Potty Training Tips and Concerns that Might Indicate the Need for Medical Help


by Kathy Gupton - Date: 2007-03-03 - Word Count: 382 Share This!

Ah, the time finally came for me to potty train my 2 1/2 year old twins. This was quite an undertaking as I had a daughter excited about it and a son not too happy about it which would end up making my daughter not happy about it. I armed myself with books, videos and tips from friends and the kid's pediatrician. What I quickly learned was that you can take what you are told and what you read as suggestions, but you have to do what works.

Most people begin potty training around that 18 month to 2 year time frame. If your child isn't ready by age 2, don't worry because some children just aren't ready by then. Mine actually didn't take to it until about 2 ˝ years. I tried numerous times before, but didn't have any success, but the last time I tried they were both fully trained in less than one week. Consistency was the key. If you do it too early, you probably will feel like you are just beating your head against the wall and you and your child will both end up feeling frustrated.

What worked best for me was a combination of a reward system and a potty dance. We made up our own potty dance. The kids would get 1 sticker every time they went. We started with 5 stickers meant a surprise (matchbox car and a book). The next time they had to get 10 stickers, then 20 stickers. After the 20 stickers time, we just let them get stickers when they asked for them and every few weeks we went to the dollar store so they could pick out something. Eventually they stopped asking for stickers.

You can expect that every now and then there will be a wet bed or an accident while they are outside playing. Very few kids need medical help or intervention. However, if your child continues to wet the bed and their pants, but you can tell that they are trying, you should consult with their pediatrician. I actually had a friend who had to take her child to the local children's hospital for a minor outpatient surgical procedure. If you have questions and concerns, your local children's hospital might have some tips and suggestions for you as well.


Related Tags: tips, medical, potty training, hospital, pediatrician

For more information about ChildrenHospital, TexasChildrenHospital, or ArkansasChildrensHospital please visit our website.

Your Article Search Directory : Find in Articles

© The article above is copyrighted by it's author. You're allowed to distribute this work according to the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs license.
 

Recent articles in this category:



Most viewed articles in this category: