Children at this age often want to do things by themselves; this is normal. Patience and encouragement will help 3-year-olds develop new skills and build self-confidence. Many children still require diapers during the day or night. Avoid putting too many demands on the child or shaming him about wearing diapers. Let your child know how proud and happy you are as toilet training progresses.

For behaviors that you would like to encourage in your child, try to “catch your child being good.” That is, tell your child how proud you are when he does what you want him to do.

Here are some good methods for helping children learn about rules and to keep them safe:

1. Child-proof the home. Go through every room in your house and remove anything that is either valuable, dangerous, or messy. Preventive child-proofing will stop many possible discipline problems. Don’t expect a child not to get into things just because you say no.
2. Divert and substitute. If a child is playing with something you don’t want him to have, replace it with another object or toy that the child enjoys. This approach avoids a fight and does not place children in a situation where they’ll say “no.”
3. Teach and lead. Have as few rules as necessary and enforce them. These rules should be rules important for the child’s safety. If a rule is broken, after a short, clear, and gentle explanation, immediately find a place for your child to sit alone for 3 minutes. It is very important that a “time-out” comes immediately after a rule is broken.
4. Make consequences as logical as possible. For example, if you don’t stay in your car seat, the car doesn’t go. If you throw your food, you don’t get any more and may be hungry.
5. Be consistent with discipline. Don’t make threats that you cannot carry out. If you say you’re going to do something, do it.

Normal Development: 3 Years