Ideas for Toilet Training

• Put teddy/ dolly on the toilet and praise teddy
• Sing/ talk about toileting in a positive way
• Put child sitting on the toilet with toilet seat down if necessary....Place mirror on front of toilet so child can see the BIG girl /boy sitting on the toilet.
• Read books on toileting/watch CDs on toileting
• A few drops of food colouring in the cistern can encourage your child to use the toilet.  He/she can flush it and guess what colour the water will be
• Put a small plastic boat or coloured ping pong ball in the toilet so boys have a target
• Make use of peer pressure- e.g., say the first one to use the potty can choose the story
• Involve the child when buying the potty , allowing him/her to choose the type or colour if possible
• Have an open door policy in the bathroom so the child can see other family members using the toilet
• Take the child when buying new underwear-those with cartoon characters are best- and reinforce the child that they do not want to get `mickey mouse`wet
• If it is not possible to remove the nappy use a liner so the child will feel wet
• Ignore the accidents and give plenty of praise for using potty/toilet
• Musical potty and Toilet bowel inserts- gives the child an instant reward

© Ann Haig Wheeler, DSC 2009

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