Potty Training Methods

If you have already started to teach your child how to use the potty and they are not quite taking the initiative to go on their own then you might be in need of some more potty training ideas. This potty training how to is aimed at those who have already started the process but whose children are in need of a little push in the right direction. You may want to ask yourself the following.

• Is it me that is reminding my child to go to the potty or are they reminding me? (Often when it is too late).
  The goal is to get your child to be the one who is responsible for the whole job from the first warning, through the journey to the toilet, pulling down their own pants and of course, going in the right place.
  
  
• Are your child’s clothes appropriate for potty training? Tight pants are not a good potty training idea as they discourage the child when they find it a hard to pull down their pants… loose fitting clothes are the order of the day.
  
  
• Is your child getting confused with inconsistencies in the rules? If you let your children pull their own pants down but when you are in a hurry or when they are out or if they have tight pants on then you might be tempted to pull them down for the child. This can be counter productive and unnecessarily confuse the child as to what role they are to take in the going to the toilet process. If the child pulls his own pants down then they should always do it.. if you are in a hurry and absolutely must do it for them then at least put their hands on the pants and help them so as they are still going through the actions.
  
  
• The order in which you do things is important to the child also. For example, if you use a potty that has a lid or a top of some sort then you might take the potty out, lift the lid, draw your child near, take down their pants, and then sit them down. If you are inconsistent with this, say at times you pull the child’s pants down, then get the potty out, you might be confusing the child and make the whole process of them going to the toilet alone a more difficult one.
  
  
• Is it necessary to change your reward system? When things have started out well but then no progress seems to be being made then you may have to change your rewards to the child for successfully using the potty. May be you could use a potty training chart where you put a sticker on each time the child uses the potty successfully or maybe little rewards. This might motivate the child a little more and re-ignite their interest. Sometimes if we relax on our rewards to the child they will lose interest in the process.
  
  
• If your child is forgetting to sprint to the bathroom then you should practice with them. Whenever they look as if they need the toilet then take them by the hand and run together to the toilet or potty... if the child doesn't really want to go then there is no problem, the child will enjoy the race and will be waiting for the next time they really need to go for the next race. Even if you are too late then you should run to the bathroom with them and sit them on the potty while you take of their dirty pants and clean them up.

Try not to criticize you child after they have an accident, instead take them back to the place of the accident and offer them some support such as asking them to show you how they use the potty, run with them to the toilet and actually take their pants down. Don't forget to congratulate them profusely when they do use the potty. One of the major keys to potty training (and indeed to all learning) is to make it as fun as possible.

Another good idea is to spring 'surprise attacks' that is to say to take them running to the toilet at unexpected moments, when they are busy doing something else to get them used to the fact that at times they will have to drop what they are doing to go running to the toilet. This should be fun, should be a race and could include the whole family.

Potty training methods and potty training how to guides with potty training ideas are all presented on our 5 day email course...   sign up here

Return to the top of Potty Training Methods