How to teach a child to eat with a spoon? How to teach a child to eat independently and carefully - complete instructions for parents

The older the baby gets, the more independent he wants to be. Now he takes the bottle himself and drinks from it, puts the toys in the basket himself, but how to teach a child to eat with a spoon? Often for parents this issue turns out to be no less important than even the issue of potty training, because independent eating is an important stage in the development of the baby. Let's try to figure out the problems and difficulties that often accompany teaching a baby to eat independently.

When should you start teaching your child to eat with a spoon?

All children develop differently. Some people take a spoon and try to pick at their plate with it as early as 10-12 months; others put off this training until they are three years old. Of course, the sooner you teach your baby to use cutlery, the better. And even more so, you don’t need to delay this by feeding the baby yourself.

Experts say that you need to start accustoming your baby to a spoon at the age of 10 months, and by the age of one and a half years, the child should confidently use this cutlery himself.

The main mistake that some parents make is being overprotective. Mothers do not give the baby a spoon, even when he himself tries to take it and stir the food on the plate. There may be several reasons for this. Some people believe that by feeding the baby themselves, they are showing care and attention. Some people just don’t want to have to clean the kitchen again. Both approaches are wrong. The baby needs to be taught to use a spoon. If only because this is one of the requirements when preparing a child for kindergarten.


Which spoon should you choose?

It is very important to choose the right spoon so that your baby can use it comfortably. The following spoons can be used for children.

  • Silver is a tribute to tradition. Often silverware is given to the baby by godparents on the day of Epiphany. The advantage of silver is that it disinfects food.
  • The rubber one is good because it does not injure the baby’s delicate mouth, but it is only suitable for introducing complementary foods. The baby will not be able to use such a device on his own, since it is too inconvenient for uncertain children’s fingers.
  • Anatomical is a special design designed for the little ones. This spoon is comfortable to hold in your hand and is easy to scoop up food with. But the device has a significant drawback: after getting used to the anatomical spoon, it will be difficult for the baby to eat normally.
  • The teaspoon is a classic. These were the spoons our mothers and grandmothers fed us with. It is convenient, compact and ideal for learning.

For children 10 to 18 months old, plastic spoons can be used. They are light, colorful, and fit perfectly into a child's hand. Thanks to the variety of shapes, you can choose the most convenient device.


How to teach your baby to eat on his own?

So, your baby is 10-12 months old, and you have decided to teach him to eat on his own. You've already chosen the right spoon and maybe even bought a plate with a suction cup to make it easier for your child to scoop food out of it. But what next?

There are several basic rules for teaching your baby to use cutlery independently.

  1. Keep an eye on the child. As soon as you notice in him even the slightest interest in the spoon, immediately give it to him. Even if this happens at seven months and does not bring any results other than a food-stained table.
  2. Get your baby interested. From the very beginning, let your baby understand that eating is a responsible and important matter. There is no need to sit your child in the living room and feed him while he watches cartoons. Teach your baby “from the cradle” - you only need to eat in the kitchen, in peace and quiet. It’s good if the child has dinner with the whole family at a common table. This will develop in him the right attitude towards eating and will encourage him to quickly learn how to use a spoon on his own.
  3. Create a pleasant atmosphere. Do not rush the child, be friendly and affectionate. Let the meal last as long as your baby wants.
  4. Don't refuse help. If your child is not doing well and is upset about it, help him. Use your hand to guide his hand to his mouth or use your example to show him how to hold a spoon.
  5. Teach by playing. Practice shows that children who often play in the sandbox get used to the spoon more easily. It's all about such a children's toy as a spatula. It resembles an enlarged copy of an ordinary spoon and perfectly trains cutlery skills.
  6. Let me choose. Some children get used to a fork more easily than to a spoon. Give a choice: a baby spoon or a plastic fork with blunt ends.
  7. Start with something tasty. Prepare your baby his favorite dish, but the consistency should not be too liquid. Soup or puree will not work, but porridge is just right. Decorate the dish with berries and fruits so that your baby enjoys eating it.

Many parents don't know where to start spoon training. In general, the following sequence of actions can be distinguished.

