Early Potty Training

In most Western countries, potty training does not start till the child reaches two to three years of age. It is believed that potty training their children before this can cause developmental problems in their children. However, a new concept of potty training is becoming popular among parents these days because of various reasons. Though this is quite a new concept in the western countries, early potty training has been practiced in many Asian countries since several years. Also known as infant potty training, it starts anywhere between the birth of a baby till the time it is six months old. However, potty training your baby so early in life is not an easy task, rather you have to put in time, efforts and a lot of patience to do it. Let us take a look at its advantages and how actually it is done.

Benefits
Early potty training is also called 'elimination communication' because, for training your infant to eliminate at the correct place, you need to develop a kind of communication with it. This is the biggest advantage of potty training your baby at an early stage because parents who have done this say that bond between them and their baby becomes stronger and closer after this. Moreover, parents learn to observe the child closely for cues and signs of elimination which makes them well aware of their child's body language and behavior. Another thing is that with early potty training, the parents do not have to depend on disposable diapers all the time for accidents, thus saving on lots of money. An important thing that has been observed with babies who have been potty trained early in life is that they become aware of their bodily needs early in life and before they reach two years of age, they fully understand where they have to go when they feel the urge to eliminate. As they do not have to depend on diapers, they are also free from the problems like diaper rash, urinary tract infections, etc.

Potty Training Methods
As I said earlier, the most important way to start infant potty training is to understand when your baby feels the need to eliminate. Most babies have a certain pattern regarding this and you just have to notice this pattern. For instance, some babies eliminate after they are fed or may be after they wake up from sleep. Another way of finding this is by observing the infant's body movements, facial expressions or may be some sounds that he makes when he feels the urge to eliminate. When you observe your cue, hold your baby in a comfortable position over a potty, pot or bucket and make some kind of a noise like sssss, shhhhh, etc. This sound has to be repeated every time you see that your baby wants to eliminate. Soon, it will start associating the sound to the need to use the potty. However, if your baby has started using the cues of using the potty to eliminate for a few times, it does not mean that it has completed its potty training. You must understand that accidents are going to happen and should never react to such situations. You must stay relaxed, as this method will not work if you use pressure or punishment.

Potty Training Tips
Though potty training infants takes a lot of time and patience, getting to know about some important tips can make the whole thing easier for you and your baby. So, here are some tips that you ought to know about early potty training.

• One of the most common questions that people ask while potty training their infants is what kind of clothing should they make their children wear. The best outfit would be something that can be easily removed like baby bag pajamas, stretchy shorts, training pants, etc. Some people prefer to keep their baby bare bottomed during this time. However, this is not always possible, but it would be best to dress the baby only with a few layers of clothing while at home.
• Though most parents who potty train their infants completely avoid the use of diapers, it is actually fine to make your child wear it sometimes. For instance, making your baby wear a diaper at night or may be while going out can be quite convenient and will not disrupt the purpose of potty training.
• Though it is said that the best time to start early toilet training is when the children are less than six months of age, as the time before this is said to be sensitive period where the kids are aware of their bodily needs. However, this does not mean it is impossible to potty train the child after this. Though early toddler potty training can be a little difficult, i.e. once the baby is used to the act of eliminating in the diaper, there are toddlers who have been able to adapt to potty training method even after six months. Parents can follow the above given guidelines and by the time the child is two years of age, she will surely be fully potty trained.

Though it is completely fine to start the potty training process at an early age, this is finally the choice of the parents. Nevertheless, I would like to say that the advantages of infant potty training is huge and it will also free you from the job of changing diapers endlessly.