As a parent, there are many potty training resources available. Even if you've never potty trained a child before now, you probably see that there are many tips, hints and ideas for how you are to do this successfully. As a parent to four young children, I can tell you right now that every one is different. Each child is unique and will respond to these potty training techniques differently.
Recently, I had the pleasure (*cough*cough*) of potty training my third child. He has proven to be different from the older two. He's independent, a fast learner and very creative. He is also stubborn. My youngest son is highly motivated and loves to make Mom and Dad proud. He would do nearly anything just to see the smile of approval on my face.
Almost anything... Did I mention he is stubborn? When it came that time for potty training, I thought "This will be a snap the third go round."
Thinking about how motivated and self-encouraging my youngest son was, I figured he'd get right into the potty training mindset. We bought some cute undies and he was proud to wear them like a big boy. He was even excited to go into the bathroom with us and learn how everything works.
However, when it came time to "go potty", my darling son wasn't having any of it. After racking our brains for a new idea on how to motivate him to give this a try, I remembered reading about potty training charts.
None of my other children cared much for this method but my older children use chore charts at home and behavior charts at school so I figured why not give it a go.
To my surprise and relief, it worked like a charm. My son was so happy to get a sticker to place on his chart and the cheers and claps from family members when he went just like a big boy that he decided not to be so defiant about potty training anymore.
Whenever I give advice on potty training, I always tell parents to keep an open mind, be patient and be flexible. This is a perfect example of practicing what I preach. My son is walking, talking, toilet-using proof that the potty training chart method can work for some children.
If you want to give it a go yourself, don't think that you have to spend a lot of money or invest in special tools or items. We used an old calendar (the large type you can often get free from a hardware store, etc) and some stickers I had in my arts and crafts box. I happened to have a packet of Finding Nemo stickers and since my son loves this "fishy movie", I thought the stickers would be great motivation.
You can find inexpensive stickers online and in local dollar stores. If you don't have stickers or want an alternative, you can use stamps or even just drawing in a smiley face or check mark on the days when your child successfully uses the potty.
When using the potty training chart method to toilet train your child, remember that the point is positive reinforcement throughout the stages of potty training. This means that first your child needs to be comfortable with going into the bathroom, pulling down his or her pants and sitting on the potty or toilet. The actual function of going may not come right away and there could still be accidents but positive reinforcement should be given every time the child has a successful attempt at using the potty.
Lisa is a freelance writer with a specialty in Internet content and SEO articles. She has written thousands of articles, hundreds of ebooks and thousands of website pages and related content. She has also authored her own books and works as a consultant to other writers, Internet marketers and Internet businesses.
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