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...

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The 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...

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On 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...

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The 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...

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Where 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...

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Some 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...

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Toilet 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...

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Debunking 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...

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I 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...

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Nip 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...

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Recent Questions

Teaching Child to Dress/Undress Helps With Potty Training

Posted 1 week ago

Hello, we've hit a plateau with potty training. Our 2yr old is accident free when her pants off (thanks to John's method). Introducing underwear and pants is the next step we're having issues...

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How Do I Resolve My Daughter's Potty Training Accidents?

Posted on 4/17/2023

Our 4-year-old daughter continues to have pee “accidents.” I’m putting that word in quotation because I don’t know why she pees herself, because she’s been potty trained since she was 25 months...

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How Do I Resolve My Daughter's Potty Training Accidents?

Posted on 4/8/2023

Our 4-year-old daughter continues to have pee “accidents.” I’m putting that word in quotation because I don’t know why she pees herself, because she’s been potty trained since she was 25 months...

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When To Begin Nighttime Potty Training

Posted on 4/3/2023

What age or when should we implement night training for potty training?

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2 YO ISN'T GETTING THE TOILET TRAINING THING

Posted on 4/2/2023

My 2.4 son has potty trained for 6 weeks and still poops and pees his undies. When talking to him he looks away. We are confused, we use the bell but not enough. If we introduce the gate how can...

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2-Year- Old Potty Training Regression is Normal

Posted on 3/31/2023

Potty trained regression!? Our son turned two at the end of february. We potty trained him exactly how the book says at about 22 months, naked & 75! And he conquered potty training really well in...

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18 month old protests potty training

Posted on 3/27/2023

I’m potty training my 18 month old boy. In your book, you state to not get into a power struggle if he is refusing to get on the toilet. But to be authoritative with telling him we go poop/pee on...

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DIAPERS AT NAPTIME AND BEDTIME?

Posted on 3/5/2023

We have just embarked on toilet training our 22-month old son. Will you kindly clarify why there are conflicting answers on this site as to the question of wearing diapers at naptime and...

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18-m/o girl stands before finishing her business

Posted on 2/23/2023

We’ve been potty training our 18 month-old girl for five days. We’ve been using the gate and the bell, though sometimes they’re not necessary now. She will sit on the potty when we tell her she...

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Starting potty training

Posted on 2/20/2023

My 27 month old boy will start potty training. He has a brother 6 month old. How can we manage the situation of no diapers around the house at all? What language can we use to make him realise...

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Video

Toilet Training Made Stress Free (Webinar Recording)

Posted 1 week ago

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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