Susie Harper It s Potty Time Susie Harper
It s Potty Time Also available now by Susie Harper: The Art of Parenting Teenagers A Complete Guide to Parenting Teens with Love and Logic Aging: What Really Matters? A Complete Guide to Successful & Healthy Aging Dealing with Divorce A Complete Guide to Coping with Divorce and Rebuilding your Life
Susie Harper Copyright First published 2015 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or recorded by any means, without the prior written permission from the author. Copyright 2015 Susie Harper All rights reserved. ISBN-10: 1516853008 ISBN-13: 978-1516853007
It s Potty Time Contents Introduction... 1 Chapter 1... 4 Is your child ready for Potty Training?... 4 The physical signs... 5 The behavioural signs... 6 The cognitive signs... 9 Chapter 2... 11 Preparing for Potty Training... 11 Purchase training underwear... 13 Show and tell... 14 Talk with your child... 15 What you will need to start... 15 Potty Chair... 15 Toilet seat reducer... 16 Reading material... 17 Flushable wipes... 17 A stool... 17 Picture charts... 18 Rewards... 18 Training underwear... 19 A Timer... 19 Protective mattress cover... 19 Chapter 3... 20 The Potty Training... 20 The plan of action... 20 Potty time process... 22 Potty time steps... 23 Rewards... 24 Hygiene... 27 Training a boy... 28 Make a man do the job!... 29 To sit or to stand... 29 Penis care and control... 30 Training a girl... 30
Susie Harper Bedtime training... 31 Bedtime Training Tips... 31 Dealing with accidents... 32 Accident Tips... 33 Potential health issues to look out for... 34 Things to look for:... 34 Going out... 36 Going out Tips... 36 At school... 37 Potty training multiples... 38 Children with special needs... 39 Conclusion... 40
It s Potty Time Legal Disclaimer The information presented herein represents the views of the author as of the date of publication. Because of the rate with which conditions change, the author reserves the rights to alter and update her opinions based on the new conditions. This product is for informational purposes only and the author does not accept any responsibilities for any liabilities resulting from the use of this information. While every attempt has been made to verify the information provided here, the author and her referrals cannot assume any responsibility for errors, inaccuracies or omissions. Any slights of people or organizations are unintentional.
Susie Harper Introduction As parents, we are emotionally and mentally invested in the development of our children. From birth we anticipate, plan and identify all the necessary signs that our children are hitting the appropriate developmental milestones. Most developmental milestones seem to be achieved quite easily and often times independent of any parent involvement. With a combination of curiosity and a need to be like everyone around them, most children will generally sit up, walk and talk with little or no intervention from others Monkey see, monkey do! Toilet usage is a little different. While a child will naturally show interest in wanting to know what mommy or daddy is doing in the room with the funny paper, they must be taught how to transition from diapers to toilet paper. 1
It s Potty Time They do not come armed with the natural ability to know when or how to go the toilet. It is called potty training, because training is required. Without this training you child will mimic your sitting action but will be unable to monkey see and monkey do by identifying when and how to go to the toilet. Potty training is an important step in pediatric development. Since children do not know how to teach themselves how to eliminate their body waste in a hygienic location, potty training is an activity that must be undertaken by a parent. This is true whether the child lives in a tribal culture in the jungle or a vibrant urban city in a developed nation. Its successful achievement is the point at which parents start to refer to their children as big boy and big girl. It represents a leap in personal independence and gives birth to a new era in the life of a toddler. For the parents, they can say goodbye to the stinky diapers and high diaper cost. For society, we are able to reduce the effect that disposable diapers have on our landfill and by extension our environment. 2
Susie Harper But despite the clear benefits and the knowledge that it must be done, potty training still remains one of the most daunting things a parent of a toddler has to deal with. Many parents pass on the responsibility of potty training to teachers, external caregivers, grandparents or nannies. There is no doubt that potty training takes time, patience and selfdiscipline on the part of the parent. Despite the abundance of information about potty training in one week or fast methods to potty training, every parent should expect potty training to take some time. At the beginning, it might seem as though your child will never get there; but rest assured that, except for exceptional health problems, all children eventually learn to use the potty effectively. When potty training is successfully achieved, the anxiety, frustration, doubts, and the urine stained mattress and carpet will not matter anymore. In this book we share helpful information to guide every parent in how to potty train their toddler. We have included tips, suggestions and advice that we hope will make the process of potty training less daunting. 3
It s Potty Time Chapter 1 Is your child ready for Potty Training? The big question is When is my child ready for potty training? Every child is different, but most children are not ready to control their bowel and bladder movement until they are at least two years of age. In some instances a child will not be ready until he or she approaches three years of age. To add to the complexity of determining readiness, boys tend to be ready much later then girls and children will special needs may take even longer compared to their peers. Some parents will not wait on a particular age or any particular sign of readiness. It is never a good decision to start potty training because of external pressure, what you did as a child or what other children in your child s age group are doing. Every child is different and will develop at a different pace. 4
Susie Harper If you start the potty training process with anxiety, it might significantly affect the process and even further delay your child. The first sign that a child is ready for potty training is when a child is aware of and is able to communicate to you that they have done a pee or poo in their diaper. This is a signal that the child is conscious of this important bodily function. Other signs and triggers to start potty training are as follows and are divided into physical, behavioural and cognitive signs: The physical signs You start to notice that your child has dry periods during their nap time or during the night. When your child has at least two hours of dry period, this is an indication that their bladder muscles are fully developed to hold urine. You recognize that your child passes a fair amount of urine at any one time. This is another indication that they are able to hold their pee and empty their bladder when it is full. 5
It s Potty Time Your child has a relatively predictable time for bowel movements and that their bowel movements are well-formed. Once your child is on routine specific waking, eating and sleeping times you will begin to notice a particular rhythm to their bladder and bowel movements. This routine will be helpful in the potty training process. Your child is at a stage of development where they re coordinated enough to walk and run steadily. There is no point in starting to potty train a child, who is still trying to get the whole balance thing under control. Allow your child to develop more on their balancing and coordination skills before introducing potty training. The behavioural signs Your toddler has the ability to sit in one position quietly for two or three minutes. Now the ability to do something and actually doing it is something else. Generally toddlers will refuse to sit quietly at all they are always on the move. By age two, parents should be instilling a time out routine that would see the child sitting for up to two minutes. 6