A Parents Role

Do you feel like the green light is on, but you're not quite ready to go ahead with potty training? You're not alone. Parents play a big role in toilet training. How well you organize, prioritize and prepare will have a huge impact on the success or failure of this trip. Consider yourself filling up with gas for the journey. You'll need a half of tank of encouragement and a half of tank of praise to get you where you want to go.

Encouragement

What is encouragement? It's one of the best gifts you can give your child during this time. Encouragement builds your child's self esteem. It also reinforces good, positive behavior. You can encourage your child by telling him when he has done a difficult task. For example, when he goes to the potty and actually uses it. Encouragement acknowledges to your child that you know he completed a hard task. You can even encourage your child when he messes the mark. Pardon the pun. Here are some examples of encouraging remarks.

Encouraging Remarks

1. "Wow, you did a good job pulling your pants down."

2. "I'm so proud of you. You sat on the pot!"

3. "Good job! You used the pot!"

Notice the focus of encouraging remarks is always on the child's good behavior. Encouragement goes a long way in helping build your child's self-confidence. These responses help your child understand that his attempts are not going unnoticed. He'll need it for the difficult task of taking down his pants or pulling his shoes off. You should use language that is easy for your child to understand. Most importantly, you have to be sincere.

Praise

Praise is the second kind of fuel you'll need on the potty training trip. You may be asking, "What is the difference between encouragement and praise?" There's a big difference! Yet, the two are equally important to your child's potty training. Encouragement talks about the outcome. Praise focuses on the behavior of your child by complimenting the behavior. Take a look at some examples of praise remarks.

Praise Remarks

1) "You walked over to the pot and sat down."

2) "You pulled down the pull-ups first."

3) "You asked mommy for help."

Praise tells your child that you approve of their behavior when you use remarks like these. You'll notice something magical occur the more you praise your child. The little tyke will try to make you happy. At the same time, he is building the self-esteem that is needed to make it through life. He will not have a pair of pants too hard to take off. There won't be a wall too high to climb. There is no test too hard, except geometry perhaps. Teach your child about praise during potty time and the lesson will last for life!

I know all of this is hard to imagine as you look at your little one right now. However, it is true. Remember the E & P words. Remember the example sentences. If your child can learn how to use the pot, you can learn how to give him the encouragement, and praise the needs.

So, are you ready for the training now? I hope it all goes well.