Toilet training doesn't fail because of your child.
Sometimes, the missing piece isn't motivation — it's a nervous system that isn't ready yet.
Potty Without Pressure is a step-by-step, nervous-system-informed path to toilet training for kids who get stuck, shut down, or melt down at the mention of the potty — built by a pediatric occupational therapist with 28 years of clinical experience.
Especially helpful for children with sensory differences, body-awareness challenges, anxiety or fear around toileting, autism, ADHD, PDA profiles, Down syndrome, or children who simply haven't responded to traditional toilet-training approaches. No diagnosis required.
"You cannot teach toileting to a nervous system that does not feel safe."
If potty training has turned into a daily battle, you're not doing it wrong.
Most toilet training advice is written for typically-developing kids. When a child's nervous system is reacting strongly to the bathroom or toileting process, sticker charts and countdowns may not address what's actually getting in the way — and for some children, adding more pressure can make the experience harder.
Holding, hiding, or refusing
Your child holds stool or urine for hours, hides to go, or refuses the bathroom entirely — and nothing you've tried has budged it.
Meltdowns at the mention of "potty"
Even bringing it up triggers a shutdown or a meltdown, so training attempts stall before they start.
Advice that assumes readiness
Every method you've found assumes your child can already feel and interpret their body's signals — and yours may not be there yet.
The Regulation-First Method™
Instead of jumping straight to the toilet, this method focuses on six foundational areas that can support a child's readiness and build a stronger foundation for successful toileting.
Regulate
Calm the nervous system first
Interoception
Build body-signal awareness
Sensory
Address sensory barriers
Motor
Practice the physical steps
Routine
Layer in a predictable rhythm
Independence
Fade support at your child's pace
You'll learn to read your child's nervous system state — not just their behavior.
What looks like resistance may be telling us something about your child's nervous system state. Understanding which state you're looking at can help you figure out what kind of support may be needed next.
"We've tried everything."
If any of this sounds familiar, you're in the right place.
You don't need another potty-training trick. You need to understand what is getting in the way.
Choose the level of support that fits your family
Every tier is built on the same six-step Regulation-First framework — the difference is how much guidance and hands-on support you want along the way.
Virtual Assessment
For families who want a personalized Regulation-First™ plan without an in-home visit.
- Comprehensive parent intake, toileting history & Regulation-First™ Toileting Assessment
- One 75–90 minute private virtual assessment
- Virtual review of bathroom setup, positioning, routines and environmental factors
- Review of regulation, interoception, sensory, motor and independence barriers
- Individualized Potty Without Pressure™ Plan
- Personalized recommendations and visual supports when appropriate
- One 30-minute virtual follow-up
Virtual Intensive
For families who want us to help build the plan AND implement it — without an in-home visit.
- Comprehensive 90-minute virtual assessment + individualized Potty Without Pressure™ Plan
- Four 45-minute private parent-coaching sessions
- Virtual review of bathroom setup, routines, positioning and environmental factors
- Personalized routines, visual supports and recommendations
- Ongoing troubleshooting and plan adjustments
- Brief between-session messaging
- Approximately 6 weeks of implementation support + final progress/next-step review
Virtual VIP Intensive
Our highest level of virtual support, for more complex situations.
Our highest level of virtual support for more complex situations — with more time to observe patterns, troubleshoot barriers, coach caregivers, adjust the plan, and support progress toward greater independence.
- Comprehensive 90-minute virtual assessment + individualized Potty Without Pressure™ Plan
- Eight 45-minute private parent-coaching sessions
- Higher-touch caregiver coaching and troubleshooting
- Ongoing modification of routines, strategies, visual supports and recommendations
- Weekly check-ins + brief between-session messaging
- Approximately 10–12 weeks of implementation support
- School/daycare recommendations + one consultation when appropriate
- Final progress review + one 30-day follow-up
Need us to come to you?
For local families who want more personalized, hands-on support in the environment where toileting actually happens.
Virtual support gives you individualized guidance while you implement the plan at home. In-home support allows us to see the environment firsthand and coach implementation alongside you.
Potty Without Pressure™ In-Home Support
Sometimes the missing piece isn't another potty-training strategy — it's seeing what is actually happening in your child's environment.
In-home support allows us to look beyond the behavior and observe the bathroom setup, positioning, sensory environment, routines, transitions, body-awareness demands, and caregiver support where toileting actually happens.
"How do we get this child to use the toilet?"becomes"What is getting in the way of successful toileting?"
From there, we identify the barriers, build an individualized Regulation-First™ plan, and help your family determine how much support you need to put that plan into action.
Observe
See what's happening in the child's actual bathroom and home environment.
Identify
Determine which Regulation-First barriers may be interfering with successful toileting.
Personalize
Build recommendations around the child's specific sensory, interoceptive, motor, emotional, environmental, and routine needs.
Implement
For families choosing an Intensive, help caregivers put the plan into action and troubleshoot along the way.
