Difference between "potty training" and "potty learning"?

[Logan's mommy]

Ds2 will be two in September and he has started bringing us diapers whenever he needs a change. We're kind of thinking he may be ready for the potty, but I don't want to force the issue too much and totally turn him off of the idea. He loves to follow dh and watch dh potty. I've seen the term "potty learning" thrown around on this board, but never really knew how it was different than "potty training" and I'm looking for a bit of clarification. TIA

[isign]

I've never seen the term, but I can share what we did. My little guy is almost 3, but we're just starting. Over the past 6-8 months, we've read books about the potty and talked about pee pee. I never wanted to push, but to let him go when he was ready. Every now and then he'd pee in the tub, and we'd make a point to say something about pee pee, so he'd understand. We let him run around outside naked to let him go in the grass, which a lot of my friends said helped their kids. We also allowed him to occasionally watch DH and they'd talk about it a bit. Last Monday, he decided he wanted to use the potty. He used it all week, and into this week some too (VBS at church, too busy to stop and go). We're on the go, but he still communicated to me that he needed to go. I don't think I trained him, I think I allowed him to learn the toilet's functions as well as his own body's functions. He put it together and is doing well.

[texmati]

oh, I've always thought the term was just more pc term for potty training-- ie you don't train them like a dog, but you teach them.

[crunchy_mommy]

I kind of thought that potty learning is when you follow the kid's cues & let them show you when they're ready, and teach about the potty rather than train them to always use it. I thought of potty training as more structured or intentional... those aren't really the words I'm looking for... like more of a reward &/or punishment system or a little more forced... I don't think I'm being very eloquent with this...

[Logan's mommy]

Originally Posted by crunchy_mommy

I kind of thought that potty learning is when you follow the kid's cues & let them show you when they're ready, and teach about the potty rather than train them to always use it. I thought of potty training as more structured or intentional... those aren't really the words I'm looking for... like more of a reward &/or punishment system or a little more forced... I don't think I'm being very eloquent with this...

Eloquent or not, I get what you're saying Thank you for helping me understand a bit better. We took the potty learning approch with ds1 and finally had to "train" him when he was almost 4 1/2 and needed to be using the potty so he could start preschool.

I plan on going the same route with ds2, but hope he "takes" to the potty a bit faster.