Potty Training Reinforcement: Bonding With the Potty

Young children don't like change. They like routines and get frustrated and frazzled when things are different. That's why it's important to make the diaper-to-drawers transition as smooth as possible. If you just throw your toddler on the potty and say "go," you're not going to have success. You need to give your toddler time to adjust to this new potty-training process—which means getting familiar with the potty and the bathroom and how it all fits together.

Here's how to get your kid to get, ahem, intimate with the potty:

• Make the time. Spend at least 20 minutes in the bathroom today with your kid sitting on the potty. But not necessarily in one sitting! Break the time into small five-minute stints. Sit him on the potty and read him a book. Or bring the potty chair into the living room so he can watch TV while sitting on the potty. If he goes, great. If not, shrug it off. The key is just spending time with his potty.
  
  
• Get up close & personal. Let your kid get a close look at his new (clean!) potty chair. Let him take the reservoir out and see how it works. Let him practice lifting the lid and putting it down.
  
  
• Tour the bathroom. Sure, toilets have been part of your life for decades now, but to a child, everything in the bathroom is brand-new (read: exciting). Show your child how everything in the bathroom works. Take the lid off the tank and show her what's inside. Flush the toilet a few times (if your kid is scared of flushing, stop and reintroduce flushing slowly once he's potty trained). Take turns turning the faucet on and off.

Remember: In order for your kid to get used to potty training, she's going to have to spend some time in the bathroom with her potty. One day soon, going to the bathroom will become automatic, but until then, bonding with the potty is a must!

Bottoms up!

Sharing time: How did potty bonding go? Does your child seem responsive to his or her potty? Share your answers in the comments below!

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