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On the Right Path?

How to Tell if You're Making Potty Training Progress

By Jenn Director Knudsen

"Often toilet training seems to be going well, and then the process stalls," says Dr. Alan Green, pediatrician, author and main advisor to DrGreen.com. A child who starts having more frequent accidents, for example, may be communicating the need to slow down the toilet-training process, he says. This behavior may coincide with a period of stress in the family or at school.

Experts agree the best antidote to this problem is just to wait a while. Dr. Shu says there is nothing wrong with delaying moving forward with potty training, nor does it mean there is anything wrong, developmentally or emotionally, with a child who is not yet in underwear, even though some of his peers are. "When in doubt, I would advise [parents] to discuss these individual cases with their pediatrician," says Dr. Shu.

Heaping praise and rewards on a child who is nearly out of diapers is all part of the process. Dr. Shu offered her son stickers and M&M'S® candies.

Jennifer Raber, of Portland, Ore., promised son Jack, then 3, an underwear parade. After he'd gone five days in undies with no accidents, Jennifer and husband, Barry, broke out noisemakers so Jack could lead his folks - and friends gathered for a Super Bowl party – in a parade around their house. The party culminated with a trip to the ice cream parlor to celebrate. And Jack has been in underpants ever since, Raber says.