Potty "Learning"

Audrey is in the process of learning how to go to the potty. As I write this, I'm struck by how utterly ridiculous it is to blog about the progress of my daughter's number 1s and 2s, but this is a blog about toddlers, newborns and pregnancy and you are reading this.

I'm winging it a bit, but I'm also doing some anecdotal research - asking relatives, friends - as well as reading articles and books. There seems to be lots of general articles about the topic, but not a lot of step-by-step information. It's probably the project manager side of me coming through, but I would really like the whole thing broken out in "phases". You know - Phase 1, introduce the potty, but don't push it. Let your toddler discover it herself. Phase 2...

Anyhoo, nothing so spelled out for me. Likely because all children are different, blah, blah blah.

One interesting change is the introduction of the term "potty learning", instead of "potty training". The thought is that children don't really need to be trained on how to go to the bathroom - that the process of learning how to recognize the urge and developing the muscle control to wait until the right moment to actually go to the bathroom.

I have to admit, I was first offended by the term. It seemed a bit schlocky and PCish and didn't see what the big deal was with the idea of training Audrey on how to use a toilet. (It actually seems that the term "training" is offensive when it comes to anything relating to raising children, but more on that for another post.)

I'm not sure when the term was first introduced. I happen to have a early 90s edition of the venerable Penelope Leach's Your Baby and Child: From Birth to Age Five and she uses the term there. For some reason, when she uses it, the phrase all of a sudden gains credibility for me. I suppose it does make sense that a child will learn how to control their bodily functions at some point and that we are indeed not "training" them to do that - merely showing them that pee actually belongs in a toilet and not in their pants.

I have a love-hate relationship with William Sears, the uber attachment parent guru. I did buy his "infotainment" book You Can Go to the Potty, which educates toddlers about the mechanics of going to the potty, which has been extraordinarily helpful.

Anyway, I've come around to the term, but I still won't use it in public. It just sounds too ridiculous.