Toilet Training. Vicki Lansky

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СКАЧАТЬ chair, you will probably choose a miniature version of an adult toilet, a molded one-piece style that a child straddles or a plastic molded stool-type chair. Many potty chairs today convert to adult toilet seat adapters as well.

      • Before purchasing a potty chair, check to see how the pot is removed. If the pot is hard to get out or it has to be tipped, don’t buy it.

      • If you want a urine deflector, look for a removable one made of flexible plastic. Potties with deflectors seem to be easier to find than those without them. If your child is hurt by one when trying to seat himself, he may refuse to use the seat.

      • Buy a floor model that won’t slide around and is stable.

      • Consider buying more than one potty chair, especially if you have more than one bathroom or a two story house. The extra one can always be used for car travel or left at grandma’s.

      • Be aware that if you get a potty chair with a tray, lifting it up will be one more step your child will have to master.

      • Look into the possibility of buying an adult camping portable potty for a child who is unusually large.

       Cleanup Responsibility

      • Make cleaning the potty chair chamber easier by keeping an inch or so of water in the bottom of the pot.

      • Or place a few sheets of toilet paper on the bottom for a quicker clean-up of bowel movements.

      • Or cover the clean removable bowl with clear cling wrap and then just lift out the deposited contents now contained in the wrap.

      • NEVER put any bleach in the bottom of a clean chamber pot. Urine contains ammonia and if a child urinates into the bleach it will cause a chemical reaction producing toxic fumes. Using bleach to disinfect the pot in the cleaning-up process, however, will not be problematic.

      • Consider having your child be responsible for cleanup. Not every parent is comfortable with this, nor will every child adapt to it. Keep in mind that it’s not really developmentally appropriate for a very young child.

      • Fascination with feces is not unique to your toddler. To prevent a child from playing with it, take the potty chamber out of reach after use. You may need to wait a bit before flushing it if your child is insistent. This stage usually does not last too long. Whew!

      Potty training is a lot like a first kiss. You can’t do much about it—it just happens. In my daughter’s case, potty training occurred over a weekend. The key, found out by accident, was that she didn’t want to be taken to her potty and prompted (how silly of me to think that would work!) but rather, characteristically, wanted to do it herself. Once we got that straight, all I had to do was praise the results.

       Kathe Grooms, St. Paul, MN

Sit on It!

      There are many potty chairs available to you. Most stores tend to carry one to three styles. Many styles convert from floor models to use as toilet seat adapters. You can always call a store first to see whose brands they carry (and the price) or surf the web checking out what is available. Several mail order catalogs also offer a variety of models.

      Many of today’s potty seats are made by companies that also specialize in toys. Their plastic injection molding techniques have been transferred to other juvenile products, such as potty chairs, which make them sturdy and safe items to use.

      There are ones that offer music (usually moisture activated), some that are one piece molds and others that are more complex to try to stand out from the crowd.

      One on-line source offering a number of different styles is www.pottytrainingsolutions.com. Another source to check is www.diapers.com.

       Choosing an Adult Toilet Seat Adapter

      Many of today’s toilet top adapters come from the multi-use floor models. But they can be purchased by themselves also. Some come as seats, others are molded padded rings, and one popular flip-up style attaches to your toilet seat and lifts up when not in use. There are some with steps attached to the adapter giving support to hands and feet. All of these offer the same help which is to reduce the opening of adult toilet seats for small size bottoms.

      Potty adapters are lightweight and portable and have the additional advantage of direct flushing, so there is no extra cleanup necessary. However, adapter seats can be a nuisance for the rest of the family if there is only one bathroom and the adapter is in the way and must constantly be removed and replaced.

      Many of these seats come with vinyl straps implying that a child can be left alone on the seat and needs extra safety protection. In the early stages of training, a child should not be left alone. No child should be strapped in place and then left! That is likely to feel like punishment to a child. Stay with your child. If you haven’t gotten the desired results within three to five minutes, you probably aren’t going to. Parents sometimes use this as a time to read to their child (potty books or otherwise) so a child can relax while sitting on the toilet.

      As children take on the responsibility of using the toilet with an adapter, they will be on and off by themselves in no time, and the strap will be unnecessary, though a footstool will be needed.

      There is an inflatable potty with disposable plastic bag liners as well as a folding adapter seat that fits in your purse. These are good for use when traveling or shopping. The fold-up style works well for that extra bathroom at home when you don’t wish to purchase an additional potty seat. It is also a sanitary solution when using public toilets

Footstools for Solid Footing

      You should have a sturdy footstool available to help your child get up on the adult toilet adapter seat. This is also helpful for the child who has learned to use the adult toilet without an adapter seat. A stool can be of value for a small boy who isn’t tall enough to urinate over the edge of the toilet bowl. It also gives a child having a bowel movement a solid footing to push and bear down on.

      Footstools can be used afterward to reach the sink and wash hands—an important habit that needs to be established early. Quality wooden footstools are expensive but are usually a good, long term investment. You will find many uses for them over the years in various parts of your home. Many multi-use potty chairs we have mentioned, turn into footstools. But any footstool will do. A good footstool is important to have—probably more so—than even a potty chair.

      As far as toilet training my daughter, I’ve decided to leave it up to her (future) husband!

       Lynn Souter, Onalaska, WI

      I know lots of people have used stickers as rewards during toilet training. We let my son choose a sticker and put it on the inside of the lid of the toilet. It worked like a charm, and looks cute, too.

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