toilet training!

I toilet trained numerous toddlers in my years teaching in a preschool classroom. I will grant you that I had the luxury of concrete floors and mostly remaining in the same room for the entire 10 hour day working to my advantage.

First things first, you want to make sure that your child is physiologically ready for toileting. Children show signs that they are ready such as staying dry for longer periods of time, showing interest in others toileting, and showing discomfort when wet or dirty.

Once you feel your child is ready, you should decide how committed you want to be toilet training. Some parents want to do it for only parts of the day and others want to go cold turkey and try to do it all in one day. Different ways work for different people.

Regardless of how you choose to do it, these are tips that I found successful in the toilet training journey...

• Find out when your child is going. Periodically (every 15-30 minutes) over a few days check your child's diaper and note whether it is wet or dry. After you do this, look for patterns.
• Up your child's fluid intake. Drinking more will increase the chances that you can catch your child going on the toilet.
• Reserve a special treat (stickers, m&ms, special toy) or activity that your child only gets after using the toilet. It is important that this not something that they have access to at other times of day and it should be a very highly preferred item.
• When your child does have toileting success, have a BIG party! Like dancing and singing and jumping up and down. This shows them that it is a good thing and probably will make it more likely they will do it again.
• If your child has an accident, gently remind them what they need to do when they feel like they are going to go. Involve them in the clean up process.
• Get some big girl/boy underwear that have a favorite character or picture on them. Encourage your child that they want to "keep Dora or Thomas dry". This can actually be very motivating to them.
• Plan to spend quite a bit of time in the bathroom. Bring books in there to read to your child while he/she is sitting. There are some really great books about toileting written for kids.
• Lots of times I found it worked to have kids "go commando". This helps kids to be more aware of when they were urinating.
• Often it is easier to potty train when the weather is warm because kids are wearing less clothes and they are typically easier clothes. Little cotton and elastic shorts are very convenient.

Are there other tips that you have? Please add them in the comments section for others to read. Good luck to those of you who are on a toilet-training adventure!