Top 5 Myths About Potty Training

By Linda Acredolo, Ph.D. & Susan Goodwyn, Ph.D.

Potty training is a challenge that all parents face. In their search for advice on how to potty train their children and live to tell the tale, more and more parents are turning to the internet for advice. Unfortunately, however, typing “How to Potty Train” into a search engine these days, is likely to yield advice that makes potty training more of a challenge for parents rather than less of a challenge.  That’s because so many sources continue to perpetuate five myths about potty training, myths that work to the advantage of the diaper industry (by keeping children in diapers longer) but to the disadvantage of both children and their parents.  

Here, in descending order, are the top five myths about potty training:  

Myth #5:  Children under 2 aren’t “physically ready” for potty training.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), to actively participate in potty training, children must be physically able to:

    * Sense when they need to eliminate
    * Delay elimination long enough to get to the potty
    * Sit independently on a potty chair

At what age do these skills typically appear? The fact that before the invention of the disposable diaper in the 1960s, children in the United States were routinely potty trained by 18 months is clear evidence that these abilities are available at least by early in the second year. Moreover, even today, parents in over 50 other countries seem to have no trouble figuring out how to potty train their children by 18 months. American children simply can’t be that biologically immature in comparison to children from other countries.

Myth #4:  Children under 2 aren’t “cognitively ready” for potty training.

According to the AAP, to actively participate in potty training, children must understand what it is they are supposed to do and be able to communicate about it—that is, be able to: 

    * Associate the need to eliminate with using the potty
    * Your browser may not support display of this image.Understand simple instructions
    * Signal an adult when they need to go

Again, the fact that children in the past were routinely trained by 18 months indicates that the first two of these abilities are both available quite early and certainly by 18 months.  As for signaling an adult, learning simple potty-time signs enables children to do just that even before they can talk. And we know from our two decades of research on signing that learning signs is not only easy, but fun, for children as young as 9 to 12 months.   
 
Myth #3: Children under 2 aren’t “emotionally ready” for potty training. 

Emotional readiness for potty training means a willingness to cooperate.  According to the AAP, the likelihood of such cooperation increases after the first birthday with the emergence of the following:

    * A desire for independence and self-mastery
    * An interest in imitating others
    * A desire for approval

Anything, then, that increases the willingness of toddlers to embrace potty training automatically creates the emotional readiness that the AAP says is essential. So, when parents type “How to Potty Train” into their favorite search engine, what they need to be looking for are products that teach about potty use in such an entertaining way that children become inspired to join the “fun.”  

Myth #2:  Children over 2 are easier to potty train than children under 2.

This is one of the most misleading assumptions about potty training because the truth is just the opposite:  Children over 2 are actually harder to potty train than children under 2!  Here are the two main reasons: 

* The Terrible Twos: Children under 2 are less likely to have entered the dreaded “Terrible Twos” when oppositional behavior drastically increases and the word “No!” is so vehemently applied to anything a parent wants a child to do—including using the potty. That’s why parents trying to train 2 ½- , 3-, and 4-year-old children so frequently end up in a battle of wills that they can’t win. No parent can make a child use the potty.

* A deeply ingrained habit: The older the child, the longer he or she has enjoyed the convenience of eliminating into a diaper and the more deeply ingrained the habit has been allowed to become. And as we all know, the more deeply ingrained the habit, the harder it is to break—especially if children don’t see any advantage to doing so. Why should they disrupt their activities to do something they’ve spent their whole lives doing totally at their own convenience!

And the #1 Myth about Potty Training: Potty Training CAN’T be fun and easy!

Potty training doesn’t have to be a battle ground! If you start potty training between your child’s first and second birthday, make potty time a regular part of your daily routine and provide your child with motivational resources, potty training can be easy for you and fun for your baby. 

Author Information
Child development experts Dr. Linda Acredolo and Dr. Susan Goodwyn are the authors of the books Baby Signs, Baby Minds and Baby Hearts and creators of the Baby Signs Potty Training Program. The authors are regularly cited in national parenting magazines and have appeared on Oprah, Good Morning America, The Today Show, The Doctors, Dateline NBC and many others. For program information and links to their research, please visit www.BabySigns.com and www.PottyTrainWithBabySigns.com.

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