Potty Training Site Blog

Potty training tips and tricks. How to handle your potty training problems and frustrations. Discover the fastest, easiest most effective method for ending your potty training problems and frustration. This blog is about my adventures in potty training toddlers. Toilet training problems can be handled just like any other developmental situation. Kids pee, kids poop in pants, but is all just another mark on the potty training chart.

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Potty Regression

No longer wants to poop in the potty

When a child has been using the potty, but then they regress back to wanting a diaper, they usually have decided to hang on to that part of them self or they have become to busy to go potty.

Some children have trouble letting go of their poop because they are becoming aware of what is no longer theirs. They are still in the ego/mine stage, and need to hold on to something. By not pooping in the potty they feel like they are still in control. Once they relinquish this control, they learn that going to the potty makes them feel better.

Many parents tend to want to go back to letting the child use a diaper. I would suggest that you keep the child in underwear. Whenever the child has a potty accident have them help you clean up the accident. They need to understand what their body is doing, but they also need to take some responsibility and help clean up the accident.

Children like to feel responsible for their actions, and will generally get tired of cleaning up potty accidents. They will realize that it is much easier to just use the potty.

This will take lots of patience on the part of the parent, but in the long run will be in the best interest of the child. This will also allow time for you to teach your child proper hygiene.

Monday, February 27, 2006

Potty Progress Chart

Potty progress chart

At daycare we have started something new with the children who are potty training. We have a potty progress chart hanging on our wall. As each child uses the potty we place a smiley face on the chart for them.

The children love getting smiley faces, and they enjoy showing their potty progress chart to their parents and grandparents.

We also do one more thing that the children think is special. When they poop in the potty we make it a big deal and make sure they get to tell all their friends and some of the other teachers what they did. They also get two smiley faces on their potty progress chart.

The parents are helping us to make potty training fun with the children. They get excited for their child when they use the potty and stay dry all day at daycare. Some of the children get special treats from their parents when they poop in the potty for the first time at daycare.

Potty training is a big part of our day at daycare, and we do everything we can to make it a good and positive experience for each child in our class. The chart is made from a posterboard. Each child has a section of the posterboard marked with a gridded post-it page with their name at the top. The potty progress chart was also lamenated before we wrote names on it. The names can be removed as each child is potty trained, and they move to the next class.

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Age To Potty Train Your Child

What age should you potty train your child?

What age should you start potty training is a question that seems to have many answers. I have had children in daycare that are ready to potty train by the age of 18 months. Other children seem to potty train easier after the age of 2 ½.

The age you begin to potty train your child depends upon you and your child. Children begin to show interest in the potty around the ages of 2 to 2 ½ years old. There are many signs of readiness that come into play when starting to potty train. The most important I feel is the question "Are you ready to start potty training your child?"

Some parents are eager to help their child learn to use the potty. However, there is a move now to just let the child potty train whenever they feel like it. Because of this I see more children not being potty trained until they are between the ages of 3 and 4 years of age.

Since parents are potty training their children at a later age I see more children having social problems with teachers, peers, and relatives. When children are with their peers they want to feel like they are the same. They all want to be socially accepted. When a child is not allowed to move to the next class because they are not potty trained this brings about frustrations in the child.

In order to help your child avoid these frustrations, watch for the signs of readiness. You may also talk to your child’s daycare teacher about helping you to watch for these signs. Your child’s teacher will be able to help you chart your child’s readiness and their progress in potty training.

Once again watch for the signs of readiness and start preparing yourself for your child’s potty training experience.

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Great expectations in Potty Training

What to expect from your potty training child?

My high school chemistry teacher taught me that usually what we get out of life is exactly what we expect. I really did not understand her then but I beginning to see this concept played out more and more.

If you expect to have problems with you child while potty training, then you will surely find them. You may go as far as creating problems when they don't exist.

Lets say for example that you pick up your darling daughter at day care and she has wet panties. Now if you expect her to be having trouble with potty training and you are frustrated about these problems already, then you may scold her and cause her to be scared and have even more trauma about going to the potty.

However, if you pick up your darling daughter at day care and she has wet panties but you have been expecting her to make progress with her potty training mistakes, you may find that she was in line to go to the potty but she just did not make it in time. She did every thing she could right but her little body just did not cooperate that time. You could then take a moment to give her some positive reinforcement before changing her clothes. Then you could have a talk with your child's teacher about helping her get to the potty quicker.

More often than not, you get what you expect when potty training. So expect the best.

Saturday, February 18, 2006

Pee Pride

Potty Training University

Last night while watching TV, I saw a commercial for Austin Peay University. The one slide that caught my attention was the one that showed a picture of the stately campus with the words "Peay Pride" written across it. I could not stop laughing! Maybe all this research into child development and specifically potty training problems has warped my sense of humor, but with apologies to AP alumni, that's just funny.

Now Janice may remember it differently, but I am pretty sure that back in our days at Tennessee Tech University, I was flirting with some visiting cuties from Austin Peay when Janice began to decide that I would be more interesting to hang out with than her nice guy boyfriend. I remember making sure she saw the AP girls were having fun with me while I pretended not to notice her watching us.

But this commercial has got me thinking about names for our new potty training product in development. The one we are collecting stories, problems and tips for. "Pee Pride" has just made my list of potential names!

Anyway, if you have a problem that you want some advice on - Potty Training problems, how to get the girl and stay happily married to her for 25 years, or how to make your business more profitable... Well maybe we should stick to potty training problems and frustrations, potty training tips and other child development concerns for now. Send your question to helpme@pottytrainingsite.com or leave a comment in this blog for a less personal response. Remember that we normally charge a sizable consulting fee for our assistance, but for a very limited time, you can get a personal email from Janice just for sending us your situation.

