Free The No-cry Potty Training Solution by Elizabeth Pantley Page B

potty now.” Positive works better than negative here—much better than saying, “Don’t wait so long that you pee in your pants!”
    (Then she probably will.)
    Offer Choices
    Another way to encourage your child to use the potty is to offer interesting choices. Children love to be given choices and often will cooperate just because you’ve given them the freedom to choose. Here are a few great potty choices:
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    The No-Cry Potty Training Solution
    “Do you want to use the upstairs potty or the
    downstairs potty?”
    “Do you want to walk to the potty or run to the potty?”
    “Do you want to use the big toilet or your potty chair?”
    “Shall we use the potty before snack or after
    snack?”
    “What do you want to do first, get dressed or use the potty?”
    “Do you want Mommy to come with you, or do you
    want to go all by yourself?”
    Make It a Game
    Why would your child want to interrupt his fun activities every two hours if going to the potty is a boring chore? If you can liven things up a bit, your child will be a more willing participant.
    You might introduce a fun ritual for getting to the bathroom. For example, call it the potty train.
    Announce its arrival with a loud “Choo! Choo!,” and call “All aboard!” to your child, encouraging him to follow you. Chug around the room a bit and end up at the Potty Stop. If the train comes every few hours, and if it’s a happy train, your child should willingly follow.
    After a time, if the train loses its appeal, you can switch to an airplane and fly to the bathroom or become a circus parade or lions on the prowl or any other current imaginary favorite.
    A Menu of Potty Training Ideas
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    A variation on this game idea is to have a race to the bathroom. (Careful, though. Don’t race if your child’s been doing the potty dance—this might cause an accident!) You could also be spaceships and count down to launch time, or take advantage of your child’s current favorite animal or cartoon character to create a fantasy journey to the bathroom.
    Yes, you might find this all a little boring, and the choo-chooing and parading might be the last thing you feel like doing. But compared to begging an uninterested child to please, please sit on the potty, it’s so much more effective!
    Come with Me!
    Most young children love to be with Mommy or Daddy no matter where you go, and they will happily join you in the bathroom when you have to go. If you’ve always been open about having your child in the bathroom with you, invite him to come with you when you go, and then suggest that he sit on his potty while you sit on yours. The two of you can talk or sing together while you sit side by side.
    In some families, privacy is more closely guarded, and children don’t accompany their parents into the bathroom or share the room when a parent is dressing. If this has been the way things work in your home, it’s best not to change your behavior now. There’s no rule that says you must demonstrate toileting, and your child will learn how to use the potty even if he never sees you go.
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    Read About the Potty
    There are lots and lots of books for children about potty training, because it is a popular toddler topic. But be forewarned! Many of them may be fun and entertaining for your child but aren’t at all helpful when it comes to potty training. Some are vague and use words that don’t match your own vocabulary. Some use pictures of potty chairs that don’t look anything like real potty chairs. Some of these children’s books are quite silly, and some demonstrate things you don’t want your child to try, like wearing his potty on his head, turning his seat upside down, storing toys in the potty, or unrolling the whole roll of toilet paper. He may never have thought of these grand ideas until the book came along!
    I strongly suggest that you read any children’s potty books yourself before you read them to your child to make sure that