Is Potty Training Driving You up The Wall?

Potty training can be a real hassle, but it doesn't have to be. The real secret to success in this controversial subject is to wait until your child really understands what the goal of all this potty business is.

I know it is hard to face others who raise their eyebrows and say, "He's not potty-trained yet?" But don't let the opinions of others influence you. Every child is different and that should be the deciding factor in when you decide to start training your child.

When you are convinced the time has come, and are still meeting a lot of resistance, you might consider visiting the website below for further help. When your child is finally trained, you will probably look back and see a lot of things you could have done differently---we all do. Just keep in mind that the important thing is not to start too early, and to remember that your child is not a carbon copy of any one else's child.

* Click Here! to read about a fast, efficient program to potty train your child, once he or she is ready.

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Basic Supplies Needed For Successful Potty Training

POTTY-TRAINING SUPPLIES

Let’s face it; potty training your toddler is not going to be an easy chore. It is going to take some know-how, a lot of patience, and a few very basic supplies.

Visual Aids

Books, videos, and dolls can be used to give your toddler an idea of what potty training is all about months before he or she is actually ready to attempt it for himself.

There are dozens of good books and videos you can read to your child. Most of them tell about the main character’s little sister or brother getting potty trained. Some have animal characters. Check out your local book store for a book or video that would be suitable for your child.

Some toy-manufacturers have placed diaper wearing dolls on the market; dolls that wet after being fed. By using these dolls, a parent can show a toddler how to put the doll on the potty in time to catch the liquid there instead of wetting its diaper. These are excellent, even though a bit spendy.


Potty Chair Or Adjustable Seat For Top Of Toilet

Secondly, you need to invest in a good potty chair even before potty training begins so that your child will get used to seeing it around. He may even get curious and start sitting on it ahead of time.

From experience, I think a small, individual potty chair works the best, but a lot of parents prefer to start their child out on the regular toilet so there will not be any readjustment period later on. Being able to flush after a bowel movement is definitely easier than scrubbing out the small bowl attached to the potty chair each time your child has used it.

Still, a small potty chair the child feels comfortable in; one where he can have a small table beside him with a favorite book or toy to help him adjust to this strange new routine might help the process along a bit. Some children, perched high up on an adult toilet feel as though they might fall at any minute, and this may cause unnecessary anxiety. For these children, a transfer after the initial goal of training has been reached may be wiser.

If you do use the adjustable seat on an adult toilet, stay close to the child so that he feels secure. A small stool to assist the child in climbing up to the seat and for him to rest his feet while he is seated will add to his feeling of being safe. (Always wait until the child has climbed down from the toilet to flush it. The sudden noise of the toilet flushing beneath them can cause the child to panic in fear of being flushed down himself.)

Cute Little Underpants

Another thing you will need to buy are some cute little underpants. If possible, let the child pick out his own design. Maybe even a variety of designs if you can afford them. Get enough that you won’t have to be switching back to diapers while waiting for underpants to work their way through the laundry.

Talk to your child about how he or she is getting to be a big kid now and before long won’t have to wear diapers any more. Help him see this as a good thing, a goal worth working toward.

Let him have some experience wearing the new underpants before any attempt at actual potty training is made. Have him put them on and take them off numerous times. If he can stay dry several hours at a time, you may want to let him start wearing the new underpants around the house most of the time. If he can talk on the phone, give him a chance to tell someone, maybe grandma or grandpa about his new underpants, and how he is going to be a big boy soon and won’t be wearing diapers any more.

Incentives & Rewards

We all like to be rewarded for a job well done. Your child is no exception. Pick up or construct a chart with squares where he can put a sticker of some kind each time he manages to make a deposit, no matter how small, in the potty chair.

Make a big fuss over each accomplishment and you will find him trying harder to avoid accidents. --- and there will be some, but just let him help you clean them up, and tell him how well he did the day before.

After several stickers go up, you could reward the child with a small treat. Later, as he gains more and more control, the rewards will not seem as important to him as the pride he takes in being diaper-free, so you will be able to wean him off the rewards gradually.