  • Cover the table and floor around the highchair with oilcloth.
  • Attach a Velcro plate to the countertop and place food in it.
  • Put your baby on a cap (so he doesn't get his hair dirty) and tie a bib.
  • Stand in front of your baby and scoop some porridge from his plate with a spoon. Defiantly swallow food and praise yourself - this will set an example for your baby.
  • Next, hand the device to your baby. If he can't hold it, hold the spoon in his hand with your hand and scoop food from the plate.
  • Help your baby eat until he can hold a spoon on his own.

Be prepared for the whole child and objects around him to be stained with porridge. It’s okay, children learn quickly, and very soon your little one will begin to more accurately bring the spoon to his mouth.


  1. Tell everyone in the household in advance that you are teaching your baby to handle a spoon independently. Don't let anyone feed the baby themselves.
  2. You should not force your baby to eat on his own if he is in pain.
  3. It is better if meals occur at the same time.
  4. Some parents feed their children in the bathroom to make it easier to wash the baby and themselves, but this should not be done.
  5. It is better to teach your baby to eat independently in the summer. At this time of year, you can strip him down to his panties, and when he gets dirty, wash him right away.
  6. Don't get annoyed or despair if your baby doesn't succeed.
  7. If your child is tired of eating with a spoon, feed him more.
  8. Do not force your baby to eat with cutlery. If he wants to eat with his hands, please! In any case, over time the child will want to be like adults and will take a spoon.

The last piece of advice can perhaps be called key, and not only in the matter of teaching cutlery. Many parenting methods (the Montessori system, the Doman method, etc.) are based precisely on giving the child freedom, so keep in mind that imposing a spoon on the child will only increase the period of getting used to it.


Stages of getting used to a spoon

There are several stages that every baby goes through on the way to learning to eat independently.

  1. Stage "Game". The child clumsily takes a spoon, twists and plays with it. For him, this is still just a beautiful toy.
  2. Stage "Copy". The baby tries to repeat the movements of adults, but due to underdeveloped coordination, the baby is unable to bring the spoon to his mouth.
  3. Stage "Training". The baby already quite consciously takes the spoon and even eats with it. True, sometimes food falls before reaching the mouth.
  4. Stage "Addiction". The child almost never drops food from the spoon and eats quite well on his own.
  5. The final stage. The baby eats confidently and calmly on his own.

Conclusion

Be patient and restrained, and then your baby will very quickly master the skill of using a spoon. Every baby wants to eat like an adult, so don’t doubt that eventually the child will learn to eat on his own and will get a lot of pleasure from it.

Due to physiological characteristics, potty training a child should not begin too early, but it should not be delayed either.

It is also necessary to remember about the individuality factor: one toddler can easily sit on a night vase, while the other, even by the age of three, is not always able to cope with self-care.

Based on the above, you need to find out when and how to potty train your baby. There are many ways to master this skill, but it is better to learn more about the most effective and most natural ones.

About your child’s readiness to use the potty

Probably, the question of when to potty train a child is the most common and pressing question among most modern mothers who want to quickly instill hygienic skills in their baby.

The answer lies in infant physiology. Scientists have proven that from the first days of life until about one year of age, a child does not control the processes of bowel and bladder emptying.

That is, such processes are unconditional and do not require the participation of the cerebral cortex. Consequently, the baby does not feel the filling of the rectal canal and bladder.

The main goal of teaching a child the skills of neatness, to put it simply, is to make an unconditional reaction conditional - that is, to make the processes of urination and defecation volitional and meaningful acts.

The success of transforming an unconditioned reflex into a meaningful action will be determined by three main factors:

These three conditions are interconnected and naturally complement each other. Analysis of these factors allows us to draw obvious and extremely important conclusions. Among them:

  • The sooner parents start putting their child on the potty, the more time and effort it will take to teach this skill.
  • The more developed the baby is physiologically, the faster he will begin to pee and poop in the night vase.

Can these factors and findings be ignored? Undoubtedly. However, in this case, potty training a child will be accompanied by various problems, which we will discuss below.

Difficulties of early training

On forums, you often come across comments from patient and active mothers who claim that their children at 10 months (and sometimes almost 5 months) can write after the treasured “pee-pee-pee” sounds and poop after the characteristic grunting “ah-ah” -A".

