Potty Learning With Montessori | Part 5 (Last One)

This will likely be my last update on the potty learning journey Jerome has been on, as he seems to have come to a pretty full understanding of it. Most excitingly, he has gotten himself up in the night to pee twice in the past week, and I am confident he will continue to develop this response.

Following His Signs of Readiness

We started putting him in underwear at nighttime completely due to him showing signs of readiness.

I began to notice that his diaper was almost always dry, and he would protest when we would try to put him in the diaper at bedtime. For the past weeks, we have been waking him up just before we go to bed, in order to have him go potty. He has been consistently dry, and, in the mornings has always come into our room, first thing, to tell me he has to go potty.

It seems funny to me that, at the end of the day, this process has happened so gradually, so naturally, that I hardly feel I have a fully "potty-trained" toddler, yet I most definitely do.

He has no trouble with getting himself on the regular toilet, even when we are away from home, and is very good for telling me when he needs to go, even when we are home and he really does not require any assistance.

Some Quick Tips

Some closing thoughts on using the Montessori approach to potty learning:

• Give them the control - let them choose what they wear that day, be it diaper or underwear
• Make it no pressure - do not show frustration, and allow them the opportunity to go according to their own body, instead of putting them on a timer. This is a natural process, one that they will learn eventually.
• Be prepared for accidents - they will happen, they are a natural and important part of the process. Do not shame your child for them.
• Let your child go according to their readiness - look for signs, such as your child protesting the diaper or taking it off, being interested in what you or an older sibling does in the bathroom, talking about their bodily movements, or telling you when they have gone
• Do not expect it to be done on a timeline - it may take a month, it may take several months or a year. As soon as you place a timeline on it, your child will feel the pressure and it will likely be much less natural and peaceful.

Thank you so much for reading. For the rest of Jerome's potty learning journey, check out Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | & Part 4 

God bless,

Olivia Fischer