11 Aug 2008 11:55 PM
Dealing with toilet training - a few tips
Many parents would agree that toilet training is one of the most difficult aspects of raising a child - toilet training my first was certainly no walk in the park. Some children refuse to cooperate with potty training because they are challenged by or afraid of new situations. It is important then, to start off slowly, breaking the training into small sections. The child may like to simply sit on the potty or toilet without feeling the need to actually 'go'.
Be sure the child feels safe when sitting on the toilet. Toilets are built for big people, not little ones. If the child cannot rest his feet on the floor, he may be afraid of falling in. A stool to stand on and a smaller seat to go over the bigger one will help this fear.
In some cases, the child may be constipated. This will prevent him from wanting to go because he may associate the act with pain. If this is the case, leave off training for a month while working on the diet or use medication to correct the problem. We found that this was a problem with our daughter when she started potty training. Once we upped her fibre intake it was actually a lot easier for her to be potty trained than our son.
Most children love to copy what their parents do. If you let your child see you on the toilet, they will soon want to do the same. Don't allow anything negative to be associated with potty training. Never scold for accidents or failure; patience is the key - and as you know it gets very trying sometimes. I'll never forget all the long month of poos that needed to be cleaned off the carpet!
How did potty training go for your kids? Any success and horror stories welcome!
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