Such “successes” are explained quite simply. The characteristic sounds made by parents lead to the formation of a reflex in the child: a connection between the sounds “pee-pee-pee” and urination. There is no need to talk about the emergence of a volitional act.

It is not special sound signals that should encourage the baby to go to the potty, but a physiological process that is accompanied by an overflowing bladder or rectum.

Problems with seemingly developed skills can begin at two years of age or a little earlier. The baby, who has already learned to sit on a night vase at 9 or 10 months, suddenly refuses to pee and poop in the same way, actively protesting against being planted.

Experts associate such situations with the physiological maturation of the child. Natural control over the filling of internal organs begins to form, and parents with their “pee-pee-pee” force the baby to empty the still empty bladder.

Thus, parents’ ignorance of how and when to potty train their child often leads to the development of very superficial and unstable neatness skills.

It’s even worse when adults, upset by children’s failures in the form of puddles on the carpet, soiled panties or fear of the potty, begin to “force” the child: they force him to sit on a hygiene device, forbid him to get up early, etc. This cannot be done!

What time should a child be potty trained?

So, based on physiological norms, we can conclude that teaching children the skills of neatness before 12 months is not justified by anything other than the parental desire to quickly get rid of boring diapers. Of course, this desire is understandable.

5 main stages:

  1. First of all, show your baby the potty and explain why it is needed. Rubber toys with holes can help. They fill such a teddy bear and baby doll with water and release it into a night vase, telling them that the toy is peeing.
  2. How to teach a child to go potty? At first, the baby is planted after waking up, before and after meals, before falling asleep and during the day and after it, before and after a walk, before going to bed for a night's sleep.
  3. Now you should stop using diapers during the day. This way the child will be able to study his body, find out why the genitals and soft spots are needed. He will also establish the relationship between organs and urination and defecation.
  4. Every time a child succeeds in asking to go to the potty and doing his “wet chores,” he should be praised. But rewards should not come in the form of toys or treats. Enough with the usual words of encouragement.
  5. When a child begins to sit on the potty independently, without reference to the time of day, it means that the final stage of training has arrived. You need to consolidate the result obtained by monitoring the characteristic signs of readiness to go to the toilet - straining and redness of the face.

Small tricks

If you still have no idea how to potty train a one-year-old child, or if an older child has misfires, some small tricks will come to the rescue:

  • The learning process will be simplified if the family has an older child who already knows how to use a potty. In this case, the firstborn will be able to show the younger how to use an unfamiliar device;
  • We potty train your child carefully, without being too zealous. There is no need to keep your baby on the nightstand for more than 5 or 7 minutes. If you force him, he will begin to refuse to even come close to such an unpleasant object;
  • It is necessary to dress the baby very easily and simply. That is why experts advise starting training in the summer, when children wear a minimum amount of clothing. And the things themselves should be without belts, buttons, ties and buckles;
  • The night vase should be placed within the baby’s reach. Then he will be able to relieve himself, and mom will have a reason to celebrate, albeit a small, but victory. The potty can be installed in the nursery, not far from the play area;
  • In order for the child to definitely like the hygiene device, you need to choose it together with the future owner. Go shopping or look for a potty in a chain store, focusing on the preferences of the baby (images of animals, favorite characters);
  • When teaching neatness skills, you can use various books that reveal the meaning of the purpose of the night vase. For example, such works as “Fedya the Bear and the Potty” and “Max and the Potty” are very popular among mothers.

How long will the training take? Everything is purely individual. Some children, especially if they are physiologically ready for bladder and bowel control, can gain the skill in 2 to 3 weeks. Others cope in a few months.

If it seems to the mother that the process is taking too long, and the result is needed right now, you can resort to quick methods.

How to potty train a child in 7 days: basic steps

The “Voluntary Baby” system, which was developed by Gina Ford, has helped a considerable number of mothers who do not know how to quickly potty train their child.

