling through my go-to grocery store the other day, I happened down the Baby Products aisle where I spied packages of toilet-training pants featuring pictures of happy children who looked at...
Read MoreNip Toddler Misbehavior in the Bud
Posted on 12/19/2017
Q: My parents recently told me that my husband and I are letting our toddler run our family and that it’s becoming increasingly uncomfortable for them to visit or have us visit with them – they...
Read MoreRecent Questions
Road Trip & Potty Training
Posted on 1/16/2024
My daughter (2.5) is potty trained and we are working on potty training our son (19 months). We have a long road trip coming up in April when we have to travel from South Dakota to...
Read More2.5 y/o refuses to poop
Posted on 12/28/2023
My 2.5 year old is potty trained when it comes to pee but not poop. She is a stool holder, she constipates herself and I have to give her mirlax daily. I believe they are painful because of how...
Read MoreBig move Big changes
Posted on 12/15/2023
Since our move my daughter has started having accidents again. She was day potty trained (only a couple accidents a week so staying dry and clean 98% of the time) but after the move she started...
Read MoreFOUR YEAR OLD PEE ISSUES
Posted on 12/7/2023
Lately our 4 year old seems to have some issues surrounding going to the bathroom. He will say things like “I saw the picture and it made me have to pee.” Or he sees something “girly” and it...
Read MoreNight Training
Posted on 11/26/2023
1. My daughter (2.5) is day potty trained other than occasionally having accidents. But at night or nap time she still wets the bed. We stopped doing diapers totally with her quite a while ago but...
Read MorePotty training readiness
Posted on 11/3/2023
Day 4 of training my 22 month old girl, and I'm at a loss. Naked, potty bell, reinforcement of expectations with mistakes. She almost always runs to the potty the minute she starts peeing herself,...
Read MoreWhen Bedwetting Returns
Posted on 10/19/2023
Our 4-year-old daughter has been potty trained for quite some time. We were successful with no accidents at nighttime wearing underwear. When we went on a few vacations this past summer, we used...
Read MoreYou're Going to Learn to Use the Toilet Today
Posted on 9/22/2023
Today I have started potty training my almost 16 month boy. I’m a little overwhelmed but felt that the time was right. Am I supposed to still use diapers when he sleeps and just focus on day...
Read MoreStay The Course
Posted on 9/19/2023
A while back I had asked a question about potty training my daughter (2). She has the idea down but often gets too busy playing and then has accidents. I have been making her wash out her...
Read MoreToilet Training in the mean time
Posted on 8/22/2023
I have temporary custody of my just turned two granddaughter. Her dad works out of state and isn’t with her as much as he would like to be. Her Mom has supervised visits every other weekend. I...
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