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November 2015 Moms
elbou
member
@justdoit93 - potty training tricks
elbou
member
Also, @Cardiganmom2 and @kmkrushi and anyone else who is interested 
First off, sorry for making you wait so long. I was away for the weekend, and have been trying to catch up with housework ever since!
The method of potty training I used was from a book called Potty Training 1-2-3 by Anne Marie Ezzo. The first suggestion was to teach your child how to use the potty (teach them everything you want them to do all at once, don't try to add things in later) and then get your child to teach a toy (doll or teddy bear or any other toy that is big enough to wear the same diapers/training pants/underwear that your child is using) how to go potty. The theory behind this is that by teaching the toy how to do it, the child learns the process better than by having you walk them through it.
Once they have the technique down, you may start to run into the control issues that were mentioned....aka, you kid knows what to do, but doesn't want to do it, leaving you unable to reward them for good behaviour. According to the author, the problem here is you are trying to reward the wrong thing. Yes, you want them to use the potty, but that is not the overall goal...that is just the method by which the goal is achieved....the true goal is for your child to learn how to stay clean (not poopy) and dry (not wet). So to regain control, you have to change your strategy. Instead of waiting for them to use the potty to reward them, start asking (at random times throughout the day) "Are you clean and dry?" and teach them how to check if they are clean and dry. Every time the answer to that question is yes, you can reward them (she suggests food rewards, especially salty ones that make them thirsty leading to more opportunities to use the potty). When the answer is no, clean them up (or better yet, get them to help you clean up the mess) and start again by asking them again a little while later. You should also give them lots of opportunities to stay clean and dry by using the potty, and explain to them that when they use the potty to stay clean and dry, they get a double treat!
This method worked really well for both my girls. (I haven't yet started potty training my son.) The part about the goal being to stay clean and dry made so much sense to me! The best part is, you can use whatever method you want for the teaching process and you can do it as fast or as slow as you want...whatever fits your life and schedule best. Feel free to ask questions if I missed something. Good luck to everyone who is or soon will be potty training!
Re: @justdoit93 - potty training tricks
PS - The teaching your teddy bears or pets how to do something works for things like school work as well. My 9yr old daughter loved to read to her dolls and teach them the alphabet. The cats were a bit harder to teach as they wouldn't stay still. lol.
You are all very welcome, ladies! I hope it works as good for all of you as it did for me.
@justdoit93, the clean and dry concept is exactly what I had in mind when I said I might be able to help with the control issue!