Potty Training Before Preschool - Part 1
Hey mommy friends! I just have a few seconds so I'm gonna pop on here really quick because I had to share something with you. I just got back from my walk and I can't tell you just on one walk alone, how many times I got blinged with messages and texts and questions from my mommy clients and my potty training consulting clients, asking me for help getting their little toddler ready for preschool in the fall.
Most day cares and preschools require you to have your kiddo completely potty trained before they will accept them into their program. I'm here to help! Let's get started!
If you have a question about potty training make sure to check out parts one thru five of my blog pages. Very valuable information about beginning the process of potty training your toddler all the way up thru getting them into daycare and getting them qualified and enrolled and registered in their preschool.
Are you starting now mamas?
We gotta get these babies ready because if they aren't potty trained by the time school starts - preschool or daycare - they might not get accepted into the program. And you know some of these waiting lists to get into these daycares and preschools are very long waiting lists. So that would be a big bummer right?
So here's what we need to do: we need to work fast, but not stressfully to get your kiddos potty trained and ready for preschool.
Okay first of all day cares, preschools, kinder care, they call it different things all over the world. I say daycare loosely because daycare in some countries means preschool or pre-K. But there are also daycares like in the US that are caregivers for children that are in diapers still and that's a different situation. So as a rule it's usually the school preschool pre-K schools that I'm talking about that require your kiddo to be somewhat potty trained.
You just need to look on their website to see if they expect them to be partially potty trained, halfway potty trained, completely potty trained. Most of them are going to require that your toddler is fully potty trained or at least mostly potty trained before they are allowed and accepted into the school program. What this means for you as the mommy, the trainer, the coach: You need to have already started your potty training process months ago. Months in advance before school starts.
Most preschool programs start in the fall so we're talking August September. So you should probably start training in the summer. Use those warm summer months to start doing the bare bottom method, the bare bum technique. Spending your days outside in the sunshine running around in the backyard blowing bubbles chasing butterflies - without pants on. Giving your child plenty of time on their potty training journey so that they're fully prepared and comfortable with potty training by the time school starts.
Since all day cares and facilities are going to be different with their rules and their regulations and their guidelines and their expectations for your toddler and their potty training level - you might wanna check online, they probably have their information posted on the internet somewhere on their website that you can look to see and read the rules. Read the guidelines, read those expectations and make sure that you're up to par and up to date on everything that you need to do to prepare your child for potty training and being completely potty trained before they start daycare or preschool.
Some daycares and preschools actually take care of your child and do the whole potty training process with them. They go thru every step of the way: taking them to the bathroom helping, them with their undressing and redressing, getting them cleaned up, wiped up, washing hands and escorted out. They do it on a schedule, they probably do it you know - hourly or in groups. Or maybe they go do the boys at one time and then the girls at another time. Or they probably go before snack time to wash up or after snack time... whatever. So find out what your specific school schedule is and talk to a teacher or a helper and ask them what their routine is what they do with the kiddos and how they go about the potty training part of the kiddos day. So that you can start practicing those steps and get into those routines at home with your toddler so that they're completely familiar and completely aware and and comfortable with the whole process and then they'll know what to expect when they start school.
Okay here are the basic steps that I'm familiar with that most daycares and preschools expect from your toddler as far as what level of being potty trained they expect your kiddo to be.
Number one: they need to be able to speak up. They need to be able to ask or say to somebody to an adult or a grown up or a teacher or a helper: "I need to go to the bathroom" "I need to go potty, my bladder is full. "My tummy hurts" "I feel the poo poo coming." whatever they need to say to the teacher to say "take me to the restroom gotta go" So teaching your kiddo to not be shy, not be bashful, not be ashamed or afraid to say "hey gotta go! it's my turn, I gotta go to the bathroom!" "Something's coming. "I've got that urge my bladder's full" "I had too many juice boxes." ... whatever. Making your child feel completely comfortable about asking or telling someone that they need to go potty. The second thing on the checklist that I think most preschools are going to expect from your toddler: your toddler needs to be able to independently find the toilet, walk over to the toilet, help themselves to the toilet and start to be able to go potty and use the toilet. Since your child is at preschool they're probably going to have a helper or a teacher or assistant or somebody that can help them go into the restroom and kind of assist them or supervise them as they're going to the potty. But your child needs to be somewhat independent about finding the potty walking over to the potty and getting up onto the body or the stool to start going potty. The third thing that's pretty important that I think a lot of preschools are going to expect of your toddler is to be able to undress and redress themselves.
