One of the most powerful tools in a parent’s arsenal is a potty training chart, aka reward charts. There are so many available on the internet; some free while others are not. Variations include various cartoon characters, color, shapes and designs. A potty training chart can be elaborate creations or even simple ones – sometime hand drawn ones are just as effective. A few examples of a potty training chart::

At the end of the day, they serve the same purpose and the style is only defined by the individual or the child.

So – how do we use a potty training chart? Well there are a few ways but the most common was is as follows. You would need to get some sort of reward stickers. You can get this from your local stationary store, or perhaps even a toy or dollar store. Try and be creative when choosing these. Get something that you know your child would like or enjoy. Best bets are cartoon character from TV shows that your kid watched often, or perhaps colorful stars or even some other inanimate object that you child enjoys, like stickers of sport cars for example. My kid loves airplanes – that did it for me. You are limited by your imagination and by the attraction to your child.

So now we have our stickers and a potty training chart – what next?

Well, every time you child successfully completes a pee or pooh session, then he/she is entitled to add a sticker into the respective day block. It would be nice to hype and make a great deal about them earning this sticker and you should really show off and be proud that the child achieved this – As visually as possible as this reinforces your approval for the child, and they notice this! In fact let him/het choose which sticker they want and let them stick it in the correct column. Let your child know that if reaches a certain number of sticker rewards in a day; he is entitled to a special surprise. This can be in the form of a visit somewhere like the park, or perhaps a sweet or even a toy. You could even allow the child extra TV time for reaching this milestone. This is a great motivator as the child has something extra to work towards.

There are many resources online for finding charts… a good paid resources are which includes potty training chart:

http://adviseit.org/babypottytraining/baby-pottytraining

And a free one:

http://www.freeprintablebehaviorcharts.com/toilettrainingcharts.htm

Good luck with your baby potty training and making your first potty training chart.

Hi all…I was checking my emails and found this good laugh that I thought I’d share with you:

The Potty 

A little three year old boy is sitting on the toilet.   
  
His mother thinks he has been in there too long, so she goes in to see
what’s up.                              
  
The little boy is sitting on the toilet reading a book.   
  
But about every 10 seconds or so he puts the book down, grips onto to
the toilet seat with his left hand and hits himself on top of the head
with his right hand.   
  
His mother says: “Billy, are you all right? You’ve been in here for a
while. 

Billy says:  “I’m fine, mommy … I just haven’t pooh yet.” 

Mother says: ” Ok, you can stay here a few more minutes. But Billy, why
are you hitting yourself on the head?” 

Billy says: “Works for the tomato sauce bottle.

There are quite a few mistakes that occur during the Baby Potty Training process. Most of the times, it’s these mistakes that contribute to a rather frustrating experience. In order to prevent the woes that people end up experience because of their inexperience with baby potty training, it is imperative that parents recognize them and steer clear of them. Here are a few of them that come to mind:

• ·         Punishing, scolding, yelling or acting negatively towards your child when they have an “accident”. These accidents are part of the training process, and you as a parent need to understand and accept this. The quicker you can grasp this concept, the less frustrated you will be. Also, positive reinforcement only helps the child learn faster, so don’t be negative towards the child; otherwise… this will end up being a long, painful, frustrating and emotionally challenge journey!
• ·         Going into the Baby Potty Training while being overly optimistic. The reason that this can become an issue is if things don’t work out the way you want it to. Rather go with a reasonably realistic perception. That way if you encounter issues, it will be part of the training in terms of mindset, and if you finish sooner, then Hooray – That’s a bonus. A wise man once told me – Always anticipate the unexpected. It is not uncommon for baby potty training to take up to a few weeks, even sometimes a couple of months. Like I said before, everyone is different.
• ·         Forcing the child into a baby potty training program, especially when the child shows a lack of interest. Humans are willful creatures, and I’m sure you guessed it by now – Your child is no alien! Don’t force or nag the issue, it does not work. Think back to when you were a kid, when your parents nagged and nagged, did it get anywhere? Did you respond in a timely manner? or did you just rebelled?? When they are ready, everything will fall into place.
• ·         Textbook approach, down to the letter T, for each and every child. You need to realize and understand that all kids are different. What appeals to one, might not necessarily appeal to another. For my one kid, tangible rewards worked wonders, eg: Potty Training Chart, while the other had no interest in this and this method did not work at all, rather verbal communication and constrain praise helped. You need to be able to tell when one method is not working and realize it’s time to try another. Baby potty training is not an exact science, rather it’s an art.