  • first day. After waking up, they get rid of the diaper, explaining to the baby that he has already grown up, so now he will wear panties. Then the child needs to be seated for about ten minutes so that he can pee and poop. If the attempt fails, repeat the process every quarter of an hour. You can sit down next to him and explain to the baby why the skill of neatness is necessary;
  • second day. Now we need to carefully monitor children's behavior so as not to miss a single sign of readiness to go to the toilet. At each such sign, a pot should be offered to consolidate yesterday’s successes;
  • the third day. The behavior tactics remain the same, but in addition you need to get rid of diapers even during a walk, so as not to confuse the child. Before going out, you should do some “wet work,” and on the street, ask more often if the baby wants to pee. You can take a pot with you so as not to go into the bushes;
  • fourth - seventh days. On the fourth day, both the child and you already approximately know at what intervals you should use the potty. And if the baby gets carried away with toys and forgets about the need, you remind him. The child should be praised for every success, because mother’s encouragement is a wonderful incentive for acquiring a skill.

In just a week, according to the author and parents, it is possible to instill hygiene skills in the baby. But even if after 7 days there are “misfires”, you should not despair or, especially, scold the baby. Everything will definitely get better very soon.

How to potty train a child in 3 days: conditions and rules

In the event that it is necessary to introduce the baby to the potty as quickly as possible (for example, the baby will soon go to kindergarten or go on a trip), parents will find it useful to use emergency methods for teaching children to use the hygienic device.

Of course, in such a short time, not a single child will be able to immediately move from diapers to a potty, but kids will develop a basis for mastering toilet etiquette.

Rules for carrying out the technique

The three-day method will only work if the child is older than one and a half years old, but younger than two years old. In addition, the baby is able to explain in an accessible way that he wants to pee or poop, and strives to quickly get rid of the spoiled diaper.

How to potty train a child in 3 days? First of all, after making sure that the baby is ready for the process, you need to introduce him to the upcoming changes. Such acquaintance begins in advance - about two weeks before active steps.

Preparation consists of several steps:

  • buy a potty (if you don’t already have one), explain to your child every day why this device is needed. You can also give instructions to an adult toilet, telling them that the toilet is the same as a potty, but for adults;
  • tell them 7 days before the event that you will soon have to get rid of diapers, and instead of them panties and a potty will appear. Buy children's underwear for “adult” children. Let the panties be with images of your favorite characters;
  • the mother will need three days in a row to be with the baby all this time. Therefore, you should take Friday or Monday off so that the technique is not interrupted, and enlist the support of your spouse;
  • Since you will have to constantly be with the baby for 3 days, you need to prepare entertainment for him and yourself in advance: cartoons, movies, games, books - everything that will allow you not to get bored and irritated.

As soon as you manage to prepare everything, you should proceed to active actions, carefully following all the recommendations of specialists.

First day

In the morning, as soon as the baby wakes up, the diaper is removed. It is permissible to put the child in shorts or leave him to walk around naked, if, of course, the temperature in the room and the season are conducive to this.

The night vase is placed in the children's room, closer to the baby. By the way, you can give him more liquid: water, milk or juice.

This is necessary so that the child wants to empty the bladder. Or simply place a sippy cup with your favorite drink next to your baby.

Parents carefully watch their child, tracking every sign that he wants to go to the toilet.

Ideally, the baby should notice a clear relationship between the desire to pee and being put on the potty. You can put the child on the night vase every 20 minutes.

It is for such painstaking work that at least two adults are needed. There will be a significant workload on them, since each attempt to urinate must be monitored in order for the connection to become firmly established in the mind.

How to potty train very quickly? Be sure to praise your child for every successful attempt.

Moreover, you should not say faceless phrases like “well done,” but specifically explain why you are praising the child: “Good girl for peeing in the potty.”

Failures, on the contrary, must be ignored without paying any attention to them. Moreover, you should not scold or blame the baby so that he does not develop negative associations associated with the potty.

Before going to bed in the evening, you are allowed to put on a diaper. Let the baby get a good night's sleep before the next day.

Second day

Today you can walk outside with your child without a diaper. Naturally, it is better not to go far from home, so that in case of an unpleasant “embarrassment” you can quickly return to the apartment. This is especially true in the autumn-winter period.