What I mean by that is: getting their pants down, unzipping and snapping, unbuckling, untying their shorts or their pants and getting their pants down so that they can get up on the potty and use the restroom. I think I might be able to give you a little bit of advice here mamas: don't send your kiddo to school in buckles and pants that have zippers and snaps and buttons and things that are hard for them to fumble with with their little tiny fingers. They might not have that manual dexterity down just yet. Their motor skills might not be able to handle some of the zippers and snappers that are on these cute little kid clothes. I would just send them to school with a pair of drawstring shorts or elastic waist pants or a skirt. Something that they can get on and off easily and not be standing there fumbling and jiggling and wiggling trying to get undressed and then maybe possibly having an accident at school in front of all their friends.
Speaking of being with their friends: because a kiddo is at school being entertained, learning things, coloring, doing artwork and crafts and music and songs and being with their friends and playing with toys - they're going to be distracted. They're going to have a lot on their mind and they're not going to be thinking too much about their bladder. So they're not going to be aware of that urge when it comes right away. They're going to be ignoring it "oh I don't have to go pee" "I don't have to go pee, I don't want to go pee right now I'm having too much fun." What's going to happen is they're going to wait too long to the end of that sense of urgency that they're having and they're not going to give themselves enough time to get over to the potty, walk into the room, ask a teacher, whatever, get over to the toilet and then unsnap, unbuckle, unzip, whatever.
So making it quick and easy for them to get undressed or unsnapped or whatever. Just do elastic waist or drawstring, something simple. Teach your kiddo that they shouldn't wait until the very last minute of absolute full bladder urgency to speak up and say "hey I gotta go. Let's go potty." So bladder awareness: teaching your toddler how to be aware of what that feeling is, the sensation of the pressure in their bladder or or their poo-poo. If they're feeling like their tummy is starting to get rumbly and their bowels are starting to move around down there: helping them become aware of that bladder awareness or that bowel movement awareness so that they can feel and go okay this is how much time I have to get over to the potty or talk to a teacher or my mommy or a grown-up and say "hey I gotta go potty" and working on the timing of that so that they know okay by the time I sing "twinkle twinkle little star" that's how many seconds it takes to get to the potty. Or oh when my bladder is full I need to start thinking about talking to somebody and asking a grown-up now, instead of waiting too long until I finish my little lego project or building my little thing or coloring my picture. You know what I'm saying?
So what do we have so far?
1. We have speaking up saying I need to go potty. Telling an adult or a grown-up I need to go potty and not being shy to talk to a teacher or a helper or an assistant about saying "hey I gotta go potty" This is not a shameful, embarrassing thing. I gotta go! Get me to the toilet.
2. Being independent and taking charge of their body and saying hey I'm gonna go walk over to the potty I'm gonna find a teacher and say hey I'm going to the bathroom now so that they don't feel like they have to wait for permission or wait to be asked "Do you need to go to the bathroom?" "who needs to go to the bathroom class?" "Oh we're all going to the bathroom at this time class." If your kiddo needs to go - especially if it's number two... you know how it is when your tummy is full and rumbling and you're like okay I got to find the restroom I'm on my walk or I'm in the car in traffic but I gotta pull over and go number two. We need to teach our kids that it's their body and they're in charge.
3. And then third is independently dressing, undressing, redressing, taking their pants off to go potty. Sitting on the potty, turning around and getting comfortable, climbing onto the potty and turning around and seating themselves. And then of course getting back down by themselves independently and putting their pants back on. Putting their pants back on independently, all by themselves. I'm a Big boy! I'm a Big girl!
Okay here's the big one. This is the one that pretty much all of my mommies have an issue with and are struggling with. Their kiddo has been accepted into preschool and they've got this potty training thing down. They tell you when they need to go potty, they can get on the potty by themselves, they can dress and undress and redress and pull their pants back up all by themselves independently.
But the big question is: can they wipe? WIPING. All by themselves. Can they wipe themselves? This is a tough one guys because i know kiddos that are five and six years old that still need help cleaning up in the bathroom. They still need wiping assistance. They'll call out from the hallways in the bathrooms "mommy I need wiping. "I need to be cleaned up" "I'm all done!" Okay... wiping is not a fun thing to teach no doubt, for obvious reasons. It can be messy. There can be a negative association to the smell. Kiddos feel dirty and stinky and yucky. These are the kiddos that we need to be very careful not to say "yuck, pee-yoo, oh gosh!" "Gross, ew UGH!" "I can't do this! You do it!" Teaching your kiddo to wipe is something that should come at the latter part of the potty training adventure, but it needs to happen. You don't want to skip this part because it's something that your child is going to be doing for the rest of their life, hopefully. Right? Independently without your help? But daycares and preschools are kind of strict about this because they have sanitary reasons and health code reasons for not being allowed to or willing to dig in there and help your kid wipe their bum. Luckily for boys there's not a whole lot of wiping in the front (usually? maybe? sometimes mostly?) but for girls they need to have wiping skills at least for the front. Clean up in the back is something that you need to work on with your kiddo. When you're first starting to teach your toddler in training how to wipe and how to clean up after a BM I would start with just wet wipes, your usual baby diaper baby wipes, whatever brand you've been using for diaper clean-ups, for poo clean-ups.
