POOPEE TIME

I AM READY!

Here are some of the main prerequisites that you need to look for before thinking about starting toilet training.

Physical Readiness:

  • You find the diaper is still dry at least two hours after changing it
  • After your child signals a need to go! S/he can hold it for few minutes until reaching the toilet

Communication Readiness:

  • Able to show or point to what he/she needs
  • Able to follow instructions

Motor Readiness:

  • Able to walk and sit independently
  • Able to balance his body
  • Can sit on the toilet seat without falling
  • Able to pull down underwear

Social Emotional Readiness:

  • Shows signs of wanting to do things their own
  • Separates easily from mom

I AM NOT READY!

Here are some of the main barriers that you need to look for before thinking about starting toilet training.

  • Constipation
  • Weak bladder control
  • Stool withholding
  • Cries every time you expose him/her to the toilet
  • Runs away when he/she hears the world toilet or potty
  • Resists going to the toilet

Challenging Behaviors

  • If you are one of those mothers that gave up on trying to toilet train her little one after failing several times.  And if you think that it is impossible to toilet train your little one because of those failures. It is important for you to know that toilet training is a developmental skill like any other skill in early childhood. It needs to be started at the right time, it needs patience, and there are ways and methods to help you be successful at it!

    When your child demonstrates challenging behaviors after starting toilet training, it is mostly that he is trying to tell you something. There are many reasons behind challenging behaviors related to toilet training such as motor readiness, sensory intolerances, or social-emotional readiness. When you know the reasons, you half way there!

Sensory Tolerance

Eazy Peezy

If you are facing a hard time convincing your child to sit on the toilet while he is continuously complaining that it’s cold or he is anxious of falling down, this may sound normal when beginning to potty train your child, but sometimes it can be more serious than that. Having low tolerance for sensory stimuli like over feeling the temperature or not tolerating the minimal unbalance felt when first sitting on the potty, can be more serious challenges for some children than others.

Sensory tolerance is the ability of a child to tolerate sensory stimulations. If your child feels a certain temperature of something as very cold or extra hot while others feel that the temperature is normal or tolerable, this is a sign that your child may have sensory intolerance to temperature. Keep in mind that your child can be intolerant to more than one type of sensory stimuli, not just temperature. So be alerted to any other signs of intolerance.

Grasping & Eye Hand Coordination

Wipe and Roll

Hold the rail on the side of the potty ladder, open the toilet seat, pull pants and underwear down and back up again, roll out the toilet paper, or push on the water hose spray. All these small tasks need a good hand grip! Having a poor hand grip can make this task difficult and unachievable for your child.

ONESTI will assist you in helping your child find the easiest way to achieve these small tasks and provide you with exercises that can help him improve his muscles for a better grip.

Social & Emotional Dimension

Emotional Struggles and Potty Training

Feeling Flushed

Sometimes it is difficult for your little ones to communicate their big feelings like confusion, anxiety, or fear in words. There may be emotional causes for bathroom-related problems that are difficult to detect which makes them harder to manage. You might find your child engaging in alarming behaviors such as pooping in the corner of the bedroom, having daily accidents at school after many months of being completely dry, or asking to go back to diapers. Once physical causes have been ruled out by your pediatrician, you should start looking closely for any changes in your child’s life or emotional development, and paying close attention to changes in other routines and to what your child has to say.

Potty training regression: why it happens and how to react:

Poops… I did it again!

After your little one has been dry for some time, and you suddenly find him/her bedwetting, puddling, withholding stool, and even pooping in inappropriate places, you should be alarmed!

These can all be signs of potty-training regression which can be caused by the following:

  1. A major change in your child’s life such as a new baby, moving houses, family conflict, or any other stressful event.
  2. Inner stress prompted by your child’s normal development.
  3. A desire for more attention.
  4. If they feel you have been too controlling about bathroom use.
  5. A more active imagination and a tendency toward magical thinking may cause them to fear the toilet and start to avoid it.
  6. If your child has siblings or friends at daycare that are not potty-trained, they might also want to ditch using the toilet to be more like them

Regression in potty training typically doesn’t last very long in kids who have already learned to use the toilet as well as those who are still learning because they have already acquired the ‘know how’. The regression itself won’t last long when you learn the reasons behind it.  —>

So remember to keep your cool and take every chance you get to support and interact with your little one. Engage your child in frequent conversations which may lead you to an understanding of the underlying causes for such a regression. Express empathy for their feelings, and help them in coming up with practical solutions.

Emotional Growth Needed for Toilet Training

 Ready, Sit, Go!

Self-Mastery: All toddlers and preschoolers share a strong need to manage their own bodies and environments, and your child is no different. Potty-training is your child’s first step towards independence which is a wonderful thing, however, his need to be in charge of his own environment and body could show up in unwanted ways! So when you pick him up and put him on the toilet, you’re challenging his newly found independence. So it’s no wonder that when he needs to go potty, you find your little one running away and hiding from you.

Resistance: During times of big change in your child’s life, the desire to control his bodily functions and environment could increase. A youngster who is feeling off-balance due to recent changes (such a relocation to a new home, a divorce, or the birth of a new baby) may try to recover balance and harmony by exercising tighter control over the things in life that are within his power to change. Toilet training may also be challenging due to resistant behavior brought on by internal struggles and stressors.

Desire for Approval: Your child’s experiments with winning your approval probably began before his first birthday. He quickly started making a list of the behaviors that inspire favorable reactions from you and those that do not.

When he saw your smiles, heard your claps, you “Woooows” and “YAAAAAAYs”, he became more eager to please you and is more likely to repeat those behaviors that brought about these reactions. So, praise your child for every little accomplishment to set the stage for quicker, more effective potty training.

Social Awareness: By the time your child is in preschool, they will be quite motivated to wear big-kid underwear and use the bathroom like other kids his age. Not wanting to feel like the odd one out may be enough motivation to get him to train himself if he hasn’t already by this point.

How Can ONESTI Help You

ONESTI will help you know if your child’s resistance is caused by sensory intolerance or other reasons. If the cause is sensory, then ONESTI’s “Sense in Harmony” Program will provide you with strategies to help your child overcome the challenges presented and help you adapt the setting in the toilet to suit your child’s sensory profile. If the challenges are caused by reasons other then sensory, ONESTI will help you learn more about what is causing these challenges and how to address them, in order to make potty training a more successful experience and a smother transition.

It is advisable that you learn more about the reasons behind your child’s challenges related to toilet training and what is expected for his age by filling ONESTI’s Poopee Time checklist and talking to our professionals. With Onesti’s Poopee Time program you will learn the tips and tricks of successful and hassle free toilet training.