Saturday, October 30, 2010

Toilet Training in Less Than a Day?

I am fed up.

My daughter is 2 years and 8 months old.  She is not potty trained.  We have been working on this for months.  She knows exactly what she's supposed to do in the potty.  But she has no desire to use the potty.  Sure, she'll go if I prompt her, but she rarely goes by herself.  I clean up lots of accidents.  She's so smart and I just don't understand why she refuses to potty train. 

I am packing away the diapers today.  We are skipping training pants and going straight to big-girl underwear.  Even for nighttime.  I am not looking back. 

I borrowed the book Toilet Training in Less Than a Day from the library.  Published in 1974, some of the language is laughable, but I've heard that the method is successful.

As a result of my frustration and of my pregnancy, my mind is mush and I had a lot of difficulty comprehending the book.  I googled the "potty training in a day" method and found some condensed versions.

Azrin and Foxx's method is summarized here:
  • Teach a doll to use the potty.  Praise the doll.
  • Correct the doll when it "has an accident."  The child should help the doll practice using the potty, including running from the site of the accident to the potty 10 times.
  • Check the child for dry pants at intervals and praise with a special snack and/or drink.
  • Encourage the child to use the potty by rewarding with positive reinforcement, drinks, and snacks.
  • The authors stress independence.  The child should be able to pull their pants up and down and change their clothes if they have an accident.
The method suggested by Dr. Phil is very similar: 
  • Teach a doll to use the potty and celebrate with a party.
  • Get rid of diapers and give the child lots of fluids.
  • Ask your child if she needs to go potty.  If the child has an accident, don't scold.  Take the child to the potty 10 times.
  • Celebrate with a party.
  • Use lots of positive reinforcement.
 Wish us luck!  We really need it.

1 comment:

  1. Good luck! We did the 3 Day Potty Training when Lana was 2.5, and it worked for us. Keep us posted!

    ReplyDelete

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