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Parenting
Adventures in Motherhood -
The Potty Training
Experience!
Enjoy one woman's account of the laughter, joy and
ups and downs of motherhood. While sharing useful information at the same
time! This time we have that major event - potty training!
Ah, imagine it....no stinky diapers lounging in the trash. No wiggling child
desperate to escape whether cleaned or not. No weekly expense at the check
out for diapers, wipes, ointments, etc. But then reality sets in.....how
does one get to this pot of gold at the end of the potty training rainbow???
The answer is as different as each child.
First you must make sure your child is even ready for this step. Almost every
child rearing book I have ever read says don't even try until 22 months as
their bladders aren't mature enough to accomplish this difficult task.
Then there are some little signs that tell you that you are getting close.
For example: staying dry for a couple of hours and/or waking from a nap dry,
they want to start wearing underwear, they can understand 2-3 step directions,
they have the verbal skills to tell you when they need to go (and the physical
skill of pulling their pants up and down), they watch you or sisters/brothers
and try to copy what you/they do in the bathroom are some of the main ones.
Trying a dry run can help determine readiness also. I did this with my three
year old (several times actually) and was about to give up until this latest
time when she surprised me. She is now waking up dry and only having an
occasional accident! If they are ready it really isn't a terribly difficult
experience at all (depending on personality, of course - always a really
stubborn one in the bunch).
Next, I did a big build up to the whole process, like it was going to be
a big trip to Disney or something, hey don't laugh, it worked on 2 of my
kids! I'd start saying things like "Pretty soon you'll be going to the potty
like mommy/daddy. "Pretty soon you'll wear underwear all the time like (stick
the name of your child's favorite person here)" and "Pretty soon we will
go to the store and you can pick out some underwear of your very own!"
Everybody is excited, right?! Now you need a little incentive to go because,
be honest, it is much easier to go in a diaper then it is to remember to
go in the potty, even though they want to be like a big kid. You can use
anything from cheerios (for the little boys for target practice - do they
ever outgrow that?), to a sticker chart to colored water (watch it change
from blue to green little Jonnie!). You may have to use all these ideas and
more, all kids are different and respond to different things.
Get excited when they achieve their goal (heck, bring in the family, friends
and neighbors). Give a gentle reminder every hour or two and don't get angry
at accidents. Just tell them to try again next time. Occasional accidents
are normal until around age 5 so relax! And remember love and consistency
goes a long way in this endeavor.
In the end it is a process of practice makes perfect and patience (and a
little bit of fabric refresher doesn't hurt either)!
Using her writing as paint from the canvas of
her life Holly Bliss is an eclectic writer and mother of 4 children and many
websites....a small example of the websites are: It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World
Wide Website!
http://redridinghood1.tripod.com/main.html
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MORE PARENTING
ARTICLES...>>
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