From a child's perspective, toilet training can be scary, confusing and inconvenient. All his life your child has been lovingly taken care of, and his dependence on you has been a warm and comforting experience. You have used the opportunity during diapering to sing to him or her, smile down at him, and connect. Sometimes you have even examined what he has produced and made comments and observations about him and his exciting day, like "Look at all this sand in your diaper! You had a good day at the playground, didn't you?", or "Diarreah? Are you getting sick? Poor sweetie!"

Now, after about two or more years in warm, comfortable diapers, he is expected to SUDDENLY take care of this task himself. He must stop in the middle of his very important activities and shed his warm clothing and sit on a cold seat. Then he must figure out how to make that thing down there work... on purpose! And in a sitting position now! All this while his activities await. At first it seemed like a fun, this new activity they call Potty Training.... Then when he does get something out, he must flush it away.

Keeping A Child's Interested

It's hard to maintain a child's interest in anything unless he or she really wants to stay engaged. If your child seems to be losing interest, it might help to ask yourself "How can I maintain interest in toilet training when my child is taking a long time to make any progress?" Some children will willingly sit on the potty but show little enthusiasm for anything more. A parent can interpret this lack of enthusiasm as a lack of motivation or interest and may even entertain such thoughts as "If he or she doesn't get more involved, we'll be sitting in the bathroom together for the next three years!" The parent might then decide to urge the child to be more involved, perhaps by offering rewards or talking more about "being a big girl" and the delights of wearing underpants all day. Sometimes a little of this kind of encouragement will help a child make progress. However, if gentle motivation doesn't work, stay relaxed, hard as that may be. If you keep pushing a child who has found his or her own pace, he or she may decide to slow down rather than speed up. Your child may even decide to refuse to do whatever he or she has been doing up to that point. Instead of creating more interest in using the toilet, pushing too hard can lead to all-out resistance.

. by Potty Training Solutions