Practicing at a daycare center or with a child care provider

• In this step, you’ll be practicing at home. Does your child go to daycare, a childminder, or a preschool? If so, it helps if they know you’re practicing.
• It helps your child if other caregivers use the same approach to potty training. That way, your child learns the same clear routines everywhere.
• Potty training starts at home, but children learn a lot from others in a group setting. So it can be helpful if your child can also practice using a potty or the small toilets at daycare.
• Tell us how you practice at home. For example, when do you usually use the potty or the toilet?
• Ask how they handle that at the daycare center or with the childminder. Are those situations somewhat similar? 

Not potty-trained yet

• At this stage, it’s best to let your child keep their diaper on when going to daycare or a childminder’s. Otherwise, you might be moving too fast, which could lead to a lot of accidents. Your child will have more distractions when there are other children around, and there are many activities going on. As a result, your child might not always realize when they need to go. The childcare staff can’t keep an eye on everything. It’s different when there are 16 children in one group.
• At most daycare centers and with most child care providers, the rule is that you shouldn’t bring your child without a diaper until you’re at stage 4—meaning when there are only 1 or 2 accidents a day. By then, your child will be better able to let you know when they need to go. That’s better for your child.
• Is your child allowed to go without a diaper for an hour or part of the day at daycare? If so, make sure to agree on exactly how long. And that the diaper goes back on afterward, just like at home.
• Always pack enough clean clothes. Wet or dirty pants are just part of learning. Accidents happen when children are learning. With extra underwear, pants, and socks, the teachers can help calmly and without stress.
• Every now and then, ask how the practice is going at daycare and what works well at home. Maybe you can share tips on how to best help your child.
• Is your child not quite ready to go without a diaper at daycare yet? No problem. Keep practicing at home whenever you can.