• ·         Starting baby potty training to early. This seems to be the biggest problem… What’s the rush here folks? I’ve heard insane stories of kids being trained as early as 4 months. Baby potty training is a 2 way street. Your child needs to be at somewhat of an understanding age. You need to wait until your child is ready – Don’t Rush!
• ·         Baby Potty Training and Bedwetting are not the same. A lot of folks confuse the two. Rather they are 2 separate processes altogether. Being potty trained during the day, while wetting the bed at night, does not in any way mean that the baby potty training process was a failure. You need to realize this and deal with the bed wetting in its own way.
• ·         Assuming that your child will be trained in one day and will successfully complete and understand, not to mention, be trained in all the different aspects of baby potty training. Making a pee/pooh in the toilet; having no accidents; using public facilities; travelling after being potty trained; etc. These are a few aspects that altogether make up the baby potty training. Think of each of these as milestones and celebrate each one with your child.
• ·         Starting the entire baby potty training at the wrong time. Situations like stress, moving, going on holiday, starting crèche, etc can call attribute to it being the wrong time. Make sure things are calm and there are no issues before embarking on this process.
• ·         Sometimes the consensus is that we should start the entire potty training process by putting our kids into underwear immediately. This is a big NO-NO. You need to be at the stage where you kid can pee or pooh at least half the time in the toilet without accidents, before making the switch. You should move from diapers, to training pants, and then finally to underpants. A good saying that comes to mind to put this point into perspective is from the movie Karate Kid. Mr. Miyage says: “First learn stand, then learn fly”.

These are a few of the mistakes that come to mind. As you can see, most of these mistakes are timing related, lack of positive attitude, bad timing, and overly optimistic expectations.

Avoiding these issue, will no doubt allow you and your child to have a wonderful baby potty training experience.

Check out the offer on the right of the page, This is an awesome product that will help you to have to most easy, fun and effective baby potty training session with your child.

 Does it really matter whether you train your child on a potty training seat or on a toilet? Honestly? – It doesn’t really matter! In fact, you should let your child decide. Each child is different, so the best advice I could possibly dispense at this juncture, is to do what works for both the child and you – as a team!

The moment that your child shows some remote interest in baby potty training, then you should help him/her to choose their own potty training seat. There is such a large and vast range of potty training seats nowadays… They pretty much come in all shapes, colors and sizes: everything from standard potty training seats that we all know, right down to the complex potty training chair, even the old potty’s some of us older generation folks might still remember – yes they are still available!

Some kids prefer using the conventional small potty, as it gives them some sense of control, because they are bigger than the potty itself. That way they don’t end up feeling overwhelmed and helps them feel secure without the inherent fear of falling off, mind you that the falling of bit, even though sounding a bit farfetched for some can be a reality!

Other kids prefer to go directly onto an adult size toilet. If your toddler is tall enough, he might be able to sit on the toilet with little or no assistance. For the tiny toddler how prefers to use the toilet, it would be wise to get a little stool (or you can buy these special toilet steps) so that they may easily climb up onto the toilet seat – And as a bonus – when they are sitting on the toilet, the stool acts as a secure platform on which their legs rest. How cool is that? You can even purchase a padded potty training seat that fits securely over the adult toilet, this will provide the extra comfort that the child needs as well as prevent the smaller built kids from falling in…. and yes – that’s possible too

When you think that your kid is ready to attempt baby potty training – a major milestone, then show him how to use the potty and encourage him to use the potty when he is ready instead of messing his diaper.

A small potty or potty chair can be place in any convenient location, perhaps you may want to keep it in the bathroom, or even in his bedroom. Perhaps you might want to keep a potty in both the bedroom and bathroom – This can help to prevent accidents by making the potty more accessible. For parents that live in double-story homes, it would be wise to keep a potty both downstairs and upstairs. The last thing you want is an accident that could have been prevented due to speed and time constraints. These may present it self during situations like these.

Keep in mind though: Urinating accidents are very common for toddlers, as their bladder control has not yet had a chance to fully develop. Also their conscious mind and cognitive skills with regards to holding it in; are still a developing skill set. Sometime they get so engrossed and busy with their playtime, that they forget totally to go to the toilet. Sometime they might make an accident and not even realize it until you bring it to their attention.

That being said – I would highly recommend that you leave the potty training seat/potty/potty chair nearby and the toilet/bathroom doors open. Try and stay calm and level headed during these accident situations. Your reactions will play a direct consequence in curbing future accidents and give you a little less frustration to deal with. It makes sense to start a child on a potty chair, then graduate to a potty training seat and then finally onto an adult toilet.

Some toddlers have a natural fear for toilets. They are comfortable using their own toilets in their homes, but are afraid and rather uneasy when faced using a toilet in a totally unfamiliar setting. Help them to understand and explain to them that the unfamiliar toilet is just like the one at home and try to ease their fears and uneasiness with love – Do NOT Reprimand them.