A Clean Affair – How It Works

Off to the Potty – Tips for a Clean Start

Even if it's hard – allow your child to become dry at their own pace. Here are a few tips on how to approach the potty topic without stress:

Introduce the potty early:

Maybe a colorful training potty is standing in the child's room for playing, maybe in the bathroom next to the toilet – if your child is familiar with the potty as an 'everyday object', they will be more willing to use it later.

Strengthen body awareness:

Respond when your child tells you: 'I peed!' That way they learn to pay more and more attention to their own bodily needs and to recognize in advance when they need to go.

Practice being diaper-free:

Even if it carries some risk – let your child play without a diaper for a while. The diaper habitually suggests to many children that they can just 'let it go'.

Watch for signs:

Many children start to fidget or shuffle around when they need to go. Pay attention to such signals and suggest a trip to the potty – over time your child will learn to recognize these signs themselves.

Don't force anything:

Some children find it strange to do pee, and especially poo, while sitting. Sometimes the adjustment takes time: don't let your child sit on the potty endlessly until they pee – that only puts them under pressure and takes the fun out of learning.

It's easier together:

Some children miss the undivided attention and physical contact they used to get on the changing table when they're on the potty. Maybe you can reward a trip to the potty at first with an extra cuddle session to make the transition easier.

Accidents are normal:

No child is diaper-free right away. Expect the occasional wet pair of pants and don't make a drama out of it if something goes wrong. Even if your child insisted they didn't need to — sometimes children simply don't yet recognize their own bodily signals well.

Dry nights – This can take some time

As a rule, after becoming potty-trained, children still need some time to be dry through the night. Bladder control is not yet sufficiently developed. If your child is reliably dry during the day, you should try leaving the diaper off at night as a test. For the transition period an absorbent mattress pad is practical, which is available in various sizes for children's beds. It may well be that children are not dry through the night even at four or five years old. So don't drive yourself crazy — sooner or later diapers will be a thing of the past.