
Here's what you will need:
Child sized potty chair
· A stuffed animal that is big enough to wear panties/ underwear
· A pocket full of raisins
· Toilet Paper
· Water
· Extra Undies
· 1 diaper
· Little treats
This week (2009) we were potty training Susie, she just turned two, here's the story:
Susie helps take the diaper off and puts the bears undies on. “ Look at little bear! He has nice dry undies on, feel the undies, are they dry? We don't want little bear to wet his undies, he needs to learn to sit on the potty like a big bear. Let's get a little potty for him.
Once the potty is set up I say “Little Bear, do you need to sit on the potty? Run to the potty!” I make little bear run to the potty. “Susie, little bear needs to learn how to go on the potty! Let's teach him! First he needs to take off his undies. Susie can you help little bear take off his undies? Good! Next he needs to sit on the potty, help little bear sit on the potty. Good. Now Little Bear needs to sit and sit and sit.”
When Susie isn't looking I will drop some raisins in the potty. Then I let Susie check to see if Little Bear went potty yet. Susie is so excited to see the poops in the potty. “Now we need to help Little Bear wipe! Now we need to help Little Bear put on his undies. Now we need to help Little Bear flush the poopies. Now we need to help Little Bear wash his hand. Don't forget the soap!” At last Little Bear gets a treat, and so does Susie, for helping.
Now Little Bear will join us as we play and read stories, and eat lunch. And at random moments I will announce “Little Bear feels like he needs to run to the potty!” and we will repeat the whole game about three times.
Now, Little Bear forgets to run to the potty. “Oh no, Little Bear has wet undies! What happened? Little Bear forgot to run to the potty. Little Bear doesn't get a treat, Little Bear needs dry undies. Let's give Little Bear dry undies. Now Little Bear needs to practice sitting on the potty.
We repeat the game with all the steps about seven times. Now Susie has the whole process memorized, she can take Little Bear to the potty, she will remember to wipe, put the undies back on, flush the potty, wash hands, use soap and dry the Bear's hands.
Now Susie is ready to be potty trained herself. We will make sure she has lots of water and juice to drink so she will need to go potty often. We will repeat the same steps we took with Little Bear, and don't forget the treats. Going on the potty will be a fun game, Susie will be potty trained in a couple days, but she will have some accidents but she will enjoy the whole process of going on the potty, and she will learn all the steps.
How to make sure your child will not have more than one or two tantrums
Children who throw tantrums can be very bothersome. These children make their parents look like bad parents. Parents will often give the kid anything they want, and lots of attention to settle them down and make them happy. Other parents will try to talk the kids out of the fits, other parents try to get control of the child, some parents use discipline or force. Many parents just give up, give the child the cookie, and solve the problem by having no more children, but that's not really fair to the kids you don't have yet, they were not the ones throwing the fit.
The answer is very simple. When your child throws his first tantrum copy everything he does. If he screams, scream too. If he stomps, stomp too. If he lays on the ground and pounds on the floor do it too. This will end the fit because he will not like your reaction to his tantrum. He will see how ridiculous he looks, and he will feel embarrassed by the way you are acting. He will quickly realize that he needs to find a new way to request what he wants. Children really respond well to cause and effect experiences, most children will never touch a hot stove more than one time, in the same way most children will not have more than one tantrum at my house.
Here is a tip, if there are other children present when the little one throws his first tantrum we all join in on the tantrum. It works very well, I only had one child that repeated the tantrum a few months later, and we copied her again, she was not amused, and has not thrown tantrums since. Just remember your child may get mad at you if you throw a fit too, but that ought to be the end of it. Hopefully your child's first fit will not happen at the store!