By Colleen Brunetti, MEd

We’ve compiled lots of ideas for potty training children in general, but there are a few tips and tricks that are specific to the gender of your child. Take a look, and then tell us, what worked for your little boy or girl?

Potty Training Girls:

The rumor is that girls will train faster than boys. This is not necessarily true. All children train in their own time.

Teach her to wipe from front to back. Doing it the opposite way may be more likely to spread germs. If wiping is a challenge, she can start with just patting dry.

Take advantage of those adorable dresses for easy potty time access! Just teach her to tuck the front up under her chin while she goes.

Let her watch Mommy or an older female sibling go potty.

If she’s been watching Daddy or an older male sibling go potty she might want to try it standing up… you might let her! And she’ll most likely discover this is tricky and uncomfortable for little girls (and cleaning up the mess is no fun) and switch back on her own.

Watch for signs of bladder infection or UTI – they are common in children this age, especially with girls.

Potty Training Boys:

The rumor is that boys don’t train as fast as girls. This is not necessarily true. All children train in their own time.

You may want to train him to sit for peeing first and let him stand when he is able to demonstrate that he can stand still long enough to aim.

When it’s time to stand, keep a small step stool near by to bring him to the right height to aim in the water.

Beware of toilet seats that close too fast. You might consider investing in a “slow close” seat for safety.

“Sink the cheerios” – to teach aim, try tossing a few cheerios in the water and let him shoot for them. You can also try a small piece of toilet paper.

Another way to teach aim is to squirt some blue food coloring in the water. When he pees (yellow) he will see the water will turn green!

Let him watch Daddy or an older male sibling to see how it’s done.