Transitions inn Potty Training
Stage One: Introduction (Offering)
As your toddler begins to show an interest in the toilet let them explore trying it. Young toddlers usually enjoy sitting on the toilet/potty for fun, but only for a brief moment, when they feel like it.
• At this stage try asking them "Would you like to try the potty?" during bath routine or regular change times.
• Never force your little one to sit on the toilet as this may cause fear and delay your efforts.
• This is a good time to begin teaching awareness of functions. Label your child's accomplishments for them. "Look at all that pee in your diaper!" or "Yes, you've had a poop."
• As your toddler becomes more comfortable and willing to sit on the toilet/potty for longer and more frequent times you are ready to move on to stage two!
Stage Two: Oh That’s what I do! (Trying)
At this stage it is time to encourage your toddler to try to toilet/potty at every diaper change and major routine times.
• Try saying, "It's time to try the toilet!" instead of offering a choice. The most successful times to try are before & after sleeping, a short time after eating/drinking or before going outside to play, etc.
• Continue to label your child's accomplishment. "Wow, you've put your pee in the toilet!" or “Your diaper is dry – lets try the potty.”
• This stage continues until you and your child feel you're ready to say good-bye to diapers and hello to Underwear. Often a parent is ready well before a child; a good point to remember is that it is imperative that a child has enough verbal language to indicate his/her need to use the washroom to all adults who care for them and the ability to stay dry for longer periods at a time (2 hours is a good indication of readiness) and enough self help skills to get onto and off of the potty unassisted if adults are busy.
Stage Three: I'm a Big Kid! (Active-training)
At this stage you say good-bye to diapers for good. Set a goal for yourself and your child. Usually two-three weeks is an appropriate length of time between starting the process and being successfully trained.
• At this stage it is important to set your little one up for success – STAY CLOSE TO THE BATHROOM. When they need to go they NEED to GO!
• Be prepared for some accidents to occur. Children often don't realize how uncomfortable having an accident is until they're in underwear. As they learn this, the accidents will occur less and less until finally, Whoa-la, they're trained! (Bowels are the last function a child learns to control and it may take some patience & understanding while your child learns to master this skill.)
Tips for encouraging independence when toilet training:
Praise - it is important to build children's self-esteem. This begins with praising their accomplishments and supporting them when they stumble. Make a big deal when they are successful in toileting promoting intrinsic motivation ‘wow that must feel GREAT – you did it’ and just clean up the accidents. Use a gentle reminder about remembering to let someone know if they have to go to the washroom and leave it at that. Occasionally some children benefit from ‘visual’ tracking their accomplishments. Such as putting a sticker on a calendar for everyday they are accident free. Make a deal with ‘after so many accident free days they will get a reward. (This is also great way to tie math and literacy concepts into training) Try to avoid using candy, food or monetary items as a reward - Kind words, gentle hugs & positive reinforcement can go a long way and last longer. You can also do up some sort of “Special Activity” jar with fun activities that can be decided upon with your little one at the start of training. When they achieve their pre-decided goal they can pick from the jar. Activities could be a special art project, a special story saved for this occasion, picking a favorite movie to snuggle and watch, etc. The rational being that if they are accident free you spend less time changing wet clothes and doing laundry so have more time to spend on activity with them – logical rewards and consequences make sense to children and are most successful.
Dressing/Undressing - the less snaps, buttons, belts, long dangling straps, etc allow your child the ability to get undressed quickly and reduces frustration and accidents as they learn to control their functions. Children often wait until the last possible second before they realize they need to go to the washroom. Simple is fast and promotes success. The more children can do for themselves the more likely they are to co-operate with the training process. The old fashion plastic pants over top of underwear are also a great addition while training, as they will help contain accidents until you can get to a bathroom while still reinforcing that being wet is uncomfortable.
Timing – Toilet training takes an enormous amount of commitment on the part of the adult as well as the child. Choosing the appropriate `time' to set your goal will also help in your success. The best time to choose to try is when you can devote two - three weeks to dropping everything when your child needs to go. The best time to train is when things are quiet at home and there is no other major changes going on in the child’s life – change is stressful even when it is positive change like a new sibling or a move to a new house these are not usually prime toilet training times; if a child is stressed they often have a harder time regulating bodily functions. Remember that it is difficult to get in and out of a snowsuit fast enough when you're just learning, also, you don’t want to be doing a lot of traveling away from familiar surroundings. Children who are training need to know where the bathroom is at all times so they can get there in a hurry. If you are visiting a mall or someone else’s house scout out the bathroom as soon as you get there. Offer the toilet at regular intervals in the beginning but at times that do not 'interrupt' their play otherwise children loose motivation in training – look for natural transition times such as before meals when hand-washing, before outside time, after outside time, before nap, after nap and so forth they may not go each time but you are more likely to have successes to praise and if they do not go just thank them for trying and share “maybe it’ll be ready next time”. These intervals can be extended as your child demonstrates longer bladder control.
Good-bye means Good-bye - Once you have decided to make the transition to underwear it is important not to send your child mixed messages. Rotating between diapers/pull-ups and underwear only confuses children and prolongs the training process – so make sure that all the adults in the child’s life are ready to make this commitment otherwise you may be in for a long battle. An exception would be when your child is sleeping, as this is the final function a child learns to master. Please don't be discouraged if your child still has bowel accidents even after he/she appears to have mastered their bladder control, this is a difficult function to master for children and may take a little bit more patience & understanding. If your child is struggling with bowel control one tip would be to continue with a small portable potty for this function until it is well mastered – sometimes a large toilet makes it uncomfortable/scary to sit for the time needed to succeed. A tip for traveling in the car…an alternative to reverting to a diaper or pull up for traveling is to bring a long a port-a-potty and if needed pullover safely onto a side road and use the port-a-potty if you cant make it to a restroom.
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