Potty Training - Hints and Tips From An Experienced Mother Of Two Boys
Patience and a lot of encouragement! Books are full of helpful ideas like asking him/her every fve minutes if they need to go, but really getting your child to be friends with the potty first is the only way forward. We allowed our son to play with the potty (clean of course) before he did anything like wee in it. Then we read books to him whilst he sat on it. There is no way your child will do anything near the potty if they spring up away from it as soon as their bare skin goes near...
Many, many pairs of tracksuit bottoms with elasticated bits around the ankles. No really - that can save a lot of problems.
Bribery - . this is not in-vogue I know but some gentle carrot dangling along with lots of 'daddy will be VERY proud when I tell him that you were a grown up boy today..' does work
Don't expect miracles - the chances are there will be lots of little set backs, but remembering to be positive at all times is the best thing. Try if you can to avoid the word 'wet' and although it sounds rather silly go for 'not dry'. you are emphasising what you would like rather than what the state actually is. Be aware of when your child has a drink. Little and often throughout the day might not help you see a pattern and might not help him/her get to the toilet on time if they are always needing to go. Obviously do not restrict their fluid intake either - just keep a mental note of drink times.
Poo -
this is actually quite scary for many children. It struck me that when my son was having fits about doing a poo and getting very upset indeed, that he had never really seen what had gone into his nappy before and so - what was being made is rather a nasty shock. Friends of mine have told me that their children would not go anywhere near the potty to do a poo for a long time and needed to go in a nappy for that five minutes. This might sound like going backwards, but the alternative is terrifying them to death or arguing at a time when rationality is not coming to your child and a large mess is coming your way. It could seriously re-inforce the issue that there is something unpleasant about the whole event too.
At night - you might have a child who very quickly becomes dry at night, but many are not until they reach 4. Boys can take longer than girls. Our son has only recently come out of nappies and although it took a couple of weeks of wet beds every night, he was the one who said he did not want to wear a nappy and we went with it. he had not had a dry nappy through the night prior to this. We felt that actually it was a comfort thing to wear a nappy and so he was still weeing at night without consequence. There seemed little point waiting and as he was happy to go without it made sense. Do buy a mattress with a zip off, washable top cover. This goes in the washing machine no problem and tumble dries. There is also no danger of the wetness going into the actual mattress - even when the zip off part has been - zipped off. there is a plastic covering to the mattress which can then have a sheet placed over it and this provides - hopefully- another few hours of sleep before the morning or another accident.
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