Parents and potty training

[MommaL]

How has it been the past couple of days since you initially posted? Did you talk to the parents?

For me, I do like to give parents the benefit of the doubt. I know that many parents don't understand the day-to-day lives of daycare providers and therefore don't realize that what works for them at home may not work for us at daycare. I'm also realistic to the fact that many parents don't refer back to my handbook and my policies after their initial read. So an open, honest communication is key so that parents know that I want to work with them, but understand my concerns as well.

In the case of potty training, I think we all have our techniques that work for us. And in some cases, we've all learned there will be instances when what has worked for the majority of our other daycare kids may not work for everyone. I personally dislike pull-ups in that many kids use them as an excuse not to be vocal about needing to go to the washroom and don't understand the consequences of not going (i.e. they don't understand that they are going to get all wet with pee if they don't go on the potty). As such, while I do accept and encourage parents to try pull-ups initially, if a child is wearing them for an extended period of time and still not going to the potty consistently, I will suggest trying underwear. I fully expect there will be accidents initially and frequent trips and reminders to go to the potty. And like Suzie_homemaker, I dedicate myself to helping this child knowing that there will be less outings that week and more time spent close to the potty. But for most children, after a few days it just clicks. For others, if they continue to have accidents, not be vocal, or don't even seem to care when they do have accidents, then they simply aren't ready and it's time to take a break and try again at a later point.

Anyway, those are just my thoughts.