Goals of Block 1:
• Awareness - "clueless" to "I peed" to "I'm peeing" to “I’m about to pee” (signal)
• There is no such thing as accidents, only learning opportunities. Gather information about your child’s pee patterns and signals. Narrate what is happening without shame or panic or giant celebration. Simply help build the child’s awareness.
• At least one successful poop on the potty, even if it started and parent helped
Moving to Block 2:
• Watch for signals and help your child get to the potty before all their pee comes out. Work in some prompting based on what you learned about your child’s signals and patterns in Block 1. Even if your child was fully self-initiating in Block 1, do NOT expect that to continue with pants on. They need our support.
• Help your child manipulate their clothes at potty times. Practice clothing manipulation at non-potty times during the day. Sing a song about “up and down” and make it fun! Start teaching them to pull pants down at potty times when they get really good at holding it until they’re sitting to pee. Until then, help them be successful.
• Consistent Self-initiation typically happens 4 - 6 weeks into potty training, but it can take longer.
• Remember to get out of the house! After a good pee success, go for a walk, play in the yard, or take a trip to the nearby gas station and choose a fun snack. Do not expect use of public toilets at this stage. Just head back home before your child typically would need to pee again.
If your child is having a hard time with this transition, here are some action steps! 👇
1. Use pants as a logical reward for success, and remove them in response to accidents. Say things like, “oops you peed in your pants, that’s not where pee goes. We will keep pants off you to help you remember that pee goes in the potty.” And then give the pants back after a success, “Thank you. That’s right where pee goes. I think you’re ready for pants!”
2. Hand the child success: put pants on for a short, allotted amount of time, and then remove them when you think the child might pee soon. When you take them off say, “you kept your pants dry! You’ll have to pee soon, so let’s get ready.” Keeping their pants dry is the success that will boost their confidence toward getting it right going forward.
3. Logical Consequences: If the child doesn’t care about wearing pants or not as an incentive, you can make it desirable by only allowing them to do certain things if they are wearing pants. Many children respond well to, “no bare butts on the couch” and, “no bare butts in the sandbox” (both have very good reasons you can explain in a simple way). Their intense desire to be on the couch and in the sandbox can help them want to wear pants and keep them dry.
You can choose an option or two based on what you think is best for your child’s personality and how they have been responding to this process so far. Hope this helps!
For further support, book a consultation at https://ohcrapwithashley.com/book-online
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