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Recognizing the Urge
Helping Your Child Know When It's Time to Go
By Kelly D. Burgess
Parents usually recognize when their child has to go to the bathroom (the wiggle, the crossed legs). The trick is turning those signals into teachable moments so your child recognizes that what's going on can go in the potty!
Christine Louise Hohlbaum, an American living in Paunzhausen, Germany, says both of her children, a boy and a girl, potty trained easily and were completely trained by 25 months. She says she really focused on helping them understand their bodies' signals.
"I would ask them frequently if they had to go," says Hohlbaum. "After a while, they recognized the signals their bodies were giving them. The 'pee pee dance' helps, too. I would ask, 'If you wiggle, do you feel you might have to pee?' Believe me, 2-year-olds love it!"
Dr. Linda Sonna, a psychologist, public speaker and author of The Everything Potty Training Book (Adams Media Corporation, 2002), suggests other clues a parent can pick up on to help their children recognize when they have to go, such as smell.
"A child will often pass gas before a bowel movement," says Dr. Sonna. "This is a chance for the parent to point out that it smells like they have to go to the bathroom. These things help children establish connections."
Don't forget that imitation is definitely the sincerest form of flattery when it comes to your children. Telling your children when you feel like you have to pee or have a bowel movement is important modeling to help them understand how adults "decide" when they have to go, says Valre Welch, a pediatric nurse practitioner for Children's Urology of Virginia. Welch points out that, yes, some parents may feel there is some loss of dignity in all this potty talk, but the results are worth it!