Any tips on potty training 3 year old grandaughter ?

Question:My 3 year old granddaughter is extremely intelligent in all aspects but we are having problems potty training her. She does not want to use the toilet and we feel she is ready and understands, but does not want to or only when she wants to. Any suggestions or tips would be appreciated.



Answers:
My suggestion would be to stop placing the ultra-absorbent diapers or 'pull-ups' on her. They are so absorbsent that they cause very little discomfort to the child and therefore little incentive for them to go to the potty. Place regular underpants on her and tell her what a big girl she is. After a few mishaps, she will feel so uncomfortable that I can about gaurantee she will start using the potty.
Show how you poot.
get a potty for her, set a time of the day when you will allow her to sit on it everyday and tell her what she needs to do in the potty, it worked for me, it will become apart of her and she will just ask for her potty time to come
have her favvorite cartoon character give her a call to her how proud they are of her and to continue potty training
Sometimes you can show by example. If she sees you going she may want to go. If someone can commit to a full morning with nothing else going on she could be trained in one day. I have trained several children this way and it does work but you have to be commited with no interruptions no tv and no one else in the room with your undivided attention. You will have to entertain her most of the day. First thing is to give her something salty for breakfast such as bacon. Have something salty for lunch and salty snacks. Have pleanty of her favorite drinks, popsicles and jello. This will make her thirsty and she will want to drink more. Keep offering her drinks and snacks. Buy her a pair of fancy painties. Mom could even take her shopping the day before and let her pick them out. Tell her when she is a big girl and goes in the potty all day she can wear them. Tell her that mommy and grandma wears big girl panties and you wish she could but she still wets in her diaper. She should have on pull ups by .If she is not she needs to be in them. Watch her closley and everytime she gets the jitters like she has to go ask her if she wants to go to the bathroom. If she says no then remind her about the panties. If she has an accident in her pull up then change her without saying anything about it. Concentrate on trying to catch her with the jitters. You can even say you will have a race to see who can potty first. Everytime she goes to the potty put a sticker on a index card for her. When she gets five then she can put her big girl panties on. Of course she may have an accident but at least your one step farther. You have to be persistant. If she shows no intrest then she is not ready. Most kids learn to pee first and the other comes weeks later. Good luck!
Firstly, your granddaughter needs to show all the required signs of readiness for potty training, before commencing.

Signs of readiness include:

*Bladder control: Your child may have a dry diaper a couple of hours after his/her last diaper change, or he/she wakes up frequently from a daytime nap with a dry diaper. Note however that in some children, bladder control may not be readily apparent. Your child may have the capacity for bladder control but pee frequently in the diaper, because it is possible to pee frequently in the diaper without consequence! This sign is therefore not essential to be observed, but a very positive sign if shown.

*Bowel control: Your child shows signs of awareness when he/she needs to do a poo. For example, going quiet or showing signs of concentration, or telling/signing you that he/she has done a poo.

*Co-ordination: Your child is capable of pulling pants and underpants up and down.

*Concentration: Your child can keep occupied with an activity for five to ten minutes or more.

*Understanding: Your child can follow simple instructions - eg. fetching a toy. Has vocabulary necessary for potty training, ie. understands words such as pee, poo, potty, dry, wet, etc.

*Emotional and social readiness: Can be difficult to gauge. Look for the desire to imitate, the desire to please parents and the desire for control ("I can do it").

If your child shows all of the above signs (which she should be by age three), then she will be ready to be potty trained.

I have found the best approach is to make the potty training process into a game, so that it is fun for your child, and you should win them over. Start with a modelling process, a day prior to commencing with the potty training of your son.

Here are the steps to follow:

* Place one of your child's diapers on their favorite doll or teddy bear (let's call it "Dolly" henceforth). Tell your child you are going to play a game with Dolly, and that you are going to teach Dolly how to go to the potty to do pees and poos like Mummy and Daddy, and that Dolly won't need a diaper anymore but instead will wear 'big boy' or 'big girl' underpants.

* Place underpants on the doll or teddy (preferably the child's
intended underpants if roughly the same size as the doll or teddy, and show your child where they can be found).

* Give the doll plenty of water (if using a doll that can be fed
water and then pees) or imitate giving plenty of water. Tell your child that Dolly needs to pee, or it will wet its underpants, so it needs to go to the potty quickly.

* Rush the doll to the potty.

* Take the doll's underpants off and place the doll on the potty. Touch the Dolly's underpants and say "Dry underpants Dolly - well done" (let your child touch the underpants as well). Let Dolly do a pee (or imitate doing a pee by using a water filled medical syringe or dropper hidden behind the doll). Make a big deal out of the doll doing its pee - say "wow, Dolly is doing a pee, isn't that faaantastic!! Dolly is a big boy/girl now!"

* Role play teaching Dolly to wipe him/herself with toilet paper

* Put the Dolly's underpants back on and say "Keep underpants dry Dolly", take the potty to the toilet, empty contents and flush the toilet.

* Get the doll to wash its hands.

* Let your child put a sticker on the wall chart for Dolly

* Praise the doll for doing a pee on the potty. Make it a Big Deal. Make it party time! You can for example go dancing with the doll to music, blow whistles, make it a real fanfare (something that your child will really get a kick out of)!

Repeat the above five to ten times in a row, then get your child to progressively take control over the doll to take to the potty by themselves, five to ten times. Let them take control as soon as they want to, just be sure to remind your child to follow the above steps exactly. Children learn best if following a specific routine. If your child is showing disinterest in continuing with higher repetition of the 'game', do not force the issue until your child is in the mood again. You want to make the experience as positive and exciting as possible!

On the following day, the true 'potty training day', your child has modeled the potty training routine on his/her doll, so they will know exactly what to do, but just hasn't carried it out yet by themself. Your child also still needs to connect that when they need to pee or poo, they need to use the potty. Here is what you need to do:

*You need to arrange to have no distractions - preferably just you and your child. Avoid having visitors over.

*Make sure that your child has been given foods high in fiber and plenty of water prior to this day. Your toddler needs to have soft poo.

*It is preferable to set aside an activities area where you and your child will play. To start with, have the potty in the same area. You may want to protect the floor in this area with some plastic sheeting and a towel, to deal with the inevitable accidents. If you need to go to another room, take your child and the potty with you.

*On the day, you need to get down to your child's level, and tell him or her that they are going to be a big boy/girl from now on, and will be wearing underpants like the doll (or teddy). Explain to them that, like Dolly, they will need to pee and poo on the potty, to keep their pants nice and dry. Let your child play the potty training game with the doll to reinforce the steps. Give your child plenty of water to drink, so that he/she will pee often and get lots of practice.

*Follow EXACTLY the same process in the potty training routine with your son as was carried out with the doll in the modelling process.

Most importantly after each success, CELEBRATE! Let your child be proud of their accomplishments. You need to elicit the right behavior by encouragement and positive reinforcement only.

*There should be no scolding or negative reactions to your child doing things the wrong way - it doesn't work and will most likely set your child up for failure. If they make a mistake, tell them it's OK and that they can try to get it right the next time. Do not show your disapproval or disappointment.

If your child now knows what to do, but is resisting your encouragement, you may need to back off. Often parents make the mistake of pressuring their children subsequent to the initial training period. You need to gradually remind less often, let your child have their inevitable accidents, and you will be surprised at how quickly they then take it up by themselves.

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