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POTTY TRAINING A CHILD
There are two types of potty chairs that you can use to potty train your child:
- Stand-alone toddler-sized potty chair that has a bowl that can be emptied into the toilet, and
- Modified toddler-sized seat that can be placed on top of regular-sized toilet seats so that children can feel safer and are not afraid of falling inside the seat.
Other tools that you may need while potty training are:
- Stepping stool for the child to reach the toilet seat.
- Potty trainer for every bathroom in the house and one to be kept in the car while traveling with children.
- Disposable training pants may come in handy at night or when you are outdoors with the child. However, do not use it during daytime as children may think of it as bigger diapers and the toilet-teaching process may get slowed down.
Here are some tips for toilet teaching:
- Child’s wardrobe should exclude overalls and shirts that snap in the crotch during potty training. Clothes should be simple enough for the child to undress himself or herself on time.
- Don't force or bully your child to use toilet or potty-chair.
- During times of stress, child may regress to previous stage of toilet teaching. You may consult your doctor to help you figure out problem and offer advice to make the process easier for both you and your child.
- Establish a routine and make the child sit in the toilet at a specific time during the day. Make sure all the caregivers follow the same routine including parents, babysitters and grandparents.
- For boys, you may help them to do target practice so that they can aim their urine stream into the toilet.
- If training pants remain dry for a few days then kids may start wearing underwear instead.
- It is advisable to strop every one to two hours while traveling for long distances so that the child can use his or her potty seat and does not mess the car.
- Pay attention to child indicators such as their changing facial expressions, grunting or clutching diapers when they need to have a bowel movement and take them to the toilet.
- Sharing toilet with siblings or parents make children learn faster.
- Spending time without a diaper for sometime may make your child more comfortable while using the potty bare-bottomed.
- Teach toileting process related words to your child such as ‘pee’ and ‘potty’.
- You can devote weekends and holidays to the potty-training process so that you have more time and energy to be patient while teaching the child.
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