When I first tried to teach my son to use the toilet, I put him in underpants and thought he would know what to do. Of course, I knew very little about the subject then. I eventually learned the hard way through trial and mishap.

It is important that no matter what, you keep potty training in perspective. Your child will learn to use the toilet, they will learn how to pull up their own pants without always scrunching everything up, they will use a mountain of toilet paper in the beginning. You may make some or many errors but it will eventually work itself out.

As a parent the most important thing when potty training your child is to try to keep your sense of humor. It is also very helpful that mom, dad and any siblings are in on the deal and help out where they can, even if for siblings its only in terms of positive reinforcement. Focus on having a diaper free household, at least during the day, as your longer term goal and know that eventually you will get there. And when you do, think about how good it will be to completely bypass that section in the supermarket! By relaxing a bit, you can make potty training a fun time.

Rather than putting a heap of pressure on yourself and your child when you begin potty training, there is a lot that you can do in the lead up to potty training that really helps make the actual potty training time much more effective. To effectively learn to use the potty, there are several skills that your child needs to master. Potty training is one thing, but it is often the pre-potty training steps that will decide if it will be successful or not.

You thought you only had to worry about the actual training process! So what is pre-potty training? It is looking for and recognizing the signs that tell you that your child is ready for training and these signs include:

1. Ability to hold urine for long periods of time.

2. Ability to follow 1-2 directions at a time.

3. Knows when urination or bowels movements are about to start.

When your child begins to show these signs, that’s when you know that it is time to begin having practice sessions pulling up their pants whenever they get dressed and undressed. This will not be a fast process, but learning how to pull up their pants by themselves is an important part of the whole deal.

This is a good time to start building excitement in your child. If you are encouraging about potty training then your child is more likely to feel positive and excited too.

Once your child has demonstrated they can do the three points above, it is then time to start thinking about how you will train them to use a potty. It is best to begin at a time when there are as few interruptions to family life as possible. If you know that you are going to be out and about a lot in the next month then right now probably isn't the best time to start. Or if you're going to be having a lot of visitors or will be very busy at work then again its probably better to put it off until later.

There are several different views on the best way to potty train your child. The important thing to remember is that it is your child you're training and you are the one who knows your child best. It is important to pick the method that is going to be most effective for you, your child and your family.

There is the potty train in less than a day method that Dr. Phil offers. This can work well but it is very intense and can be overwhelming for parents who are young or for those who are not especially patient. When selecting your potty training strategy make sure you take your own needs and personality into account as well as your child’s.