he can use it, but you don’t teach him to use it consistently. Then the
day comes, after months of “trying,” when you’ve had it and get
serious. Now you say, “I mean it.” But your child has already learned
that you don’t.
So no, don’t put the potty out for your child to get used to it. Put it
out when you mean business. That is, you mean your child to put his
business in it.
Common Misconceptions (or, Common Sound Bites)
These are a couple of common misconceptions that I hear in neat
little sound bites that warrant enough concern to discuss. They may
or may not be on your worry list.
Sound Bite 1: “But I don’t want to push him.”
This is probably the second-most-used sound bite in potty training,
surpassed only by, “wait till he’s ready.” First, we need to examine
where this phrase came from, and then we’ll look at what it’s become
in modern parenting.
Not pushing a child to potty train, much like waiting for the child
to be ready, started as a reaction to common potty training
techniques in the 1940s, when children were strapped down to potty
chairs at around nine months of age. They were given soap
suppositories to produce poop. They were often abused for accidents
or left for hours to sit in their excrement. Just to be clear, that is