Pottytraining - Columbus,OH

Hi M.-

Here's one thing that I heard of. Draw a target in his potty chair and make it an aim game! Everytime he hits the target he gets an award!

M.,
My husband and I went to the dollar store and got a bag full of suprises and put them into a treasure chest. She was real good about going and she always received a prize. Sometimes we put candy or even money into the chest and it seemed to work everytime.

Good luck!

Let your tot teach a teddy bear or doll how to go potty. They have to show them all the steps. Have fun. It can be a long process, but no teenagers I know have a potty training problem! :)
Cheer.

HELLO! Here is some things you can do.... (1)you can read him/her a book while using the potty,(2)reward your child every time he/she goes in the potty, (3)sing some songs while using the potty,(4)play the "I SPY" game during potty time in the room with colors or numbers or shapes or even objects.
Always praise your child, & have postive renforcement by even talking to your child about how wonderful it is to be a big kid. You can also buy underpants with their favorite character on them or even pullups that have symbols that will disappear when wet. I hope this helps as I have #4 children ages 3,6,8,& 11. Two of the older children are my own & the two younger are my foster children(niece & nephew). I'm still working on potty training with my 3yr old who will soon be 4yrs in Feb '07. She is behind herself developmently due to her parents having a drug problem and domestic violence problem but she has come along way with improvement since she has been in my care.

i also went with cheap rewards to get my boys to use the potty, you can also try a potty chart and just use stickers, i know years ago charmin toilet paper had a potty training kit you could order online, there are also a ton of child friendly tioletries on the market now that make it easy and fun for kids to use the bathroom. i have to say i started much earlier but i did recently just have to potty trian my 3 year old step son and he really liked the elmo potty time video. if you have a potty chair you could also just let your child play with it for awhile before trying to use it as a potty, i know some children are afraid of the big potty or of going potty in general and once they know the potty won't hurt them it gets easier. there are also many books out there for kids on potty training. the more your child sees it in the world around her the more comfortalbe they will be and the easier this will be on you. be sure to expect lots of accidents though and be sure that you treat them as accidents and don't punish your little one. something to keep in mind to if you have been potty training for awhile with mixed or no results and you have your child in a pullup you might want to try big kid underwear instead, my step son treated pullups as diapers because he had been in them for so long and knew he could jsut wet himself. so good luck i hope there are enough ideas here that something works for you. all children potty train at a different rate and age and i think it's always the hardest the first time around. good luck.

When I potty trained our daughter we had had a potty chair around for a while. She was quite use to it and knew the process of going potty. The first two days we spent all morning naked in the bathroom or kitchen (easy clean floors). We read books and played games and even ate lunch, etc. Here's what really worked though! We also had a reward system. I put a strip of stickers on the bathroom mirror and every time she went we put one on her "potty sticker page." One for pee-pee and two for poo-poo. When all the stickers from the mirror were on the "potty page," she got a prize that had been in full view but out of reach while she was working to attain it. First we started with just a few stickers (2-3) in order to experience success and then worked up to 15 or so by the end of the week. She "worked" for things like books, an umbrella, an ice cream cone, etc. Anything your child really, really wants will work. My daughter loved to put stickers on her "potty page" and get her prizes. Have your child drink lots so they go lots and if you know a schedule for poo-poo, have them sit till it comes out, cheering them all the way. We sat for an hour for the first poo-poo. This method was very effective for my daughter. Good luck! It's so nice when they're out of diapers!!!

Help him get back in touch with his bodily sensations to pee/poop - when we train our kids to use diapers from birth, our kids get used to using the diaper and become less in touch with their pee/poop sensations. Many cultures do not do this, but ours does because disposibles are super convenient, many can afford them... however, the price is that after we diaper train our kids, we have to potty train them.

Sooo... fastest way to let him understand the sensation and the result (cause/effect) is to give him a little plastic potty, your attention and support, and several hours of naked time in a specific, limited area of the home that's easy to clean up in case of an accident. Note: accidents are a natural part of ANY learning process, like when we learn how to eat, crawl, walk, AND potty. Accidents help us make progress! So expect them, and embrace them as a learning opportunity if/when they do happen.

When you see him dancing around or pausing in play/getting a far away look or if there's farting, you'll know that he's about to go. Label this for him. Offer him the potty (but NO frustration or negativity if he doesn't go *in* the potty) AND a book or interesting toy so that he relaxes when he's on the potty. If an accident happens, use it to teach him that pee/poop comes out soon after he feels pressure, feels antsy/like dancing around, etc., and clean up the mess together as a team very matter-of-factly. Stay relaxed (this will help him stay relaxed, too!). Help him be successful by encouraging him that the next time either of you notices that he needs to pee/poop, you'll help him make it to the potty, etc., etc.

What makes this fun is:
a) you're connecting in a loving way, as a team, and the goal is on helping him learn to recognize his pee/poop signals (not on doing it perfectly the first time)
b) you're helping him be independent and learn to "do it himself"
c) you're not forcing, being negative or punitive, or having unrealistic expectations (like potty training in 1 day)

And you can do chart, bribes, rewards, but the true good feelings are going to come from the loving exchange and his increased independence!

Happy pottying. :)

Give them a sticker every time they go potty. You could also create a sticker poster for them to put thier stickers on to show of thier success!

buy a white poster board and give him a sticker to put on it each time he goes potty