Potty training tricks to speed the transition from diapers to underwear
By the time your baby reaches the potty training age, you're more than ready to make the transition! Keeping a baby in diapers is an expensive proposition. If you don't have a good strategy to encourage your child to use the potty and disdain those diapers, this can become a difficult task. Getting your child potty trained and into regular underwear is best accomplished with a little reverse psychology in the form of some potty training tricks. Let's take a look and see how this strategy works.
Picking out the potty training chair is perhaps the premier potty training trick. The idea here is to have your child invested in the idea of using the potty, rather than sticking with the diapers. It's OK to make kind of a big deal out of going shopping for the potty chair. You can treat this essential item much as you would a present. Oh, boy, tomorrow we're going to go shopping for your newest big kid thing! And, you get to pick the one you want! This sort of presentation gives your child a sense that he or she is in the driver's seat. You aren't forcing this item on the child. Rather, the child is getting a special privilege, large and in charge. Potty training trick number one completed!
Your next stop is in the children's underwear department. Let your child pick out the design or style, further investing this budding big kid in the whole idea. Buy just three or four pair more on this strategy later.
Once you've got the potty chair home, your next move is to get your child to believe that using the potty is entirely his or her idea. Install it in the bathroom just as you might move in a new piece of furniture, with added fanfare. Let your child know this is an important milestone, marking the occasion of becoming a big kid. Taping a balloon to the lid sometimes gets a kid to want to check out the potty frequently. Then let it be.
This potty training trick may inspire your child to go into the bathroom just to get another look at this new big kid item. The road to underwear doesn't end yet.
When an accident occurs, never scold the child. This is counterproductive. Instead, take a tack along the lines of, Oh, I'm so sorry you had to have a wet diaper. Here we are, a nice clean diaper. Next time, see if you can tell when you need to use the potty. You want to use it now? This potty training trick gives your child a couple of messages: the child is the one with the unpleasantly wet diaper, that there are telltale clues to pick up on next time and he or she isn't in trouble. BTW, never leave a child in a soiled diaper as a 'punishment'!
When your child has a successful, or even semi-successful potty session, let your child know how proud you are of this accomplishment. Hey, you're going to graduate to big kid any day now! Good for you! This is a subtle and positive way to make a convincing argument that diapers are for babies.
Don't use presents as a reward! This sends the wrong message. Transitioning to the potty chair is a normal stage of development, so let your child view it as such.
These potty training tricks have sped up the process from diapers to underwear for many a child. Be patient and start thinking how you might use that money you'll no longer be spending on diapers!
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