Home Hot Topics Articles Directors' Choice Awards About Us / Contact Us Activities & Curriculum Activities for Outcome-Based Learning Arts & Crafts Music for Learning Recommended Reading Sharing Boards: What Do YOU Think? NEWSlink Current National News Conference Calendar Topics In Early Childhood Education Art and Creativity in Early Childhood Education Job Sharing Board State Licensing Requirements Stay Connected! Each month we'll send you an email filled with articles and ideas for your classroom. Subscribe Now Date: 2/2/2007 9:09:00 PM Author: Lesley (fairis7@frontiernet.net) Subject: developmental readiness for potty learning Most children are not physically ready to start potty learning until the age of 24 months. For boys it is closer to 2 1/2 - 3 years of age. This means that their bodies are not yet ready (the neural connections between the brain and organs are not fully developed) to use the potty with consistant success. If a child seems interested in using the potty before then, by all means, go ahead and start introducing the concepts and tools for using the potty. Don't push it though. At that age, usually it is just an interest. Allow the child to come into the bathroom with you. The more he/she sees the potty being used, the more interested the child will become in using the potty and the more understanding he/she will have gained by watching the process. The first step in potty readiness is curiosity and exploration. That is why many boys are likely to take off their diaper anywhere in the house. They may use a corner of a room, go behind a chair, or surround themselves with toys or furniture (or whatever is on hand) to give themselves a bit of privacy. Sending them to the bathroom when this occurs will help both child and parent. It gives the child a bit of privacy and as he learns that the feeling he is having is followed by urine coming out and he has an appropriate place to deposit it, thus decreasing the amount of accidents elsewhere in the house. If you try to push using the potty too early, the child will be reluctant and the ensuing power struggles may cause harm to the child's self-esteem. It may take a year or more for potty learning to go from the curiosity stage to consistantly dry nights. Allow the child to be in control of his potty habits. Suggest using the potty at set intervals during the day, but if the child says no, don't push it. In the child care setting, it's my policy that the child either wear a diaper or pull-up. I also suggest that if pull-ups are used, introduce them to the child as underwear. It gives their self-esteem a boost (they've graduated to underwear)and they are sometimes more likely to use the toilet as they would be if wearing diapers. It also helps to protect their clothes from being soiled, as well as your carpeting. The child can still wear real underwear over the diaper or pull-up, if they choose. It is very time-consuming and messy to have to change a child who couldn't make it to the potty before having a BM in his/her cloth underwear. And I don't know any parent that wants to receive a plastic bag full of these dirty garments at the end of a work day. Therefore, disposable undergarments are very useful and necessary in this setting. At home the parents can use their own discretion as to what the child wears, but the more consistent everything is for the child, the less confusing and the easier it is to learn to use the potty. If the child experiences any life changes (new baby, death of a loved one, parental divorce, new house) expect some regression. Name: Email: Subject

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