Potty Training Prep Letter 2: Planning the Practice Flow

Dear Team Potty Training,  

You have been observent detectives and have noticed a lot of the signs that I am ready to start thinking about potty training with you.  So, let’s embark on this pre-potty training journey.  Thanks for not rushing me into practicing yet, because there are a couple of things that will help prepare me and can help prevent potty and poopy related problems later.   

Since I am interested in exploring your potty and mine,  let’s talk about how you can be comfortable letting me.   So I’m not afraid or bothered by bathroom stuff, it will be helpful if our bathrooms and toilets are the cleanest ever. I will be confused if I hear that toilets are ewwy and then be expected to use them. Also,I can read your face pretty well and I will see if you think they are yucky.   When I do end up exploring the toilet with my hands, be chill about it and maybe say, matter-of-factly, “we wash our hands after we use the potty.” Speaking of hand-washing, it will be easier to teach me good hand washing skills if we have a good and sturdy step stool for the sink.  

Please be mindful of your “yuck face” when I have a dirty diaper too.  You may have noticed that I am wanting to help you with the diaper change now, or at least get my hands in there.  Let me know how I can help.  For instance, maybe I will love ripping the tape off the diaper or holding the wet wipe until you are ready for it.   I might like to practice wiping off my hands with a wet wipe while you are changing, also.   

About now I could really use some conversations about peeing and pooping. Since you're noticing signs that I need to go, let me know what it is that I am feeling.  I don’t know yet what that feeling/urge is about.  Tell me the words we are going to use for elimination and for my body parts*  

I will also enjoy hearing about who else has to go and where they go.  Even mommys and daddys pee.  Did you know that you are a model for me?  When I was a one-year-old, you might have noticed that I started imitating you using objects.  Now I am also copying your actions on a pretty regular basis. So, modeling is a way that you can introduce me to pottying. I am following you into the bathroom sometimes anyway. I will also be interested in where animals eat, pee, and poop. Dogs do it, cats do it, even giraffe’s do it.   This might be a good time to start reading books about peeing and pooping, but we can wait until training time also.   Here are some that my friends like:  Everyone Poops (by Taro Gomi), Where’s the Poop? (by Julie Marks and Susan Kathleen Hartung), and Time to Pee by Mo Williams.

Not only will these little chats be helpful, but since I am about 18 months to 2 1/2 years old, let's break out the uppolies for investigagion. Remember, don't expect me to be making deposits yet, because we are still in the pre-training stage. Some parents like to put a potty chair in a place where I spend a lot of time playing. encourage me to sit on it with my clothes on. A 30-second sit is something to work up to. Explain to me how I will use it later. My stuffed animals and dolls will probably want to investigate and try it out also. Maybe we can guide my baby bear through the steps of the potty. After a couple of weeks, when I am accustomed to it and comforatble, we can start training. But before that, let's make a plan for this practicing phase.

The final step in pre-potty training is to plan the practice flow.  So let’s think about the steps and the routine of my potty practice.  Here are some things we may want to consider:

• Where will my potty be placed? 

• How many times per day will I sit on it when starting? ( 3x per day is a good start) 

• When will we schedule those sits for?  It helps if you have been noticing when I am using the diaper. 

• Will you use rewards and what are they?

• Where else will I be practicing? At home isn’t the only place I will use the potty,

• Let’s decide who else is on our potty learning team.  We may want to work with my other caregivers to make it a team effort.  It’s less confusing if it is a similar routine, but it’s not always possible, and that’s ok.

• Let’s hang out in this pre-potty stage for a couple of weeks.  I’ll send another letter when it’s practice time.

Love and kisses, 

Your favorite toddler.