Choose from a comprehensive in-home assessment or two levels of hands-on implementation support.
Choose the level of in-home support your family needs
Every family starts with the same Regulation-First™ approach. The difference is how much hands-on implementation and ongoing support you would like from our team.
Every in-home assessment may examine nervous-system regulation, interoception, sensory processing, motor skills and positioning, routines and executive-functioning demands, fear or avoidance, withholding patterns, environmental factors, and independence with the toileting sequence.
In-Home Assessment
For families who primarily need help understanding why toilet training is stuck and want a personalized plan they can implement themselves.
- Comprehensive parent intake, toileting history & Regulation-First™ Toileting Assessment
- One 90-minute assessment in your child's home
- Review of bathroom setup, positioning, routines and environmental factors
- Assessment of regulation, interoception, sensory, motor and independence barriers
- Review of fear, avoidance, refusal or withholding patterns when relevant
- Individualized Potty Without Pressure™ Plan with personalized recommendations and visual supports when appropriate
- One 30-minute virtual follow-up
If you decide you would like additional implementation support, your $497 assessment fee may be applied toward an In-Home Intensive when you enroll within 7 days.
In-Home Intensive
For families who don't just want a plan — they want us to help them implement it.
- Comprehensive 90-minute in-home assessment + individualized Potty Without Pressure™ Plan
- Three additional 60-minute in-home implementation visits
- Hands-on caregiver coaching in your child's actual environment
- Personalized routines, visual supports and environmental recommendations
- Ongoing troubleshooting and plan adjustments based on your child's response
- Two 30-minute virtual parent check-ins + brief between-session messaging
- Approximately 6 weeks of implementation support + final progress/next-step review
VIP In-Home Intensive
For children with more complex toileting challenges and families who want our highest level of hands-on support.
Our highest-support option for more complex situations — giving us more opportunities to observe patterns, troubleshoot barriers, coach caregivers, adjust the plan, and support progress toward independence.
- Comprehensive 90-minute in-home assessment + individualized Potty Without Pressure™ Plan
- Six additional 60-minute in-home implementation visits
- Higher-touch caregiver coaching, observation and troubleshooting in the home
- More opportunities to modify strategies, routines, visual supports and the environment as your child progresses
- Weekly virtual parent check-ins + brief between-session messaging
- Approximately 8 weeks of implementation support
- School/daycare recommendations + one consultation when appropriate, final progress review, and one 30-day follow-up
Not sure which level you need?
You don't have to figure that out on your own. Tell us a little about what's happening with your child and we'll help you determine which level of support makes the most sense.
Help Me ChooseStarting with the $497 In-Home Assessment does not lock you into a larger program. If you decide you want additional implementation support after your assessment, the assessment fee may be applied toward an Intensive when you enroll within 7 days.
How the in-home process works
The pace is based on your child's needs and readiness — not a predetermined timeline.
Understand
We start with your child's history, current toileting patterns, previous attempts, bowel/bladder concerns, sensory needs, routines, and your concerns.
Assess
We assess the six Regulation-First areas and look at your child's actual bathroom environment.
Build the plan
Your family receives an individualized plan based on the barriers we've identified.
Implement
We work with your family in your home to implement strategies, modify the environment, build skills, and coach caregivers.
Adjust
We troubleshoot what is and isn't working and adjust the plan based on your child's response.
Build independence
As skills develop, support is gradually faded toward greater toileting independence.
A note on medical care: Potty Without Pressure does not replace medical care. If symptoms suggest constipation, pain, urinary concerns, GI issues, or another medical condition, we may encourage you to consult or coordinate with your child's pediatrician or another appropriate medical provider.
Questions parents ask before starting
My child isn't autistic or diagnosed with anything — is this still for us?
Yes. The Regulation-First Method™ was designed with sensory differences and neurodiverse profiles in mind, but a child does not need a diagnosis to benefit from a more individualized, regulation-informed approach.
We've already tried traditional toilet training and it went badly. Can we come back from that?
Yes. A difficult previous toilet-training experience doesn't mean you're stuck there. For some children, the first step is rebuilding a sense of safety and reducing pressure around the bathroom before asking for new toileting skills.
How long does the program take?
It depends on your child's starting point and which tier you choose — the framework is the same six steps, but the pace is set by your child's nervous system, not a calendar.
Do I need a therapist to use this?
No. This is written directly for parents, in plain language, with an option to add live OT support if you want it.
What if constipation or another medical issue is contributing to the problem?
Potty Without Pressure™ does not replace medical evaluation or treatment. If your child's history or symptoms suggest constipation, pain, urinary concerns, GI concerns, or another medical issue may be contributing, we may recommend that you consult or coordinate with your child's pediatrician or another appropriate medical provider while we address the functional, sensory, regulation, routine, and independence factors within our scope.
Your child can feel safe enough to learn this.
Start with a virtual assessment, work with us more closely, or bring us into your home — wherever you start, it's built on the same Regulation-First framework.
Find your program