At what age is it time to give up diapers and how to do it?

When the age of the baby begins to approach 12 months, many parents have a question: Isn't it time to start potty-training the child? How long can you wear diapers? How to abandon the diaper, so it was painless and for the baby, and his parents?

How to understand that it's time to wean a child from diapers and potty training?
Disposable diapers - a brilliant invention that greatly simplified the life of both parents and young children: there is no need for endless laundry, ironing diapers. And walks with the baby now are not accompanied by wet or dirty "surprises. However, the comfort that brings in everyday life diapers, there is a downside: the baby is growing, and it's time to "take out" him from the warm and comfortable diapers and accustomed to the independent use of the potty.
When it is better to do, it is difficult to say unequivocally. Some believe that you need to wean the baby from diapers as soon as possible, and others say that you should not hurry, all in due time. If you try to look at world statistics, and here we do not see uniform figures. American children often go to three years in diapers, and in European countries, the figure is even higher - there are not uncommon toddlers-four-year olds who have not yet used the potty itself.
To assert that any age is correct for the transition to independent use of the potty, it is difficult. To begin with, all children are different, every baby is developing individually, and the right answer, a universal for all, you will not give anyone. Let's agree that the most favorable period for weaning a child from the diaper - the age of 18 to 30 months.
Most children by a year and a half already have a physiological readiness, when they can feel that they need to potty and are able to hold back until they reach it, undress and sit down. But it is worth bearing in mind that due to the very young age, few kids are able to proassociate that the potty, and not the diaper is the object in which to meet their physiological needs.

How do you know if a child is physiologically "mature" for the potty? Are there any criteria?
Pediatricians say that the sensitivity of the nerve endings on the sphincters responsible for emptying the bowels and bladder is developed by the moment when the baby has fully developed the hip joint. How do you know when that moment has arrived? It's simple: your baby starts stepping in every step as he walks up the stairs. If this is not the case, and he is climbing with one foot while putting the other foot on it, then no matter how much you torture him, he is not yet ready for the potty. He just doesn't feel in advance that he needs to go potty - the desire comes instantly, right before emptying.
Often we are misled by stories of other parents who say that their baby since six months is always asking for potty. This is not true. The baby at this age can not feel in advance that he needs it. Most likely, moms just know the approximate feeding and defecation routines of their baby and can adjust when they need to hold him over the potty.
Pictures of happy one-year-olds sitting on potty pots are not an indication that the baby is doing it consciously, either. Most often, children of one year of age do not understand why they are put on the potty, and what is expected of them. For this reason, parents who were early "accustomed" child to the potty, so often complain that there was a "kickback", and the baby stopped asking and began to do it all again in a diaper. You need to understand that a huge role in learning to potty and rejection of diapers plays a huge role in the level of motor skills of the child. Can he walk to the potty himself, take off his underpants, sit on the potty correctly and confidently hold on to it? Hence the conclusion: one of the most important factors in the transition from diapers to use the potty - it is the ability to minimize self-service.
After the baby is two years old, he has a social readiness. Such children already actively imitate adults, begin to copy the behavior of their parents and relatives, kids begin to want to have their own place where they will "go to the toilet".
But in this case, do not abruptly transfer the baby to use only the potty. It is better to accustom him gradually, playing, so he himself was interested to learn the skill not only to sit on the potty, but also to serve themselves (to go to undress, sit down). To avoid negative reactions, pediatricians recommend transferring the baby to normal underwear when the skill to use the potty is fully mastered. And it is desirable to do it in a warm season.

What are some indicators you can use to tell if your baby is ready to stop diapering?

• You can trace a certain routine when defecation and urination occur;
• Your baby "signals" that he needs to go to the bathroom: this may include grunting, wincing, stroking his tummy, a focused facial expression, frowning eyebrows, and other signals;
• Your baby has learned to take off and put on his panties;
• He doesn't like it when the diaper is full and is showing it in every way possible;
• He understands the phrases about going to the bathroom;
• He does not want to put the diaper on.

Tips to ease the transition from diapers to the potty

• First, get your baby used to using the potty. You can play with his favorite toys as if they already know how to do it and want to teach your baby. Stress the child's attention to this - young children learn everything by imitating those they like. Make sure that the potty is constantly in the sight of your baby. More often put your baby on the potty, you can even every half hour, if it does not cause the baby to protest. Be sure to do it after meals. Never force the sit on the potty - only with a caress or through play.
• When the baby learns to serve himself, gradually transfer it to normal clothes - cotton panties, onesies or tights. If your baby gets his pants wet, do not rush to change his clothes. Wait a while so he understands that he is not comfortable in wet pants, and that the reason is that he did not do his business on the potty. These "refusal" activities are better carried out in the summer, so that the child does not get a cold and not cold in the process of "educational work".
• Put your baby on the potty immediately after bedtime, after eating, just before bedtime and every time you feel that he gives signals that he needs to go potty. Through such actions, the baby's neural connections are formed; "you need to go to the bathroom - you need to take off your pants and sit on the potty".
• Praise your child every time he was able to use the potty in time. But never scold and, especially, do not punish if he did not have time, so as not to cause him to reject and protest.
• Make sure that you are ready for this, that you do it not under pressure from public opinion, or because Grandma is afraid that your baby before the wedding will be walking in diapers, but because you have made that decision. The best prerequisites for the transition to be painless and quick are the psychological readiness of the parents and the psycho-physiological readiness of the baby.

The main mistakes parents make when transferring babies from diapers to the potty

• You can not scold and shame the baby if he wet his pants or bed;
• Never put your baby on the potty by force, if he cries and resists;
• Do not rush or hurry. It is impossible to form a new skill in one day. Be patient;
• Do not give up on what you start halfway through. You are sure to succeed;

Remember, the problems of the transition period, when you refuse to diaper and transfer the baby to the potty - this is only a small temporary difficulties. Have patience and help your child to form and consolidate a new skill.