They go outside after the baby has peed and pooped. In the warm season, you can take things with you for changing clothes and a second potty for performing natural needs. After a successful attempt, be sure to praise the child.

The third day

In the last 24 hours, you should add one more walk so that the baby can control the process of bowel and bladder emptying both at home and outside.

Before any routine activity (walk, nap), it is necessary to place the child on a night vase. The same procedure is repeated upon returning home and after waking up.

If you don’t know how to potty train a 2-year-old child in the shortest possible time, a three-day course will come to the rescue. At the end of the technique, children usually respond well to the potty, often even sitting on it on their own.

It is best to do without clothes, but if the room is cool, you need to choose the right things - without buttons, straps, zippers and other fasteners. Otherwise, the child will not be able to quickly remove the underwear and will do a “wet or dirty thing” directly into the panties.

Potty training in 1 day: is it possible?

This method is used if the baby is already 2 years old, he understands speech addressed to him and can communicate according to his age with his parents. You should also enlist the support of all household members, since the mother will have to be with the child all day.

Potty training in 1 day means being provided with some necessary items, including:

  • rubber doll with a hole for demonstrating urination;
  • the pot itself;
  • children's favorite drinks;
  • disposable panties.

The more a child drinks, the more often he has the urge to empty his bladder. Consequently, the sooner parents will be able to teach the baby to use the potty. Therefore, it is necessary to give your child more fluid.

To ensure that nothing distracts your baby from the learning process, you need to be alone in the room with him and limit contact with other household members. Then the baby is shown where the night vase is and taught to pull off and pull on his panties.

Since emptying the bladder involves complete relaxation, in simple words the child is conveyed the idea that he needs to sit quietly on the potty and wait until “the water flows.”

Demonstrate with the example of a rubber doll what you expect from your child. To reinforce instructions, use gestures to show how to sit, relax, and stand up after peeing. Be sure to praise the baby for every successful action, using verbal approval and a hug.

How to properly potty train a child in 1 day? It is important to pay special attention to personal hygiene. After each urination, you need to help the baby pour the contents of the night vase into the toilet and wash your hands with detergent.

Opinions about this technique are mixed. Some mothers recognize its effectiveness, while others note that it is almost impossible to teach a baby to pee and poop in a potty in one day.

Potty training a girl and a boy: are there any differences?

Often, even the gender of the child affects the speed and characteristics of learning neatness skills. Many experts and parents point out that little ladies are more obedient and diligent than boys.

Girls try to imitate their mother in everything, so it is somewhat easier for them to understand the principle of the process. And because of their natural perseverance, many babies spend more time on the potty, which significantly increases the likelihood of a successful completion of the event.

However, some girls are extremely shy - which is why they prefer to endure the urge to empty their bladder, which ultimately leads to wet panties.

Young gentlemen are more active, not as diligent and observant as girls, and are more drawn to their fathers. And since dads spend a lot of time at work, the boys will develop the skill a little later. Mommy won’t be able to show you how to pee standing up.

Experts advise taking into account the gender of the child when purchasing a useful device. For little ones, a product with a round hole is more suitable; for a little boy, you should choose a pot with a special recess and a roller that will prevent splashing.

How to potty train a girl? The baby's training is standard. But the process of training a boy is a little different. The young gentleman should first be taught to use the night vase while sitting, since bowel and bladder emptying occur simultaneously at such a young age.

Only after this do they move on to the “male” version. Let dad show it, and then mom will only have to monitor the accuracy of the baby, who at first will be sure to spray everything around. The problem of how to potty train a boy is best solved in a game. This is the ideal way to learn.

You can understand how to properly accustom your baby to using a night vase if you choose the most suitable hygienic device. Fortunately, children's stores have a variety of potty models.

However, making a choice based solely on the color of the most important accessory is wrong. At such a young age, a child really doesn’t care whether his potty is pink, blue or green.

When purchasing a night vase, parents need to pay attention to several important characteristics:

Of course, every mother thinks that I can buy the best potty model for my beloved baby. However, you should not get too carried away; it is better to take a stable, plastic night vase without additional functions.

Modern manufacturers of hygiene products for children offer to purchase special underpants or diapers to teach neatness skills. Such “training” products are distinguished by a layer that remains wet and leads to noticeable discomfort.