Thanks to all those who have already contacted us! Keep us posted on the results.

Monday, February 13, 2006

Potty Training Success Story

Success at potty training

This past weekend one of my children at daycare went through Christopher Westra’s boot camp method of potty training. When he came back to daycare on Monday, he was wearing "big kids" underwear.

Christopher’s method does work. This child’s parents were pleased with the results, and the child feels good about himself because he no longer has to wear diapers.

The parents were amazed at how easy it was to potty train their child in just five hours. He and his parents were able to have a wonderful day, and he no longer has to wear diapers. His parents are also delighted that they no longer have to buy diapers.

Screaming Toddlers

Why toddlers scream when asked to go potty.

Toddlers scream for three reasons:

1- Pleasure. When they are enjoying themselves at play, they often make high pitched screams just for fun. These are like the high pitched barks a puppy makes when playing.

2- Pain. One of the defense mechanisms built in to most mammals is the ability to make loud noises to try to frighten off an attacker or to summon help in the event of an emergency. Like the sound a puppy makes when it gets it foot caught.

3- Fear. Similar to the pain response, a toddler may scream when confronted with a fearful situation. You may know there is no logical reason for the toddler to feel fear, but the fear is still very real to the toddler. Adding threats of punishment will not help the child overcome the fear. If you can learn to recognize the sound a a fear scream, you can more quickly react to calm the toddler before moving on.

There is also a forth reason the toddlers scream - because it is expected of them. You can see this in group play where after one child screams they all start to scream. But it also occurs when the child detects something in your emotions that may cause pain or fear. Like if you approach your child expecting a war over going to the potty, you may be greeted with a scream because your child senses that you expect it.

Again, I see this in my puppy. He will gladly chase me out the door or run out for a treat but the moment I decide he needs to go out because I am tired of fighting over what is a chew toy and what is an expensive shoe, he balks. He will sometimes even start to get his hackles up and begin to yelp. He sometimes senses my intentions even before I do.

So when potty training, it is important to keep your own emotions under control so that they are not projected onto your child. See the main Potty Training Site for more information.

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Refuses to go Potty

Refuses to go to the potty

Getting children to go to the potty isn't always easy. Children get busy just like their parents. Children often will refuse to go to the potty because they want to play or watch their favorite show on television.

If your child is refusing to go to the potty you will need to take a break from potty training and give your child time to be in control of going to the potty.

When your child just doesn't want to stop playing long enough to potty, you may try allowing them to take the toy they are playing with to the potty. If the toy is too big, reassure the child that the toy will still be there, and they can play more when they return from the potty.

You may even try placing a potty chair in the room where the child is playing. They may then feel free to potty without losing sight of what they were doing, and they will soon realize that when they have to potty they can still have time to play.

For a limited time, I am offering free email consulting to my blog readers. If you have a specific question, write to helpme@pottytrainingsite.com. I will send you a personal response.

Monday, February 06, 2006

Potty Training Defiant Children

Defying your authority?

Before assuming that your child is being defiant by refusing to use the toilet like you want, make sure he knows what is expected of him. Sometimes when potty training is started before a child is able to fully control his body, mistakes can happen that the child simply cannot control.

However, if you are dealing with an older child who knows what is expected and has demonstrated that he can control his bodily functions, you need to get to the root of the problem right away.

Are you experiencing trouble in your relationship? Is your child feeling pressure or fear form an external source. The fears don't have to be logical to be very real to your child and have real effects on your child's behavior.

Try to work with your child to find out what is keeping him from feeling safe, secure and happy. Resist the temptation to punish your child for potty training mistakes. Instead work to build his trust and show him love.

Show him you can work together to find a solution to your problem. Get him involved with cleaning up the mistakes but not in a punitive way. Show him cooperation.

Work to calm his fears instead of creating new ones.

Friday, February 03, 2006

What is Your Potty Training Problem?

Need advice on potty training?

I have been working in daycare for many years, and parents have often come to me with many of the same potty training problems that many of you face each day. Let me know what your potty training problems are by commenting to the blog and I will do my best to help you solve those problems.

You may even tell me what you have tried. Let me know if what you have done works or if you are still looking for that one solution that wins your child over to potty training.


For a limited time, I am offering free email consulting to my blog readers. If you have a specific question, write to helpme@pottytrainingsite.com. I will send you a personal response.

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Christopher Westra

The "I Create..." guy

I discovered Christopher Westra’s books when I was researching the Law of Attraction. His writing connected with me because his ideas reminded me of my favorite book The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I was really surprised to learn from a radio interview with Christopher that he was not familiar with these books by Douglas Adams.

In Hitch Hiker, the characters ride on a spaceship that is powered by an Infinite Improbability drive. They can go anywhere in time and space by engaging the drive. This same idea is the basis of what Christopher teaches in his methods for dealing with life. We have infinite possibilities before us and it is up to us to choose the path we want.

Because his books have titles like: I Create Reality, I Create Joy, and I Create Cash I expected his potty training book to be called "I Create Poop." Thankfully he titled it "How to Potty Train your Child in Five Hours." Maybe a bit long, but very descriptive.

Each of his books deals with how to apply the power of intention to different areas of our lives. The basic building block of his method is his daily planning sheet that makes you focus your emotions on what you desire and what actions you need to create that which you desire. More importantly, his daily planning sheets help you focus on how you want to feel.

I guess you could call his holographic planning sheets "Potty training charts for the soul." But he doesn’t.

Currently, he is offering his "I Create Reality" course as a bonus for buying the Potty Training book. So jump on this chance to learn how to deal with your frustrations not just with Potty Training Problems but also with Life the Universe and Everything.

Get How to Potty Train your Child in Five Hours and start creating your "potty trained toddler" today.