Girls Potty Training Tips

As an experienced mother, grandmother, and teacher I would like to share some girls potty training tips learned over the years.  The one thing that all caregivers need is patience, not matter what they are doing.  What a lot of adults fail to realize is that children and not as aware of their bodily functions as we adults are.  First of all – we have more experience!  While, yes, that is sort of a dumb joke (I tried) – it still is the truth.  Children are first beginning to learn about life and how they relate to others – never mind themselves.  In their early years, they are so inexperienced in life that unfamiliar noises, people, and faces (clowns, etc.) frighten them.

As adults, our place is to teach them that certain things do not frighten others, including ourselves, and therefore shouldn’t frighten them either.  However, try teaching that to a 3 year old the first time!  Children at that age do not process information the way adults do.  Most of their processing comes from actual experiences.  For example, we laugh at the hot stove analogy, but it’s so true with regards children!  Fear and pain are the primary emotions that young children remember and learn from.  In fact, most of us still remember our real first fright or physical pain.So let’s return to our topic today which is supposed to give you some potty training tips – girls!  Most adults will agree that girls mature quicker than little boys, but n this respect, there’s not that much difference in maturation when it comes to potty training girls or boys.  In the home, little girls tend to want to be like their mothers, and of course little boys like their dads.  Because in the typical situation, it’s the mother who is the primary caregiver, little girls have a live model with regards potty training.  Little boys, on the other hand, don’t usually see as much as their fathers as little girls se their mothers, due to the typical arrangement; daddy goes to work and mommy stays at home with the kids.  In this situation, little boys do not have access to learn about “the tricks of the trade” – so to speak.  Mom always sits on the toilet and he never sees anything, particularly regards urination.  Understandably, potty training girls is a bit easier than potty training boys.

Therefore, without the steady demonstrations, little boys lack the real life experience of watching and thus understanding better what relieving themselves at or on the toilet is all about.  So the first tip for potty training boys is to try to get their father or an older sibling involved in the training.  The tip girls, is to understand this and adjust your approach to potty training boys.

Next: Girls potty training tips.  Based on the above, little girls will catch on rather quickly once they are old enough to feel pressure in their bladder.  Tip number 2 – both girls and boys are usually able to control their bladders before their bowels.

Written by Brenne Meirowitz, BA, MA, MS
© 2010-2011 Brenne Meirowitz. All Rights Reserved.