Potty Training Headaches!

[bright sparks]

I personally don't like potty training, I done it many times and it always comes bad with the parents, they get very defensive if we suggest anything. Hopefully you can find a happy medium Good Luck!
I'm in a situation where mom is expecting her second child in Jan and dad brought me her daughter yesterday with pull ups saying that they started potty training her at home which I don't believe and left her there I was like excuse me no notice, not asking and me knowing they'll be leaving soon how can I trained a child in three months sure! anyway I hope everything work out for you! hang in there!

I don't mind toilet training at all. Parents generally in my experience get away with what we allow them to get away with. I start off at my interview with parents making it very clear that this is my business and I run it a certain way.PERIOD. While I am flexible in many areas to accommodate the needs of individual children and their varying needs, I do not allow the parents to call the shots and they understand this from day one. I have a contract that I enforce everytime. I also make it clear that potty training is led by myself and I will be the one to decide when we start based on a list of criteria and through constant communication with parents. I don't ask the parents, I tell them. It isn't about being rude, but simply taking the lead as the individual spending 50 hours a week doing the actual training and in a group setting no less. It is a collaborative relationship in all aspects and I have this expectation of the parents and hold them to it. If you are having resistance from parents, then perhaps reassess your approach. I know a lot of people are worried about offending, but stop worrying and as long as you are not rude, you can be firm and stand your ground and be the one calling the shots. I think you will find that most providers who don't experience these kinds of issues have been where you are now, but once developing a zero tolerance policy for these type of parents BS, have a much better experience overall in the job. If you let the parents know that any other way will not be tolerated, and you prove it by standing your ground from day 1, they are almost just like the kids lol There is a set expectation of them, and they know you won't be swayed and you uphold your rules and methods, so maybe they will challenge it once, but once they see that this is how it is and you can not be controlled, they do as they are told

[littlefish]

yes, I love your approach, my only thing is that I don't mention it in the beginning they see my lead as as we go along and they don't like it, I should do it at the beginning you're right! for example now that I didn't accept to potty trained the girl because she doesn't show me signs the parents are acting kind a cold when they weren't like that. so difficult! thanks for your input I'll put it in practice.