Toilet Training Problems
Toilet training is an integral part of any child's growing up. While mostly it is quite easy to toilet train your child with a little patience, effort and guidance from the parents, there are some children who give their parents a very difficult time.
Toilet training problems normally include outright refusal of the child to cooperate with parent's efforts no matter what method they try to use to make him understand. This can be very frustrating for the parents involved.
However, one thing that has to be remembered is that most of the times, this behaviour of the child has a reason behind it. It may be due to fear of the bathroom. From a child's point of view, a bathroom is a place which is formidable and cold. It is a place that symbolizes something horrible, dark, and mysterious.
In such cases it is a good idea to train them on a potty till they get over the fear of bathrooms during the course of time. To get him to use the potty chair more, you can make him or her feel attached to it by personalizing it with his name or even letting him decorate the potty seat with stickers of his choice.
Another toilet training problem could be that your child may be resisting toilet training due to the fact that he is quite comfortable with his diapers and wants to stay in them for some more time. There is no use forcing the issue on him or her. It is better to allow them to go their way for some more time before they exhibit signs of understanding and readiness to be trained.
Most of the times, when your child says no to toilet training, he is just trying to exert power or show his individuality. It is a good idea to let him feel he has got his way by backing off for the time being.
When you do that, you must also resist from intervening in case you notice an imminent accident. If you remind him or her too much, they tend to feel nagged and become more adamant. You could gently question them from time to time by asking him a few questions as to whether he would like to visit the toilet, or whether he is comfortable, etc.
Another idea to solve toilet training problems is to keep the potty chair where he can see it and let him remain bottomless for some time. He may be tempted to use the chair on his own and his clothes will not be a hindrance.
If you make your child sit on a potty and force him to do it, it will definitely develop a sense of rebellion in his mind that is harmful in many ways in the long run. Do not scold him or punish him in the event of an accident. Being gentle with the children is an excellent way to deal with toilet training problems.