Potty Training hygiene & mishaps

How should we handle toilet hygiene?
Instruct your toddler in good bathroom hygiene from the beginning of potty training:

• Show girls how to wipe from front to back to avoid spreading bacteria that can lead to urinary tract or vaginal infection.
• Teach children to wipe gently, because rough wiping can irritate the skin and make it vulnerable to infection.
• If your child does a poor job of wiping but refuses assistance, ask to check, or give the last wipe, after he has finished. You can also demonstrate, and then have your child practice, on a doll.
• Get your child into the habit of washing hands after each potty session, even if you do the wiping at first.
• Teach your child to take particular care when using public toilets (eg, always prepare the seat with a paper cover or toilet tissue).

When should my toddler start wearing training pants?
When your toddler has been using the potty regularly and with some success, you can make a gradual transition from diapers to training pants during the day. Disposable training pants may make accidents a bit easier to handle in the beginning.

As you and your child become more confident, a switch to cloth training pants may help motivate your child since he or she will be more aware of the consequences of a delayed trip to the potty. To help avoid accidents, dress your child in easily removed clothing.

Why does my toddler keep having so many accidents?
Setbacks and accidents with both bowel movements and urination are a normal part of potty training. However, constant accidents may indicate that your toddler is not developmentally ready for training and needs to revert to diapers for a while.

Further, although continual accidents are most often related to unreadiness, you should be aware of other possible causes:

• Stressful events in the family
• Fatigue, leading to diminished control of skills
• Excitement, with momentary loss of bladder control
• Absorption in another activity
• Reaction to parental pressure
• Resistance to growing up
• Tardiness in getting to potty/toilet or removing clothing
• Urinary tract infection

If your toddler has symptoms of a physical problem-for example, is always somewhat wet (a sign of leaking), becomes incontinent when laughing, has a weak urine stream, experiences painful urination, or has blood in the urine-consult your health care professional. When the reason for accidents is not simply developmental, attention to these problems may help your child's progress.

Remember, how readily your child masters potty training is not an indication of your child's intelligence or success in other developmental areas.

How long does potty trainings typically takes?
Although the occasional toddler (probably an older one) may be trained very quickly and with infrequent relapses, the process generally takes several weeks, and you should expect setbacks.

Most children typically learn to control their bowels before they gain control of urination. Research has shown that, on average, toddlers learn to stay reliably clean and dry during the daytime by the middle of their third year.

Most children continue to wet at night for as long as a year after they have completed daytime training because they are not developmentally ready to hold their urine overnight or to awaken in response to a full bladder.

You may want to keep your child in diapers during the night until he or she is consistently dry upon awakening.

Try to be patient during the training process. Do not punish or scold for failure, and be sure to give praise for success. Remember that toileting requires development of several skills-body awareness, concentration, coordination, muscle control, and good timing.

Reprinted with permission from Wyeth Nutrition