## North Carolina Early Learning and Development Progressions: Birth to Five

#### Domain: NC Foundations for Early Learning: Health and Physical Development (HPD)

#### Subdomain: Self-Care

#### Goal: Children develop independence in caring for themselves and their environment.

#### Skill Progression: Toileting

#### Age: 30-33 Months

Click here to go to all skills for ages 30-33 Months.

### Boys and girls may tell before having BM

Situations for Observation of Skill

Interview the adult.

Elicitation Strategy

Ask adults about the toileting set up (potty chair or toilet seat), what the child wears underneath clothing, and whether the child indicates they need to have a BM.

Behavior Observed

Most girls are bladder and bowel trained for daytime. Some boys are bladder and bowel trained for daytime. The average age of training for boys is 31 months.

Routines-based Intervention (Embedded Instruction)

Most children are getting too large for a potty chair. If knees are higher than the bottom, the organs are not in the best position for sphincter control. Encourage parents to have a child-sized toilet seat insert and steps, so the child can independently get up on the toilet and place feet on the steps for stability. Picking out “big boy” underwear with favorite characters on them is a big motivator for boys. Reassure parents who have friends with girls who are “already trained” that boys often take a few months longer.

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 2015

©2015 by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/.