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How To Potty Train When Your Child Is In Daycare
how to potty train when your child is in daycare
The thought of potty training over a long weekend might sound like the most unappealing thing after a draining week at work, but if your childcare provider doesn’t take the lead with it while your child is in their care or if they don’t have an effective process in place, this may be your best bet.
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It’s a great idea to chat with your provider about how they support the potty training process and what that usually looks like at their facility a few months before you plan to begin, or even when touring the facility.
Some larger commercial facilities have multiple staff or teachers per room and can actively help any toddlers who are potty training. While smaller, in-home daycares might only have one person caring for 5, 6, 7 children, and cannot commit to actively working with children on potty training.
Still, some in-home daycares with less children, are able to keep better track of a potty training child’s progress, while a child at a larger provider might end up getting a little lost in the mix of all the kids. It can vary.
Knowing what your provider does or doesn’t do, will give you an idea of what you might have to prepare for when the time comes for potty training your child.
If you’re lucky, your provider may feel comfortable, confident and able to take the lead and help your child actively potty train while they are in their care.
If not, the best thing you can do is to spend a weekend, preferably a long 3-day weekend, learning your toddler’s potty habits and cues, fears and hang ups (like always saying ‘no!’) and some things that work to motivate them and soothe them so they sit on the potty, and then share those with your provider and ask them to help support you with continuing those things while they are in their care. This is how to potty train when your child is in daycare.
From there, you can check in on the progress they make during the day, you can troubleshoot with them and work together to move past challenges that arise, supporting one another to get your child to the goal of being potty trained.
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Taking things into your own hands to set the foundation for the process can help your child start off strong, help you understand their needs and hang ups and allow you to guide your childcare provider through the process form afar, later. They will learn and adjust to your child’s needs as they go along but at least to start, they have an outline of what to do and accountability to continue.
So first, talk with your provider and see if they are open to supporting you with what you guys try at home. Hopefully you have a professional and supportive provider who is willing and able and says yes.
From there, choose a weekend to dedicate to observing your toddler and helping them all day to the potty, with accidents and big feelings.
These 3 articles will help you decide when the right time to potty train is and all the things you will need in place for the 3-day potty training weekend so it is less stressful and easier on everyone:
The first few days are often wild – and by wild I mean, filled with messes, feelings and challenges. So, depending on your toddler, this may be how your weekend goes. This is normal.
Using the potty is SO different for toddlers and it is a lot for them to learn – now wearing undies, listening to their bodies, timing their run to the potty, washing their hands, feeling how poop feels free falling into a potty rather than in a snug diaper – and they have to all of this multiple times a day. It’s a big deal for them and can be a messy process.
Here are a few articles that will keep things calmer and easier for all:
Remember, transitions are hard for toddlers. And potty training is filled with transitions all day – play to the potty, play then potty, play then potty – so expect feelings and push back to arise, and be as best prepared as you can be to validate their feelings and comfort, and continue on. When you do these 3 things, you will have less power struggles.
Rest assured, they will get a hang of using the potty with practice and by you bringing awareness to their bodily urges if they don’t yet recognize when they have to go (which most toddlers don’t when just starting out with potty training)
Next, once you’ve spent the weekend taking notes and actively potty training your toddler, you will have a lot of insight and tips to share with your provider on what has been working and what your toddler struggles with.
You might even choose to send your toddler with some supplies that have been working well for you – maybe a certain lovey, soothing toy, potty tracker or potty book. And be sure to send extra underwear and clothes as well. A thank you gift for your provider could be nice gesture, too.
They can mirror what you have done over this long weekend, at their facility, and you can provide practice for your child after they get home and on the weekends.
Some supplies your toddler might love to take to daycare:
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Everything you need to know to start potty training with more ease, confidence and calm.
Figuring out how to potty train when your child is in daycare, is possible! I hope you found this article helpful in making a plan for achieving that.
And remember! Some toddlers get a hang of things in a week while others take a month or more to be fully day potty trained. With regular practice and a supportive setting, your child will become a potty pro and soon it will all be in the rearview mirror! Stay positive, don’t be disappointed with how long their learning takes (you are not defined by how quickly they potty train, nor are they!) and keep asking for support from those you need it from and you will be able to tackle important milestones and challenges with your child no matter if they are with you or in the care of another!
Final note worth mentioning: In case you find yourself in the unlikely situation that your provider says they cannot support you in potty training – or maybe it seems that despite what they say they are doing, your toddler doesn’t seem to be progressing while in care but does pretty well at home – you can try talking with your toddler more regularly about what to do while in care, so they feel supported and reassured by you, even when you aren’t there.
For example, you could use simple words and say: “You’re doing SO great! Let’s keep practicing. Even when mommy isn’t with you at school. Find the potty, listen to your body, use your lovey if you feel upset. You’re doing great! And soon it will be so easy for you, just like using the potty is for mommy and daddy!”
Tell them what to do, even when you aren’t there. Face their fears head on, naming and validating them, and reassure your toddler that they are strong, capable, getting better and doing great! And then, at pickups, you can ask them about their day and how using the potty went, too. Maybe you could even bring a sticker board to do in the car after pickup for using the potty/keeping pants dry, let them choose a special snack or play their favorite songs.
All of these things can support them while potty training in someone else’s care who may do things differently from you.
For more potty training support, you can read all my potty training blog posts, here.
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