One cold rainy afternoon in February I took a pad and pencil and set out to poll my neighbors on their potty training techniques. When I told my husband my plans he remarked, "You're not going to talk to complete strangers about that are you?"
"Sure, why not?" I replied and set out on my madcap journey. "What better way is there to meet our new neighbors?"
The responses I received were varied but everyone was happy to contribute. I even polled a neighbor in her 70's. It took her a while to think back to her potty training days. She became delighted as fond memories flooded back. I'll begin with Margie's advice and comments and then share from others:
"Praise is very important--their little faces would just light right up. Each time they would go they would get a little grin on their faces just waiting for me to praise them. I have two girls and two boys. My boys were definitely easier to train than my girls."
"My little girl was much easier to train than my little boy. Grandma bought her a pair of tights with lace on them. She hung them on her bedroom door and told her when she learned to use the potty she could have them. That's all it took! My little boy drove me crazy. He would wait every day until I put him down for his nap to have a bowel movement. I even tried putting him down later for his nap but nothing worked!"
"Prizes and rewards really helped me train my little boy. Other people would warn me not to reward him. They said otherwise he'll expect a prize each time he went. But it really worked for me!"
One of the hardest things for me was getting my little girls to wipe themselves properly, from front to back. Or getting any of my children to remember to wipe well after they'd poop. I'd tell them a hundred times, ''Wash your hands!"
"I had a babysitter for my first child. She was great! A real pro at potty training. She would train him during the day and then tell me how to follow through with it at night and on weekends."
"Potty training? Let's see... My youngest is 31. One thing I do remember was we used to keep a small potty in the living room next to an end table. After dinner he would sit on his potty and color or look at books. After an hour or so he'd finally go."
"My daycare provider was absolutely no help. While my little girl was with her she would undo all the good that I had instilled in training her. There was no consistency whatsoever."
"Never use those disposable training pants. They made my little girl feel as if she were in a diaper again. She would revert back to peeing and pooping in her pants and wouldn't bother using the potty while she wore them."
Does all of the above advice sound somewhat conflicting? Could it be that no two children are alike? As are no two parents, daycare workers, people in general... One thing to always remember, none will ever know your child better than you. As you begin your potty training journey keep this in mind.
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Pee Pee Poo Poo & Other Fairy Tales
Non-Fiction(How to Potty Train Your Child in a Week) I have successfully potty trained seven children. I learned a lot on my first child. I did a lot of things out of order. If you'd like to learn from my mistakes and be able to potty train your toddler in a...