Teach your kiddo how to hold the paper, how to hold the wipe, how to make it in a place on their hands that's not going to get messy and all up in there with their fingers and their knuckles and stuff. I'm sorry this is gross to talk about, but how else are they going to learn? I mean you could set an example and show them on yourself on your own body: "Look this is how mommy wipes." but I don't know how many mommies are comfortable having their kiddo right all up there in the front... or in the back where all the action is. Regardless of that you need to be comfortable with teaching your kiddo to wipe with their own hands so that they know how it feels to do it themselves with their own hands. They can watch visually a million times and see what it looks like to see how it goes, how it works. But to be able to do it themselves with their own hands with their own dexterity and motor skills, they need to be able to feel what it feels like to reach behind and clean and to check to see what they caught on their little wipe or their tissue paper. They need to know what it feels like to go back in again with a second piece that's clean and get another swipe and make sure that they're getting it all out.
You know by the time they get to be in daycare or preschool they're probably three or four years old that's usually when the wiping skills develop. You don't really necessarily need to teach them wiping and cleaning themselves in the very beginning because in the very beginning you're trying to get your kiddo just to sit on a toilet and stay put until something comes out right? Or you're trying to keep them entertained and singing happy little silly potty songs or giving them coloring books or stickers or blowing bubbles whatever you can just to keep them on that potty and to get a success out of them - to get something to come out. So in the beginning you're not really working on the wiping skills just, yet give that time.
But if you're going to be putting your kid in preschool you might want to start thinking about teaching the wiping skill once they've got that potty training success and peeing and going poo poo in the potty down.
Okay I think that covers the basics on the expectations of getting your kiddo to be approved and accepted into daycare and preschool. If you have any questions please make sure to leave comments because I can answer your questions directly down below. If you found this post helpful at all, please take a moment to subscribe to my youtube channel. This helps me to be able to continue to help other mommies like you who are in need of assistance with potty training their toddlers.
Potty Training Before Preschool -
Part 1: https://youtu.be/2ZGyc-jQPyA
Part 2: https://youtu.be/J9q4P9UqIXw
We're gonna get through this mommies, with a little bit of patience, some compassion and a lot of love. I'm Miss Jen thanks for watching and good luck. Please leave some comments down below. Don't forget to subscribe to my youtube, some thumbs up are always nice. I'll see you next time thanks!
Miss Jen
💗 Be sure to read Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 of the potty training series!
The links to Toddler Potty Training Videos parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 are down below...
__________________________________________________ Toddler Potty Training Part 1: https://youtu.be/goaxRLXdM4w Toddler Potty Training Part 2: https://youtu.be/Fmh6iymN1Ao Toddler Potty Training Part 3: https://youtu.be/Ga7TKnFOoQA Toddler Potty Training Part 4: https://youtu.be/5I-PSudPWYg Toddler Potty Training Part 5: https://youtu.be/wZ2MUhp3M9k
_______________________________________________________
Miss Jen's Favorite Potty Training products & recommendations:
Toddler Potty Training Toilets:
I’ve had experience working with Toddler Potty Training Toilets that cost $400+ (yes, that’s a thing!) and ones that are only $5 (the cheaper ones usually fall apart quickly). These are MY favorites and most reasonable in price. The kiddos love them - they are close to the ground, comfortable, sturdy and easy to get onto:
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Toddler Potty Training Potty Seat: https://amzn.to/3yDDbXO
Toddler Potty Seat: https://amzn.to/2TNoLoY
Potty Training Insert Seat: https://amzn.to/3dVDrJA
Toilet Seat with Built-in Potty Training Seat for Toddlers:
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Potty Training Timer Watch:
Blue: https://amzn.to/3hupSmt
Huggies Pull-ups:
Girls: https://amzn.to/2TXkb7N
Boys: https://amzn.to/3yHmvi0
Night Time Pull Ups - Goodnites:
For Girls: https://amzn.to/2TXlZO7
For Boys: https://amzn.to/3xDII0s
Toddler Underwear:
Girls: https://amzn.to/3xFyI6H
Boys: https://amzn.to/3kdipu6
Potty Step Stool For Kids:
Pink: https://amzn.to/3ks3rk6
Blue: https://amzn.to/36E1zwb
Urine stain remover & odor spray:
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💜 For more information about newborns, babies, infant, toddlers: you might find my FUN educational youtube videos helpful: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyUZ0DQiBXWUvkOaKRtHFVA