Toilet Training. Vicki Lansky

of today’s potty seats are made by companies that also specialize in toys. Their plastic injection molding techniques have been transferred to other juvenile products, such as potty chairs, which make them sturdy and safe items to use.

      There are ones that offer music (usually moisture activated), some that are one piece molds and others that are more complex to try to stand out from the crowd.

      One on-line source offering a number of different styles is www.pottytrainingsolutions.com. Another source to check is www.diapers.com.

       Choosing an Adult Toilet Seat Adapter

      Many of today’s toilet top adapters come from the multi-use floor models. But they can be purchased by themselves also. Some come as seats, others are molded padded rings, and one popular flip-up style attaches to your toilet seat and lifts up when not in use. There are some with steps attached to the adapter giving support to hands and feet. All of these offer the same help which is to reduce the opening of adult toilet seats for small size bottoms.

      Potty adapters are lightweight and portable and have the additional advantage of direct flushing, so there is no extra cleanup necessary. However, adapter seats can be a nuisance for the rest of the family if there is only one bathroom and the adapter is in the way and must constantly be removed and replaced.

      Many of these seats come with vinyl straps implying that a child can be left alone on the seat and needs extra safety protection. In the early stages of training, a child should not be left alone. No child should be strapped in place and then left! That is likely to feel like punishment to a child. Stay with your child. If you haven’t gotten the desired results within three to five minutes, you probably aren’t going to. Parents sometimes use this as a time to read to their child (potty books or otherwise) so a child can relax while sitting on the toilet.

      As children take on the responsibility of using the toilet with an adapter, they will be on and off by themselves in no time, and the strap will be unnecessary, though a footstool will be needed.

      There is an inflatable potty with disposable plastic bag liners as well as a folding adapter seat that fits in your purse. These are good for use when traveling or shopping. The fold-up style works well for that extra bathroom at home when you don’t wish to purchase an additional potty seat. It is also a sanitary solution when using public toilets

Footstools for Solid Footing

      You should have a sturdy footstool available to help your child get up on the adult toilet adapter seat. This is also helpful for the child who has learned to use the adult toilet without an adapter seat. A stool can be of value for a small boy who isn’t tall enough to urinate over the edge of the toilet bowl. It also gives a child having a bowel movement a solid footing to push and bear down on.

      Footstools can be used afterward to reach the sink and wash hands—an important habit that needs to be established early. Quality wooden footstools are expensive but are usually a good, long term investment. You will find many uses for them over the years in various parts of your home. Many multi-use potty chairs we have mentioned, turn into footstools. But any footstool will do. A good footstool is important to have—probably more so—than even a potty chair.

      As far as toilet training my daughter, I’ve decided to leave it up to her (future) husband!

       Lynn Souter, Onalaska, WI

      I know lots of people have used stickers as rewards during toilet training. We let my son choose a sticker and put it on the inside of the lid of the toilet. It worked like a charm, and looks cute, too.

       Susan Boozier, Irvine, CA

Direct Use of the Toilet

      It is perfectly acceptable to have your child learn to use the toilet without any special equipment. Obviously, the longer you wait to train your child, the bigger he or she will be and the more likely to sit on an adult seat without any aid except possibly yours.

      It takes some practice to sit on the toilet. It requires more balance than most adults realize. The adult toilet can seem like an abyss to a child. But certain techniques can make a child feel more secure.

      • Teach a boy to urinate sitting down backward on the toilet, straddling it, and pointing his penis downward. If he is distracted while standing, he might forget to aim.

      • Teach a little girl to sit sideways or backward on the big toilet. A little girl should also “sink” her bottom low enough so urine does not go through an adapter seat ring or the bowl rim. In the beginning, removing underwear and pants will lessen the chance of them getting wet.

      • Hold your child securely on the seat’s edge yourself.

       T.P. Control

      Learning moderation in the use of toilet paper is also part of the training process.

      • Impress upon a child that four squares of toilet paper will do the job effectively! Another measuring trick is to roll the paper down until it touches the floor. Or have a child take a strip of tissue the length of his or her arm.

      • Reduce the use of excessive paper by making it harder to unroll. Before putting a roll of paper in place, press against it with the palm of your hand, in effect, squishing its natural contour. Now it will not turn as readily, increasing the chance of a child only taking what is needed, not what is easily unrolled.

      • For a child who treats T.P. as an object of play, keep it off its natural holder for now but within reach. Place a rubberband around the roll that will be easy for you to remove but will be an obstacle for your child.

      • Or cut off a center section the same size as the horizontal dimension of a roll of toilet paper from an empty plastic pop liter bottle. Slit it up the side and trim it to fit the roll. It will act as a see-through cover to the toilet paper roll that will be easy for you to slip on and off the roll of toilet paper but virtually impossible for a child’s small hands to do so. (Also a good deterrent for pets who think T.P. is for playing!)

      • Put the roll on backward so the paper comes from the back. Usually a child “slaps” paper down—not up—so there’s less chance of excess unrolling.

Hygiene

      Wiping seems to remain a parental responsibility for quite a while, even after a child has assumed much or all of the other responsibilities associated with toilet training. It is difficult for children to do a good job of wiping. Poor cleanup can be irritating, in more ways than one.