
After reading several books about potty training (my son was a little tyke pre-Internet) and having little success, I found some helpful information tucked way in the back of a woman's magazine's classified section.
"Anatomically correct dolls - order yours today" it said. The ad explained that this was a great way to teach potty training to your young 'un. With the doll came a little pamphlet on how to potty train.
Here is what I did, and did it work!
I ordered my son an anatomically correct boy doll. It arrived with a baby bottle as well. I explained to my going-on-two child that he had to feed his baby its bottle but that his baby would need to go potty soon afterwards. I showed him how to put the potty chair in the toilet bowl for dolly to pee, and how to empty it in the toilet bowl and flush afterwards.
The first few baby doll feeding times resulted in wet surroundings as the doll urinated before my son made his way, doll in hand, to the toilet bowl. But then he got wise. I'd hear him talking to his baby. "Let's go wee wee," he'd say, and scurry to the toilet, prop the doll in front of the potty, watch him urinate, empty the potty and then flush.
One week later there was my very own toddler, standing in front of the toilet bowl and urinating.
Success! And I'd hardly had to do anything at all.
Now I hear that this is the method recommended by Dr. Phil. He suggests as well that when the dolly goes potty successfully the very first time you and your child should throw dolly a "potty party" with boisterous noise makers and anything else fun and rambunctious you can think of. Of course, when the doll's potty success is followed by your child's potty success your little one would get a potty party too.
A few key pointers are in order here, too.
Potty training must be attempted at the right time. Don't expect your child to be ready prior to 18 months old, and it could take until she or he is 2 1/2 years old. Don't rush it. Your child must be walking, and probably running, well, and able to communicate that he or she needs to go - now! Whether the message is pee or poop or wee wee or whatever - your young 'un just needs to be able to get the message across. Some of the ready-to-start-potty training signs are dry diapers, a child distressed by a messy diaper, and consistently firm stools.
You're going to need to help your child at first, so you don't want to miss the signals that it's time to "go." The message may come in the form of dancing around with hands on genitals, or frantic tugs at his clothing.
A potty chair or potty seat is almost crucial. A little tyke may be afraid of that big noisy, "what if I fall in?" bowl. If so the potty chair is the way to go. It's a miniaturized toilet that's entirely separate from your own bowl. A potty seat, in contrast, fits right inside your own toilet but accommodates the child's smaller body.
Potty training dolls today, $20-$40 each, come equipped with baby bottles and their very own potty seat. Two manufacturers are Gotz Aquini and Corolle. The Corolle dolls have their own diapers and are designed to hold water and wet on demand.
--------------------- About the Author ---------------------
Anita Chaperon is the editor of Infant Potty Training Tips - a free website resource packed full of information about teaching your infant how to shed those dippers and start to use the toilet. We reviews bedwetting alarms, potty training pants, potty training books, and other potty training products.
© 2005 All Right Reserved / This article can be freely reprinted providing it is published in it's entirety, including the resource box and copyright notice.
AP - President-elect Barack Obama's proposed tax cuts ran into opposition Thursday from senators in his own party who said they wouldn't do much to stimulate the economy or create jobs. Senators from both parties agreed that Congress should do something to stimulate the economy. But Democratic senators emerging from a private meeting of the Senate Finance Committee criticized business and individual tax cuts in Obama's stimulus plan.
AP - The U.N. Security Council called for an "immediate" and "durable" cease-fire in Gaza in a resolution Thursday night even as fighting between Israel and Hamas raged — with early morning airstrikes killing seven Palestinians and pushing the death toll to about 760 in the near two-week conflict.
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AP - A key panel unanimously recommended impeachment for Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Thursday, setting up a vote that could make him the first governor to face such fate in Illinois' sordid political history. Blagojevich should lose his job for abusing power, mismanaging government and committing possible criminal acts, including federal allegations he tried to sell off a U.S. Senate seat, the special committee concluded.
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AP - Less than a month after its first report, a congressional panel overseeing the Treasury Department's $700 billion financial bailout is demanding more answers.
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AP - Prosecutors said Thursday that investigators found 100 signed checks worth $173 million in Bernard Madoff's office desk that he was ready to send out to his closest family and friends at the time of his arrest last month in what is alleged to be largest financial fraud in history.
Reuters - Israel pushed ahead with its offensive in the Gaza Strip on Friday, ignoring a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire to the 14-day-old conflict.
Reuters - U.S. employers probably cut the most jobs in at least 34 years last month as the global economic crisis gathered pace and moves by policy makers took time to filter through to struggling companies.
Reuters - Financial giant Citigroup Inc will support a proposal in Congress to rewrite U.S. bankruptcy law to help troubled mortgage borrowers avoid foreclosure, Chief Executive Vikram Pandit said on Thursday.
Reuters - A legislative committee on Thursday recommended the impeachment of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, citing widespread abuse of power including allegations he tried to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.
Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama's economic team is urgently overhauling the $700 billion financial rescue package to broaden its scope beyond Wall Street, The Washington Post reported on Friday.
Reuters - Al Qaeda's operations chief in Pakistan and a top aide are believed to be dead, a U.S. counterterrorism official said on Thursday, in what appeared to be the latest results of a campaign targeting the militant group's leadership.
AFP - Israel carried out new deadly air raids on the Gaza Strip on Friday as the UN Security Council called for an immediate ceasefire to end the two-week-old conflict in the Palestinian enclave.
AFP - Hopes for a quick resumption of Russian gas supplies to Europe were rising Friday after Russia agreed on the terms for the deployment of monitors in Ukraine.
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