To become dry and clean, the child tries to remove the uncomfortable diaper and relieve himself in the potty. In this case, it becomes somewhat easier to accustom the baby.

Unfortunately, teaching children hygiene skills does not always go smoothly. There is both a regression of skill and all sorts of fears of the potty. In addition, some children, due to health problems, are not able to independently learn to write in a night vase.

One step forward - two steps back

Mothers often note paradoxical situations when a child who knows how to use a potty suddenly refuses to sit on it. And if the parents insist, then he throws a real one. There are several possible reasons for this phenomenon:

To cope with the difficulties that have arisen, you need to find out the root cause of the reluctance to relieve yourself in a night vase. Once you get rid of the source of the problem, you can move on to retraining.

Fear of the plastic “friend”

Another common situation is an irrational fear of the potty. In such a situation, parents simply cannot get the baby to sit on it, because the child cries, breaks out, and becomes hysterical at the mere sight of a hygiene accessory.

There are several sources of this behavior:

  1. Potty training too early, when the baby is not ready in all respects.
  2. Parents are stingy with praise for their child’s successes and harsh punishment for failures.
  3. Not a very successful introduction to the night vase. For example, a baby was sat on a cold object, which also turned out to be unstable.
  4. Physiological or psychological, in which the baby forms an association: painful sensations when sitting on the potty.
  5. Common childhood shyness or reluctance to defecate and urinate in front of loved ones.

To change the situation, you need to leave the child alone for a while, wait until his fears are forgotten. Those mothers who run after a crying baby with a potty at the ready are wrong. Such short-sighted behavior will only strengthen the child's phobia.

Experts recommend playing out a disturbing situation in game stories. Let the baby place baby dolls, robots, and soft toys on the potty. The main task is to evoke positive emotions directly towards the night vase and sitting on it.

Create fairy tales with a therapeutic focus on a potty theme. In such stories, a kind and sad potty waits for its owner to play with it, and then pee and poop in it. The plot is limited only by parental imagination.

The following technique may also work. Eyes and a smiling mouth made of adhesive paper are glued onto the plastic accessory. You can additionally decorate the pot with figurines depicting your baby’s favorite characters.

Sometimes problems with instilling hygiene skills in a child are associated not with psychological, but with medical factors. If daytime and nighttime involuntary urination occurs after five years, it’s time to consult a doctor.

Uncontrollable urination can be caused by several problems:

  • congenital pathologies of the genitourinary organs;
  • inflammation of the urinary tract;
  • imperfection of the nervous system;
  • heredity;
  • prolonged stressful situations.

The diagnosis and treatment of enuresis is carried out by two specialists: a urologist and a neurologist. First of all, parents should show the child to a urologist, who will conduct an examination of the external genital organs (the girl may additionally be referred to a pediatric gynecologist).

In addition, the urologist can prescribe laboratory and instrumental tests such as a general urinalysis, ultrasound examination of the kidneys and bladder. If a urological anomaly is excluded, the child is sent for a consultation with a neurologist.

A few conclusions

The question of how to toilet train a child is really relevant. At the end of the article, we have collected the most important recommendations and rules that can help adults facilitate and speed up the process of teaching a child hygiene skills:

  1. It is necessary to take into account the physiological and psychological readiness of children for learning.
  2. The optimal age, according to experts, is from one and a half to two years. Better later than sooner.
  3. You need to prepare for inevitable “misfires” when training a child; you should praise him more often and not pay attention to failures.
  4. You should not insist on emptying the intestines and bladder, or force the baby to push “as hard as he can.”
  5. You can choose either a long-term refusal of diapers or accelerated potty training methods. It all depends on your mood and the characteristics of the child.
  6. It is better to purchase a night vase together with your baby. This way you will show the significance of the event and will be able to quickly “make friends” between the potty and the child.
  7. If it doesn't work the first time, wait. Put the plastic “buddy” on the mezzanine, forget about the problem for a couple of months, and then again unobtrusively try to give up diapers.
  8. If your child is afraid of the potty, wait until the fears have subsided, and only then start getting acquainted with this useful hygiene accessory again.
  9. If you experience uncontrolled urination after 5 years, you should definitely consult a neurologist and urologist.