M & M’s, or raisins work well with very young toddlers. Later, maybe a more tangible gift for no accidents for a month could be offered.

That’s about it. If your child is old enough to understand what potty training is all about and shows signs of being interested in trying it for himself, give it a try. Don’t panic if it doesn’t work the first time around. Just wait a few weeks and try it again. Chances are, he will learn even faster the second time around, and it won’t be long before he will be donning those cute little underpants for trips to grandma’s or to the shopping mall, and you won’t have to wonder if he is going to ruin someone’s immaculate carpet, or mess all over the play equipment in the middle of the mall.

Of course, you might want to carry a diaper and a few baby wipes in your purse for a while, just in case. Happy potty training.

* Click Here! to read about a fast, efficient program to potty train your child, once you have determined that he or she is really ready, and you have gathered the supplies you need to complete the task successfully.

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Is Your Toddler Really Ready For Potty Training?

Rushing Into Potty Training Is Never A Good Idea

Most of the frustration over potty training comes from trying to reach the "No more diapers" stage before a child is actually ready.

You can save yourself and your toddler a lot of frustration if you exercise patience where potty training is concerned. Admit it. You do dream of the day you can finally walk down the baby supply aisle of your local supermarket without having to load in several huge packages of expensive -- very expensive -- diapers for your child. Most of us have been there and understand what you are going through.

However, in spite of the articles you run across detailing a particular couple's amazing feat of potty training their infant before he or she was 3 months old, the chances of you duplicating that feat are next to nothing.

The truth is, the average toddler will end up potty trained when he or she is ready to be potty trained, and not before. Therefore, all the effort you make before that time is just going to cause both you and your child to become tense and upset, and may, in some cases, delay the process much longer than necessary. It is kind of like trying to teach a 5-year-old to ride a two wheeler. It can be done, but if you wait until he is 6 or even 7, it can be done in a fraction of the time minus many of the spills the child would suffer if pushed into learning to ride before he or she is ready.

Several things will show you that your toddler is ready for this new step in life. Once you observe most of them on a fairly consistent basis, you will know it is probably time to make your first attempt at potty training.

1. Is your child staying dry for at least two hours at a time? If not, you may end up having to put him on the potty so often that he will come to resent it and not be co-operative. (You probably already know how un-cooperative a two or three-year-old can be.)

2. Does he give any indication that he dislikes, or is uncomfortable in soiled diapers? Some children would happily remain in soiled diapers for the rest of the day, but others may remove them or come and tell you they want to be changed. This is a good sign of readiness for potty training.

3. Are the child's bowel movements pretty predictable? For example, do they come at the same time each day, or does he make certain sounds or facial expressions that indicate a bowel movement is going to take place shortly? If so, this is a great time to start potty training as there is a greater likelihood of success most of the time.

4. Has your child indicated that he would like to wear underpants like his siblings or other children do? There is nothing like having his or her very own fancy panties to stir interest in this new event in his life.

5. If you have provided new underpants, can your child manage to pull them up and down without help? You might want to make a little game of seeing how quickly he can do this.

6. Does your child understand why it is desirable to use a potty chair? If he sees no good reason to use it, why should he bother? Most toddlers want to be "big" so rely heavily on the "big boy, big girl" themes. "Big boys don't wear diapers. Big boys can use the potty chair." "My, you look like such a big girl in your new Cinderella panties." etc.

If your toddler meets all six of the readiness signs above, congratu-lations; it is time to give potty training a try. The patience that I mentioned earlier will still come in handy. Your child may decide, after a few attempts, that potty training is not for him after all. That's okay. Let him wait a few days and then try again, but keep a positive attitude and try to show him that this is something he wants to do because he wants to be like big kids, not something that you want him to do because it means less trouble and expense for you.

On the days you feel like giving up, just remember that almost everyone person in the world has eventually succeeded in being potty trained. Your child will, too. If you wait until he or she is really ready, you will be amazed at how quickly it will happen, and you will be singing, "Diaper Free At Last."


* Click Here! to read about a fast, efficient program to potty train your child, once he or she is ready.

Counters