Potty Training: A Series--Part 1

We'll see if I post anymore in this series, but I thought I would at least start.

First of all, I really think I missed my window with potty training Jane. Which doesn't mean we won't get it done before baby comes (I don't have enough cloth diapers for both girls), it just means I'm modifying the method from the book I read. The window we missed was Jane's heightened interest and my feeling good. A month ago or so Jane was telling me before she had to poop and after she pooped, and she was SO interested in the potty. She still is, but she's interested in A LOT more things now, like everything. And as for my health, the two glorious weeks of feeling something close to normal (whatever that is), have come to an end. I'm still feeling better than I was in January, but nowhere near those glory days...*sigh* it's hard to go backwards.

Anyway, back to the potty. First off, my sister gave me a book called Toilet Training in Less than a Day written by a couple of guys back in the 70s who were doing research with handicapped adults on how to help them function at a higher level and independently. From that research and the development of some methods, they applied it to potty training toddlers. What I liked about the book right off the bat was that it also contained sound parenting methods as well. For example:

If you ask your child to do something, make sure you have their attention. Say their name and wait for them to look at you. If they don't look at you "manually guide" their face to look at yours. At all times be calm but firm and consistent. Give clear instructions using words and terms they know and be near enough to "manually guide" or enforce them to obey your instructions.

See, good stuff to hear spelled out.

As far as potty training goes, I really liked how they began with a doll that wets. Jane LOVED this part, and we've phased it back in because she's been developing fears right and left these days...more on that later. But it's not just showing the Jane the doll go potty, she sees plenty of people using the toilet, it was Jane got to teach the doll how to use the potty (with my help). As a teacher, I know the best way to really learn anything is to teach it to someone else. Even if it's a doll.

Also, I've heard of plenty of people that offer treats for going to the bathroom, and this method definitely advocates the use of rewards (snack treats, special drinks, and lots of enthusiastic praise and physical affection). But it breaks the potty training process down into steps and rewards the trying, accomplishment, and mastery of each step and then discontinues the use of treats. For example: they have to recognize the need to go, they have to stop what they are doing and go to the potty, they have to take their pants down, they have to sit down, they have to sit quietly (so they can go), they have to go, they have to wipe, they have to pull up their pants, they have to dump the pot into the potty, they have to flush it, they have to replace the pot, they have to wash their hands. That's a lot of steps. And a lot of opportunities to get distracted. You can reward the mastery of each of these with a treat as they build their skills until you culminate in what I think is so brilliant (and yet obvious, like most truly brilliant things):

Dry Pants Checks. Throughout the day I ask Jane if her pants are dry, she checks and says "Dry." And that's when she gets the reward!! Isn't that great? During training, you are asking this like every 4 minutes.

There's more that I like, and a wee bit that I don't--it's really dry to read, in good ol' research style. But it's thorough. But I think I'll stop there for Part 1.