It should be understood that all the terms presented are quite arbitrary, so parents, first of all, should focus not on average data, the opinions of acquaintances and friends, but on the characteristics of their child.

They will be the ones who will answer the question of how and when to potty train. Well, many pediatricians advise remembering that almost all healthy children of 5 years of age are able to go to the bed or toilet. Therefore, you shouldn’t be too zealous trying to prove something to your girlfriends and acquaintances.

Scientists have proven that a child of 2-2.5 years old can independently and consciously control his processes of relieving himself. Therefore, trying to potty train your baby at an earlier period does not make any sense.

To the question “When should you start potty training your child?” We can only answer that the baby must be aware of what the potty is intended for, and also control his own processes of pooping and peeing. Most parents understand this and begin potty training their child at 20 months. During this period, the baby already clearly understands what is required of him, and in a couple of weeks or months he is able to “make friends” with the potty without hysterics. But you should know that you don’t need to expect any success in this matter from a child aged 1.5-2 years.

The best time to start potty training your baby is in the spring and summer after the child is 18-24 months old.

Signs when to act

Each baby develops individually, so there are several good signs that will help parents understand that their baby is already ready to learn:

  1. A child can go 2-3 hours without peeing in a diaper once.
  2. The baby's intestines empty regularly, like clockwork.
  3. The baby may know some parts of the body, as well as elements of clothing.
  4. He understands the meaning of words such as “poop”, “pee”.
  5. Even if the baby “wet” his pants, he expresses negative emotions and also experiences discomfort.
  6. The child demonstrates his desire to relieve himself.

How to properly potty train a child?

In the first days, you can motivate the child that he is already big, and adult children wear panties; you can also show with a visual aid what a potty is needed for. The main thing here is that the baby spends about 10 minutes on the potty; this time is enough to carry out all the “wet and dirty” tasks.

It’s better not to wear diapers before going for walks, otherwise you risk confusing your baby. Try to ask if the child would like to visit his “plastic friend.” Also, during the walk itself, you need to ask whether the baby wants to pee or poop in order to avoid surprises.

When the child understands why a potty is needed, then you can start to sit him on the toilet from time to time, and also cheerfully and calmly explain to him what is expected of him and why he was seated in the first place.

If it worked- you definitely need to praise the baby, and if it doesn’t work out after 8-15 minutes, put him in a diaper, kiss him and let him go to play.

Well, you need to ask yourself questions - “How to potty train,” “When should you start potty training your child.” The baby will definitely learn - that's a fact. The ability to use a potty will come in due time. I wish you success!

Every mother in the world dreams of her child being neat and accustomed to order. Therefore, teaching a child to be orderly and instilling in him a love of cleanliness must be taught from an early age. He will get used to the fact that every little thing has its own specific place, and in the future he himself will maintain the same arrangement.

Start with the smallest thing - with yourself. You must love cleanliness and order yourself. When the house is clean and beautiful, then the child wants to follow your example. Also arrange a nursery for your child. Create conditions for order.

Buy him a low cabinet for things and toys with numerous shelves so that he can put everything in its place himself. Give your child a couple of boxes in which he will sort and organize his toys.

Be patient and do not yell at the child. So as not to damage his little psyche when he doesn’t put things together the way you wanted. The main thing is that he does it, and over time he will learn to do it correctly. A child should always have a choice.

When your child messes up his toys carelessly and throws them roughly, then by your example show him how to do it correctly. Always focus on beautifully arranged toys or a perfectly laid blanket. The child’s tiny psyche will gradually adapt to everything beautiful and positive.

From an early age, teach your child to clean with you. Tell him why you are doing this and why it is necessary. Turn cleaning your apartment into a little game with your child.

Give him different tasks, for which you praise him and reward him with sweets or something else. The main thing is not to forbid the child anything, so that he is not afraid to fulfill his duties.

Give freedom to your children. This means that you allow them to feel that order in the children's room and in general in the whole house depends on them.

And if they don’t put away their things, then complete chaos will form. Give your children a lecture about how dust and dirt negatively affect the human body and health.

