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
The Predictable Pooper
Posted on 3/18/2025
I'm looking for some guidance for my daughter who just turned three. For several months now we have been potty training her. We told her that the doctor said she no longer needs Pull-Ups. This is...
Read MorePOTTY TRAINING WITH 22 MONTH OLD
Posted on 11/22/2024
Please help us with potty training! We used "Naked and $75" with our oldest child and it worked great. Our next child, however (22 months) is really struggling. We've been doing it for 6 weeks...
Read MoreTOILET TRAINING SNAFUS NO BIG DEAL
Posted on 10/28/2024
We started training my now 21 month old son at 19 months. We had him trained during naps and he's been dry overnight several times as well. However, for about the past two weeks he's been waking...
Read More20 MONTH OLD REBELLING AGAINST TOILET TRAINING
Posted on 10/14/2024
Hi I have a 20 month old daughter and have spent 5 days doing naked75. During this time she would randomly sit on the potty when asked but most of the time she would refuse. When she did sit on it...
Read More3 yr old poop pattern or indication it's time to go!!
Posted on 9/18/2024
Re your answer about potty training my 33 month granddaughter. The thing is she does not poop every day (usually every other)and does not have a pattern such as after breakfast, lunch etc. If...
Read MorePotty Gate question
Posted on 8/29/2024
My daughter is 19 months. On august 1st we started potty training. I can count on one hand the amount of times she has gone on the potty. She is able to understand commands. When we ask her where...
Read MoreTODDLER POOPS AND POOPS AND POOPS IN HIS PANTS
Posted on 8/22/2024
My son is 27 months. We’ve been potty training since 19 months. He’s struggling with still pooping his underwear a lot. He poops very frequently so it’s not uncommon for me to wash out 4-6 pairs...
Read MoreNEARLY 3 YO LITTLE GIRL WON'T POOP IN THE POTTY
Posted on 8/9/2024
My 33 month granddaughter pees on the toilet, and has few accidents. Either informs us she has to go or it happens when told every few hours that it’s time. Pooping is another story. She hides...
Read MoreToilet Training Regression, Don't Turn to Pull-Ups
Posted on 7/7/2024
My sweet five year old boy is in the midst of a full potty training regression. He was fully potty trained and then we moved and he is back in pull ups full time while home with me for the summer....
Read MoreRetraining will be challenging, possible and necessary.
Posted on 6/24/2024
Due with baby #3 in 9mon… 4yo and 2.5yo still sleeping with mom and dad, 2.5yo not potty trained. Where do we start in retraining our children so that our bed can be child free, and out of diapers...
Read MoreVideo
Toilet Training Made Stress Free (Webinar Recording)
Posted on 5/16/2023
In 1955, Harvard University determined that nearly 9 out of 10 children were completely toilet trained to the point of being accident-free by 23 months of age. In the 1960s, pediatricians began...
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