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Potty Training: Get Ready,
Get Set, Go!
An Excerpt from The No-Cry Potty Training Solution (McGraw-Hill, 2006) by Elizabeth Pantely
If your child is near or has passed his first birthday, you can begin incorporating pre-potty training ideas into his life. They are simple things that will lay the groundwork for potty training and will make the process much easier when you're ready to begin.
1. During diaper changes, narrate the process to teach your toddler the words and meanings for bathroom-related functions, such as "pee-pee" and "poo-poo." Include descriptive words that you'll use during the process, such as "wet," "dry," "wipe" and "wash."
2. If you're comfortable with it, bring your child with you when you use the toilet. Explain what you're doing. Tell him that when he gets bigger, he'll put his pee-pee and poo-poo in the toilet instead of in his diaper. Let him flush the toilet if he wants to.
3. Help your toddler identify what's happening when she wets or fills her diaper. Tell her, "You're going poo-poo in your diaper." Have her watch you dump and flush.
4. Start giving your child simple directions and help him to follow them. For example, ask him to get a toy from another room or to put the spoon in the dishwasher.
5. Encourage your child to do things on her own: put on her socks, pull up her pants, carry a cup to the sink or fetch a book.
6. Have a daily sit-and-read time together.
1. Buy a potty chair, a dozen pairs of training pants, four or more elastic-waist pants or shorts and a supply of pull-up diapers or disposables with a feel-the-wetness sensation liner.
