Hi
its Jan Faull again author of the book Mommy I Have to Go Potty and member
of pull-up training pants training partners. If your child is between 18
and 24 months old this radio segment is for you. While your child still
isn’t ready to use the toilet independently the age between 18 and 24 months
are very important when it comes to familiarizing your child with
toileting.
First, purchase a potty chair or seat; go to your favorite store where they
sell items for babies and toddlers. You’ll be surprised to see how many
potty chairs there are to choose from. Take your child with you when you go
on your potty chair shopping spree. Let your toddler try out a few and
choose together which one is right for your child and you.
You’ll see ones that sit on the floor, some that set right on the adult
sized toilet and some that are adaptable for both. You’ll also see potty
seats that are portable, some fold up and fit in your diaper bag, others are
designed for your bathroom but with a lid and handle so that you can easily
take it in your car when shopping or camping.
If
you have more than one bathroom in your house you might think about buying
one for each particularly if your home has an upstairs and downstairs.
Second, encourage your child to sit on the potty chair. Set the potty chair
in the bathroom but also bring it out into the living room, family room or
kitchen from time to time to allow your child to sit on it when watching a
video, reading a book or just set his dolls and teddy bears on it. It’s all
about making the potty chair a normal part of daily living just like his
crib and high chair.
Third, begin to work toileting into your child’s daily schedule, before your
child’s bath set her on the toilet and say it’s time to sit on the potty, we
always sit on the potty before climbing in the bath tub. Your child only
needs to sit there a short amount of time and please don’t expect him to
perform.
In
time he’ll pee and poop on the toilet but not likely until he is well over
two years old. For now you simply are building toileting into his daily
routine so that when he is mature enough it won’t be a foreign experience.
In time have your child sit on her potty chair or seat before leaving the
house, before putting on pajamas and before getting dressed in the morning.
Once
a day as your child practices on the toilet read her a book about
toileting. My favorite is A Potty Book for Me by Karen Kat. So there are
your assignments for this six month period – buying a potty chair,
encouraging practice and working toileting into your child’s daily
scheduling.
Next
time I’ll give you signs to look for that indicates your child is ready to
use the toilet. These signs won’t occur until after your child’s second
birthday. Until then if you have questions about potty training go to
http://www.pullups.com. Good bye for now from Jan Faull the potty
coach.
