Tips for potty training

[Childcarenamechange]

So I'm new to this nanny business! I adore it and the children I look after!

The youngest is 3 and just starting to show signs of awareness of bowel movements but not with any regularity. He has speech and language delay and potentially SEN so we are struggling with potty training. Pre school want us to bite the bullet and just put him in pants but just a bit concerned about the amount of accidents and distress caused to the charge. (He sometimes gets upset when changing if he has had an accident)

So essentially my question is do we wait or push it and deal with the inevitable accidents? And do you have any tips during this stage!

As a mum, not a nanny, with a slow to train dc I wouldn't listen to anyone other than the charges mother regarding when to train. I put dc3 (also speech delay and mild sen) in pants when he was 3 and he is finally trained now - at 5. We have had two years of cleaning up puddles and dirty pants though the last year there have been less accidents as he has been toilet timed. This is another reason to listen to the mother as her carpets, sofa, car seat etc could take a fairly heavy hit! On the other hand most children train a lot quicker than this!

I personally think that if he has speech delays and possibly SEN, then pushing him to potty train will be hard work on all of you.

Why don't you try buying the nappies that can be pulled up and down, not pull ups but the actual nappies. Then you can encourage him to use the potty throughout the day. If he gets upset when he has accidents then he probably isn't quite ready to train. I think you need to discuss with your boss. Between you and your boss you know the child best. Don't be forced into training him, just because someone else thinks he 'should' be trained.

I have looked after children who have potty trained at 2years old with no accidents. I've also had children who were still in nappies at 3.5years. Every child trains at their own pace! I wouldn't worry.

Let's face it they all get there eventually, so don't make it a fight. Wait till he's ready, just encourage him for a few weeks.

Good Luck x

I second the idea of pull ups. For children who aren't quite ready or have additional needs a combo of toilet timing and pull ups is usually effective. However you will all need to be on the same page and 100% consistent for it to work. If you do one thing, mum does another and preschool do something totally different you will prob make it worse rather than better :)
Sometimes it is easier just to wait it out until he is totally ready.