Ask them to always keep the house clean and tidy. And then the chaos will not affect the normal structure of the family and will not harm the health of all relatives. So that the child feels responsible to his household.

So, following our advice, you can easily and easily teach your child order and cleanliness. We wish you patience and good luck with this.

Any parent faces the problem of order in the house. “In the days when there were no children, everything stood in its place, but now there is nowhere to step!” – many mothers complain. Yes, it’s really a pointless task to clean up while children are playing. Children constantly need to do something: draw, play with soldiers, leaf through a book, assemble a construction set. There’s a lot to do in a day, and there’s no time to clean up after yourself. How to teach your child to put toys in their place? After all, every mother wants her children to grow up neat and clean.

We begin to accustom the child to order

First of all, you should pay attention to yourself, dear parents. If you don't maintain order yourself, don't demand it from your children, because it's simply unfair! Children are very susceptible to the influence of their parents, mom and dad are the authority, so all actions are copied from adults. Set a positive example and involve your younger generation in this process: wash the dishes together, vacuum the carpets, put all the toys in a box.

The appropriate age for teaching a child order is 2-4 years. You can’t teach a teenager anything at the age of 14, and even worse, it will have the opposite effect, because it’s too late.

Any initiative to help restore order should be encouraged. Don't scold your child if he does something wrong. Do not lash out at your child and do not snatch, for example, a dishwashing sponge from his hands, in order to do this faster and more accurately. The child should not see how you redo everything behind him, otherwise he will simply stop taking the initiative when he wants to help.

Do not give difficult tasks to a very small child. A child, at the age of 2, is not able to wash the floor on his own, but putting away toys in his room is quite an excellent task for a child. But it’s worth showing in advance how and where to put away the toys.

How to teach order?

Use various organizers to clean up toys to turn a boring task into an interesting and exciting activity. Get several boxes and sign the purpose on each one. For example, this box is for cars, and this one is for a construction set, etc.

You can combine business with pleasure: while your child is cleaning his room, you read your favorite children's book. As soon as the baby has forgotten and stopped cleaning, you stop reading and so on until the room is tidy.

It is difficult for a child to clean on his own; constant parental supervision is needed so that he is told what and where to clean. In this practice, the parent takes part in cleaning and at the same time allows the child to independently make his room clean and tidy.

In the future, describe to your child the household responsibilities that he must perform:

to wash the dishes;

vacuum the carpets;

wipe off the dust;

remove toys;

make the bed;

To water flowers;

take out the trash.

Be sure to set a deadline for completing these tasks. For example, cleaning must be done by Saturday of every week. If your child has forgotten, remind him of his responsibilities. And never clean the children's room yourself, coming up with excuses for your child: tired, a lot of lessons.

What you should and should not do when teaching order

You should not burden your child with homework, he is not a housekeeper. If a child’s responsibilities include “washing the dishes,” this does not mean that the child must wash the plates and cups of all family members 3 times every day. It is enough to perform this duty once a week.

Be clear about your responsibilities. There is no need to hint with phrases: “there is so much dust on the furniture, you can even draw with your finger.” Clearly set the task: “today we need to wipe off the dust!”

Motivate your child. If you wait until your child gets tired of the mess in his room, then nothing will change. Children, especially teenagers, have a lot of ideas and activities in their heads, but cleaning their room is not on the list. Turn on the music louder and start tidying up with your child, he is in his room, you are in yours.

Threat is considered the most radical method of teaching accuracy. “If you don’t put your things back where they belong, I’ll throw them in the trash!” Naturally, the child believes that this is just a warning, but the main thing for you is to fulfill what you promised. Throw away even the most expensive things. Next time the child will think whether it is worth behaving this way or whether it is better to listen and tidy up, keeping all things.

From a very early age, teach children to cleanliness and order, as well as respect for the work of others. It is unlikely that if a child washes the floors on his own, he will walk on a clean floor in dirty shoes. But if you wash the floor, this can happen.

Everyone in the family should have their own responsibilities, and the baby should not have questions about why I do this and not dad. Do not punish your child for untidy toys and praise him for any initiative he takes. Most importantly, lead by example!