Tips on Potty Training Part 3
In this final part of the Potty Training Tips, I will share with you some other specific ideas used by parents to train their children with autism. As each child is different, you never know which tip(s) will work best with your child until you try out. So, try as many of the tips as possible to see which work.
Here are some useful tips:
1. Eliminate non-Eliminating Time
If you keep your
record up to date, you might observe a certain period of time when your child rarely or never eliminate. These are the time-slot that you should take out for toilet training altogether. Sitting on a potty or toilet bowl without eliminating is more harmful than not to train. You will be teaching a wrong skill if you train him during such time. You will want to take away such time-slot from your training schedule.
Keeping a
record of the training will help you to take note of the progress and adjust the schedule accordingly. Keeping such a record has often been recognized as one of the most important key for success as it allow you to measure the success of your toileting program as well as to keep track of the diverse range of situation and activities. So update it regularly.
3. Rewards
Some parents tried to use rewards as a motivational method, you could try if this work with your kid. Rewards such as candy, toy or things they love could motivate them and act as a reinforcer for your training. Choose a reinforcer that your child goes crazy over. Sometimes just saying “Good Job!” isn’t enough to motivate your child. The moment the child begins to pee/poop in the toilet, some kind of quickly delivered reward should be presented.
However, be careful not to overuse the rewards system. Make sure rewards are not used long-term and are immediate, tangible and motivating for your child.
4. Drink, Drink, Drink
Some parents also suggested this method of giving plentiful fluids to your child. Give him lots of drinks to speed up the process of elimination and provide more opportunities for toilet training. Then check every 5 minutes. Put his hand on his underwear and ask him if it is “Wet” or “Dry”. Give him prompting if needed for correct answer. Remember to limit this to short training period and not prolonged time. Also limit drinks before bedtime period to ensure a better sleep.
5. No Diapers and Pull-Ups
It is preferable not to wear diapers or pull-ups during training. The child needs to feel wet and uncomfortable and you need to spot the accident promptly during the training. However, it is acceptable to put on a diaper or pull-up during bedtime.
6. Consult Doctor, Doctor, Doctor
There are some severe cases that no one doctor could determine the cause. Each doctor may suggest different causes and solutions. If you face of one of such case, one of the way is to give each suggestion a go, try it and see if it works. If not, seek another opinion. The process is frustrating and painful. You may need to consult various parties such as family GP, Nero clinic, Encopresis clinic, GI or gastrointernologist.
The problem may be medical, behavioral, developmental or genetic and at times it is not easy for any specialists to put a definite cause for it. In some cases, doctors may suggest laxatives and high-fiber diet or secretin or perform a GI scope for further diagnosis. What ever the case, don’t give up although it is really pains-taking and agonizing.
7. Prevent Toilet Accidents
You would want visiting toilet a safe thing to do for your child especially with the aim to do it independently by himself later on. Make sure your toilet is safe such as no wet slippery floor, inaccessible to dangerous or poisonous substances like detergents and other dangerous objects like scissors. You may want to prevent your child from locking themselves or hurt by the toilet door by putting a door stopper or a simple towel over the top of your bathroom door.
you have a very interesting and informative blog, i like it!