Can you unschool potty training or is it something that needs to be really taught?
Be patient. Await readiness. Allow your child to lead the process. Drop any specific expectations about how and when the task will be mastered. Trust your child to learn. Provide a supportive environment free of uninvited teaching. Do not judge or manipulate. Enjoy the ride, however long it takes to get to the destination.
Yes, you have to be ready for this.Originally Posted by rumi
Even if you haven't gone diaper-free so far, some people say that one can still ditch the diapers at any point as long as you are patient / nonchalant with accidents. I.e. the babies can still learn this way at a later age. However if it is later than say age 2, then going suddenly diaper-free might be more difficult, if they have "learned" or been "trained" all along that this is wrong and that only going in the diaper is "right." But if the baby/child is also patient / nonchalant with mishaps, then it could be stress-free and in fact a major relief to go diaper-free. The root of it all is communication (as we ec'ers are always reminding one another!)
Thanks silver, this is what I was wondering. I was kind of waiting until she was a proficient walker and then wanting to get a potty seat outside. I wasn't expecting her to walk proficiently until August because we have a lot of late walkers in our family but now at 16 months she is running around well. A few times after her bath at night I have let her runa round naked and when she has started to pee without a diaper she starts saying, "Uh oh! Oh no!" but not in a freak out way, just in that she has noticed that she was peeing and could feel it.Originally Posted by SweetSilver
In my home, we potty trained in high summer, perfect for little bare bottoms,
And they can flip out about this and about having accidents, even if the parents don't make it a big deal. You can do everything right, and still have a kid who is desperate for a diaper to poo in at 4yo.
For kids who aren't going to flip out about diapers, I highly recommend summertime and a lot of bare bottom time and making the potty available--ours started out in the play room* and didn't migrate into the bathroom for a couple of years (it's still there and being used by my 5.5yo-- it makes her feel secure that she can "make it" in time.)
OMG this is so true! We have late walkers in my family but since my DD is the only grandchild/niece everyone was ALWAYS asking if she was walking more, when is she going to walk blah blah blah, and joking that she will still be scooting on her butt until she is 6. Really not helpful things but luckily I had the confidence (even being a first time mom) to know that she will walk when she is comfortable walking. Her personality is just like mine when I was a kid (and even now a little still) in that she won't do anything until she knows that she has close to 0% chance a messing up. And I could see her testing herself in different ways as she was getting to be a better walker.