Gender Differences When Potty-Training
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Potty training can be a challenge no matter what sex your child is, however there are frequently some differences between the genders when it comes to potty training. You may be able to think of some obvious differences, but there may be others you were not aware of.
Girls Potty Train Sooner
Girls generally potty train before boys and learn different skills in order to use the potty faster than boys do as well. This is not a hard and fast rule, but it is generally the case. Girls frequently have control over their bodies sooner than boys do as well as increased communication skills to inform parents of the need to potty. Of course, the word sooner does not really reflect how much quicker girls are at potty training than boys. In general terms, most studies show that girls are a couple of months ahead of boys when it comes to potty training. This is really not that much time, but it does help to know that if your daughter potty trained at two years and now you have a son you should expect him to take a little bit longer.
Sitting or Standing?
Another difference between potty training girls and boys is whether to sit or stand for little boys. Little girls sit in order to pee as well as a BM while little boys learn to stand up to pee and sit for a BM. As a parent potty training your little boy you may be a little confused as to which one you should start first. Should you train your little boy to sit down for both peeing and BMs first and then once he has the hang of it move to standing up for peeing? Or, should you teach him to stand up first to pee and then to sit for BMs? It really is a complicated process and parents have a hard time determining which should come first.
Sometimes you wont even have to teach your little boy whether to stand or sit because he will decide on his own. If he sees dad standing up to pee he might not want to do it any other way. If this is the case then let him learn that way. Put some bright colored toilet paper or cereal in the toilet and then teach him to aim at it. Keep in mind this will take some time and there will be some pee droplets on the seat, but even adult men do that so dont worry too much.
A Commonality
One thing little boys and little girls have in common when potty training is that they both potty train on their own schedule. They both need love, support, and praise from their parents in order to achieve this goal and it is one that takes several months to master. And while girls may train before boys it takes both sexes about the same amount of time to potty train overall.
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