Time for Potty Training

When you are potty training boys, it can be more challenging than the same process is with girls. Most parents ask the same question – do you start out by training your little one to urinate sitting down or standing up? There isn’t one way that works all the time, but most experts recommend potty training boys sitting down. Pediatricians’ groups also recommend teaching boys to urinate while sitting down. The main reason this recommendation is made is to keep everything simpler for your little man. They can sit down for bowel movements and urination. In addition, it will make clean-ups easier as your son learns proper aim. Once your son is fully trained at sitting down, you can then work on urinating while standing up, like he sees Daddy do. For bowel movement training, if you have already taught your son to urinate sitting down, this is a next logical step. If he already urinates sitting down, it will be easier to teach him to have his bowel movements on the toilet. When you look at potty training from the child’s point of view, it all starts out with him being aware of his body, and learning to associate a full feeling with needing to eliminate, resulting in urination or a bowel movement. This type of awareness generally begins at age 1 and he just uses his diapers until you’re ready to train him. Suddenly (from his perspective) you want him to stop what he is doing and make his way to the bathroom when he has that full feeling. Then he has to allow time to pull his pants and underwear down and sit on the toilet to go to the bathroom. From the outlook of your child, you’re asking him for quite a lot. It makes sense to allow him to urinate sitting down so that it’s less confusing for him when he is first learning. Often times, urination precedes a bowel movement, so if he’s sitting, he’s ready for either one – or both. You’ll also want to decide, before you start training, whether you will be using the toilet or a potty chair for your lessons. The potty chair is usually too low for standing urination, so the toilet may work for both. Be sure to include a step stool if you use this method, and you might look into purchasing a reducer that will affix to the seat. If you decide to teach your child to urinate standing up, you’ll want him to learn in the bathroom, as opposed to setting up a potty chair somewhere else, since his aim will be off at first. Plan on extra cleaning until he gets the hang of it. If you speak with experts, you may get differing opinions on whether boys should be trained to urinate standing or sitting down.  Most pediatricians have determined that it is easier on the parent and the child to teach him sitting down first, for urinating and for bowel movements, and move on to standing after he more accurately understands what is expected of him. Potty Training Boys, a Fast and Complete program that Guarantees Results!