potty training

Physiological readiness signals for potty training are (Bladder & Bowel Control) : • Childs awareness of the need to go - demonstrated by squatting, grunting, hiding when child feels need to eliminate. • No BM's through the night • Dry diaper for long periods of time i.e. from long naps and/or in the morning. • Urinate a lot at one time (vs. a little through out the day) • Some regularity of bowel movements. So, if you think your child has full bladder and bowel control, should you start potty training? Not necessarily. Just because a child is physiologically ready to be potty trained does not mean that s/he has the other skills - motor, cognitive & verbal, emotional & social skills required for the whole potty training process. Motor Skills: On the average, children will walk around the age of 12 months. Once your child has mastered walking and running, then s/he may be interested in acquiring other "grown up" skill and will start developing other gross and fine motor skills required for potty training. The main motor skill is having enough finger & hand coordination skills to dress and undress and more specifically to pull his/her underpants down and up. Motor Skills readiness signals for potty training are: • Is your child able to undress him/herself? • Is your child able to pull his/her underpants down? • Is your child able to pull his/her pants down? Cognitive and Verbal Skills: The overall potty training process requires a complex combination of physical and cognitive tasks. Your child has to learn and become familiar with his/her body and functions, associate the physical sensation with the proper response, picture what s/he want to do, create a plan to get to the potty, get there, remove the underwear and then begin to use the potty. Then s/he has to remain there long enough to finish, which requires memory and concentration. As you teach your child all these steps, you child must have the ability to understand your explanations, commands and responses and to be able to put them all together to understand the entire potty training process. When you look the process at this detailed a level, you can see why your child has to have some of these cognitive and verbal skills developed to be able to successfully learn what is required. It starts with body awareness and the ability to associate a feeling of fullness with the result i.e. a BM or urination. This association is not made automatically. You need to reinforce this association by telling your child what is happening based on your observations. At around the age of 2, children become aware of their body parts and it is your role to teach your child the words for the body parts. Use words that are comfortable to you and your family. This is also your opportunity to teach your child all the other words that will be required in the potty training process. The next steps in the potty training process require your child to have the capacity for symbolic thought, planning or problem solving and memory. Your child has to be taught that when s/he has the urge to go potty, that they should find their way to the potty, remove their clothing and then eliminate in the potty. The child has to have the ability for more complex thinking and have the ability to extrapolate and problem solve. They have to be able to learn that they need to stop doing whatever they are doing when they feel that fullness. Then they have to figure out where the potty is and find their way there.

we used a kitchen timer and made a game out of going it was the best thing ever...first starting out set it for 15-30 mins every time it goes off take him make it a race and see who can get to the bathroom first cuz there will be times that he doesn't want to go and if you race he will...after a while change it to 30-45 mins until you get to an hour..start him out by sitting down do it for a couple of months then show him how to use it standing up that way he will have grown some and hes not standing on his toes to pee..praise him each time he goes and if you can reward him that way he knows he is doing a great job..if he has an accident don't get mad at him just turn the timer down and start all over..be patient with him it will take some time but he will get it..never ever ever spank him for not going or if he has an accident

when my son was 2 it was kind of easy, he would always have to go before he took a shower or bath, if he does that then you could run the water and let him sit on the toilet(like girls do, its hard to potty train a boy standing up...look at grown men they miss every day.hah sorry)then you could sit on the tub or counter and get him ta make up a song about going potty.... it took about four months.