Use potty
The potty is a brand new experience: a cool plastic bowl, a low posture unlike any other sitting and the request to produce while someone waits. The body has to settle first. The visual support below walks through the potty step by step, without rush.
♂Use potty
A child sits on a potty, wearing a red shirt and blue pants.
♀Use potty
A child sits on a potty.
♀Girl sitting on the toilet
A girl with long hair sits on the toilet with her trousers down around her ankles.
About this visual support
Pooping and peeing both depend on the body feeling safe, and the potty removes several of the cues that usually signal safety: the feet aren't planted, the back has no support, and the plastic feels new against the skin. Add an adult hovering and asking whether anything has come, and the tension in the belly and pelvic floor often outweighs the urge to go.
A visual support shifts the focus away from the adult's face onto a sequence. The child sees that there is a first step that isn't pooping — it's walking over, pulling pants down, sitting. Seeing the whole order in advance lets the body relax through the early steps without losing courage at the thought of the end goal.
One concrete trick: put a small mat or footstool in front of the potty so the feet have something to rest against. Grounded feet, calmer gut. In Routined you can build a short potty sequence with the same pictures every time, so the practice doesn't depend on you remembering the right words in the moment.
Use this image in a schedule
Build your own visual schedule with this image and download it as a print-ready PDF. Completely free.
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