About potty training
You can start introducing your child to the potty when they show interest in toilet matters. Make going potty a happy thing. Take a break if the potty training is stressing or irritating the child.
When is a good time to start?
You can get a potty around the age of two or even earlier and place it in your bathroom to wait for the actual training to start.
You can usually start training when your child starts to recognise the need to pee and poo and shows interest in learning to stay dry.
On average, children are ready for potty training at around age 2. However, the time depends on the child, and it can take time for them to learn the skill.
With practice, your child will gradually begin to control their bladder and bowel movements. When a child learns to stay dry and gives up nappies varies from child to child. It is quite individual when a child learns to stay dry and no longer needs nappies. Learning to stay dry requires both maturation of the nervous system and mental readiness.
How to get started
Talk about poo and pee at home
Tell your child how the body works and what goes into the nappy. Approach the topic in a natural way so that the child does not feel that poo or pee is something to be ashamed of or something to hide. You can and should admire your child’s poo with them.
Start potty training in small steps
A potty is a better option for a small child than a toilet bowl, as it allows your child to sit in a better position.
You can start letting your child try sitting on the potty once they start to show interest in poo or pee or are aware that they are coming.
At first, you can encourage your child to sit on the potty for short periods of time just to try it. When they occasionally produce something in the potty, you can gradually increase how often and how long they sit. There is no need to reward the results, but you can celebrate them together. It is important to remember that an empty potty is not a failure.
Once it’s going well, stop using the nappy
When your child starts doing most of their pee and poo in the potty, it’s a good time to start keeping them nappy-free during the day.
You can leave out night nappies once the nappy is usually dry in the morning. Your child may still occasionally wet the bed, but that is nothing to worry about. You can place waterproof sheets under the bedding to protect the mattress.
If potty training is not going well
If you encounter challenges with potty training or your child resists, you can take a break for a week or two and try again later. Maybe things have moved a little too quickly, or there are too many changes happening in your child’s life at once. Sometimes, the reason can also be something like constipation.
Bear in mind that learning takes time. Children are individuals, and there is no rush.
Even young schoolchildren can have pee accidents, and this doesn’t necessarily mean there’s anything medically wrong with them. The bladder continues to develop and mature until around the age of 12.
If potty training poses a recurring problem, you can bring the matter up at the child health clinic.
Bedwetting and learning to stay dry
When the child’s nappy is dry in the morning or they learn to go to the toilet at night, you can try leaving out the nappy at night.
Learning to stay dry can take time and every child matures at their own pace. The bladder gradually grows, which facilitates learning to stay dry at night.
Children usually learn to stay dry during the day before they are dry at night. A child who stays dry during the day often still needs a nappy at night. Even if the child stays dry for several nights, accidents may occur later.
Signs that the night nappy can be left off
- the nappy is consistently dry in the morning
- the child wakes up at night if they need to pee and goes to the toilet, even if they are wearing a nappy
- the child does no longer want to wear a nappy at night.
Tips and notes
- Protect the child’s bed well against pee accidents. Accidents are natural and can happen.
- Never get angry at the child for having a pee accident – they are not doing it on purpose.
- Give the child praise and encouragement when they stay dry at night.
- Make sure that the child drinks steadily throughout the day, rather than drinking mostly in the evening.
Nighttime pee accidents, i.e. bedwetting, is common among children under the age of 7. Around 40% of three-year-olds, 10% of six-year-olds and 3% of 12-year-olds wet the bed at night.
Bedwetting is often caused by the child’s incomplete neurological and hormonal development, which manifests itself as deep sleep and an inability to wake up to urinate, for example.
Heredity also plays a role: if both parents have a history of bedwetting, 80% of their children will experience the same problem.
Bedwetting is not usually caused by an illness and is part of the child’s normal development.
It is important not to blame or punish the child for bedwetting, as this can damage the child’s self-esteem. Instead, the child should be encouraged and supported in learning to stay dry.
Make sure your child gets enough fluids during the day and goes to the toilet regularly. It is a good idea to avoid unnecessary drinking in the evening, and the child should go to the toilet before bedtime.
Most children outgrow bedwetting without medical treatment.
If your child is over the age of 5 and regularly wets the bed at night, you can contact the child health clinic. At the clinic, we will assess your child’s need for a bedwetting alarm or medication. However, most children learn to stay dry over time, and no alarm or medication is needed.
