Potty Training

Oh the dreaded potty training! I must admit, after being a nanny and child care worker for 5 years before having my own, I really did not look forward to potty training. We first tried Dr. Phil’s potty training in a day…… HA HA HA! Ok, no disrespect to Dr. Phil because I love him, and I am sure it has worked for some, but my daughter was not falling for it.
Here are a few tips I have learned along the way:

• Do not start until you are absolutely positively ready and commited. They will be ready when you are, but any inconsistency will make it much harder on you and your child.
• Pull Ups…..Don’t do it! Two reasons. One, What is the pay off of stopping what they are doing to go to the potty. Discomfort brings a change. (This is true with adults too) 🙂 If it they feel wet and icky they will stop to go to the potty. Two, no offense, but what is your pay off to stop what you are doing and make them go to the potty? My Pediatrician says the best way is the hardest on the parents, sorry I didn’t like it either. When you are at home set your timer for 15-20 minutes and make them sit on the potty. (If they actually go you may set the timer a little longer the next time) And when you are out you take them potty before they leave the house, when you arrive at your destination take them again, and before you leave your destination, yep you guessed it, take them again. Repeat as necessary for wherever you go. Now as hard as this sounds, why when you are in a hurry would you not say,”oh well he has a pull up on and if he has an accident, no biggy”. But without a pull up you will take the time to go potty so you don’t have to take the time to clean up an accident, right? And remember they need consistency! (Thus the reason for tip #1) ( The only exception is bedtime, and on extremely long trips. But every time you stop make them go)
• Give small rewards along the way. M&M’s are a great small treat. 2 M&M’s for pee-pee, and 5 M&M’s for poo-poo.This is another incentive to stop what they are doing to go potty. If you don’t want to give candy as a reward try a sticker chart. Again 1 sticker for pee-pee and 2 stickers for poo-poo. I would suggest giving them a toy or trip to the zoo, etc. if they fill their sticker chart for a whole week. If it is a toy, put out of reach but where they can see it. If it is a trip to the zoo, put a picture of the zoo or a monkey by the chart. Visualization is a great motivation.
• Be sure mommy and daddy are making a big deal over going potty. I think what gets to Emily more than telling her I am proud of her is “over-hearing” me tell her Daddy how proud I am of her, and him getting so excited about it.
• Don’t Ask them if they need to go. You tell them, “ok it is time to go potty now”. They have not yet learned when they have to go, thus the reason we are training them, not the other way around.
• If constipated……Emily had a hard time with constipation from infancy, so even when she got the pee-pee down she refused to go poop in the potty. She would come and ASK for her diaper on because she wanted to go in corner to be as comfortable as she could be. The danger in this is she would hold her poop all day until bedtime, and holding it made it worse. See once it has hurt to push, they won’t. They do not understand that it hurts worse to hold it, and you can not explain it to them Again, my pediatrician said before trying to get her to go on the potty put benefiber in her milk several times a day for a few days. After that she will not be able to hold it. Worked like a charm!
• Lastly, I say this for all child care providers everywhere, Please Don’t ask the nanny or childcare provider to do anything you are not doing at home! Strangely, there are times when childcare providers are with the children more than the parents, but if the parents are slack on the weekends the childcare provider can be as strict as they want to be and it will not make a difference. You are the parent, and they know it!