Five Top Tips for Potty Training Girls
Are you seeing the signs that it’s time to potty train your little girl? Learning as much as you can about it is the best place to start! Here are five top tips for potty training girls.
1. Potty with Mommy
Whenever it’s convenient, let your daughter watch you use the bathroom. Try to get over any privacy hang-ups; remember, this is a learning experience, and toddlers learn by watching! Talk about the process, too, as you do each step.
2. Wear Dresses
One of the advantages to potty training a little girl is that she can wear dresses. These are much easier to lift up for potty access, and if you’re hanging around the house for a “training day,” you can leave off her underwear to make it even more convenient.
Beware, though – even adult women sometimes find their long dresses or skirts may have a close brush with the toilet water. Shorter dresses are best for potty training, but for longer dresses, show your toddler how to get the material out of the way by tucking it into the dress’s neck hole.
3. Potty Chairs
A potty chair is a good idea for a little girl, who may find it hard to sit on a large toilet seat. Also, she can watch you use the big toilet while she uses her chair. They are easy to sit down on, too, and don’t require any climbing. Let her put a few stickers on it so she feels like it belongs to her.
You can use an insert that fits into the seat of a full-size toilet as well, but when you first start, it’s a good idea to stick with just one place for her to go. She’ll likely be more flexible about where she’ll use the bathroom once she is confident.
4. Sitting Like a Lady
Toilet seats are big for little girls, and they will sometimes place their knees far apart to stay upright. This sets the stage for urine to go where it shouldn’t, such as in a spray. Show your little girl that she should keep her knees closer together and over the front of the toilet seat. It might help if she leans forward a bit.
5. Always Front to Back
It’s easier for toddlers with developing motor skills to reach down and swipe the toilet paper from back to front. But this is a habit that makes little girls more prone to bladder infections. It may require a little more coordination, but make sure your daughter knows to reach round and go from front to back.