Training Tips

I guess just about all of us have gone through the Toilet Training process at one time or another. Here are some tips I have picked up along the way that I thought I would share with you.

Make this a pleasant, non-frightening experience
When a child begins toilet training their biggest fear is that they will fall in and get flushed away. Make sure the Potty Chair you are using is non-threatening to the child. A potty chair just their size will make them so much more comfortable than a seat placed over the big toilet. Potty Chairs painted with their favorite things will attract them and they will sit on them even when not training. The fear will disappear and training will be much easier. Consider a Potty Chair from Sherry's Keepsakes as it fulfills all these requirements.

The Reward System
When my daughter Lizz was being trained we developed a reward system that really worked. I hung a piece of construction paper on the wall right next to the Potty. I also bought some silver and some gold stars. Each time Lizz used the Potty Chair she got to put a silver star on the paper. When she got 10 silver stars she got to paste on a gold star. When she got 5 gold stars we went to the store and she was allowed to pick anything she wanted as long as the price was not more than $5.00. Boy did she love sticking on those stars and going to the store to pick what she wanted.
Using a reward system is really so effective and having the child participate even helps more. Punishing or humiliating the child for having an accident is an absolute NO-NO!

Books
There are a wonderful group of books for sale written just for your little girl or boy to teach them all about the Potty. Take advantage of them and read them with your child. Many are interactive with pop-ups. You can even keep them in the room with the Potty Chair (our Potty Chair) has an optional book rack which will hold most of these books. Listed below are just a few of the many books available.

The Potty Book - For Boys by Alyssa Satin Capucilli, Dorothy Stott (Illustrator) Reading level: Baby-Preschool.

The Potty Book - For Girls by Alyssa Satin Capucilli, Dorothy Stott (Illustrator) Reading Level: Baby-Preschool.

Too Big for Diapers: Featuring Jim Hensons's Sesame Street Muppets Reading level: Baby-Preschool

What Do You Do With A Potty? An Important Pop-up Book by Marianne Bogardt, Maxie Chambliss (Illustrator) Reading level: Baby-Preschool

You Can Go to the Potty by Martha, R.N. Sears, Christie Watts Kelly (Contributor), Renee Andriani (Illustrator), William, M.D. Sears Reading level: Baby-Preschool

A tip, I had one kid who while very good about...ummmm number 1, was terrible about ...number 2. I wrapped some small little toys, and she got one of those whenever she did number two where it belonged. Kids LOVE to unwrap things, and as it was number 2, it was only one per day.
Also, another one of my kids, needed to get trained to start preschool. We just totally took the pull-ups off, put the potty chair in a very prominent position (actually, I think I had two, one for the bathroom, and one for the living room) and was prepared to wash a lot of clothing. We didn't yell at her when she had accidents, just mentioned that belongs in the potty. Kids don't like to be wet and uncomfortable. She was trained in 48 hours.
BTW, Sherry, If you want to use either of those, I'm a mother of 5. :)Brenda

Do you have a toilet training tip you would like to share? If you do just contact Sherry and I will be happy to add it to this list. Please let me know if you would like to share your name or be anonymous.