Dear Mommies, please don't stress about the potty...

Are your stressing right now over potty training?

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It’s one of the milestones of toddler-hood. Teaching your baby correct control of their little bladder is such an important benchmark that some pediatricians consider it an unofficial mark of the end of toddler age.

But you may be wondering why you’ve exhausted yourself to make sure she goes ON the potty instead of whenever she pleases in her diaper. They get it eventually.

Yet, mommies are between a rock and a hard place. It must be done. Some pre-school centers won’t take children until they are potty trained. I’m sure that changing Pull-ups puts a halt to curriculum. I don’t think it should be used as a measure of whether or not a child can learn or should learn. It seems a little extreme. Odd, too, because it’s been shown that when non-potty trained children are around other children who are potty trained, non-potty trained toddlers learn faster.

If there was one piece of advice I could give to mommies at this stage, it is relax. They do learn. They become functional adults who toilet themselves and use the restrooms with independence. Further, there’s no indication that early or late potty training does nothing to affect bed wetting or “accidents” in pre-school or later on in life.

Oh I know, easy for me to say, now that I’m out of the woods. You may be rolling your eyes, “Sure right, I’m down to one Pull-up and there’s a snowstorm and no chance of getting to Target for supplies!” But I would still say relax, you’ve got this. Your ace in the hole—you are the mommy, they are the child. You have gravitas and authority. Much more than you know.

Be calm, don't bribe (too much), and don't threaten. And I'm here to tell you, they will learn!