Potty training is a tasking period that every parent of a neurotypical kid goes through. It gets even tougher if your kid has language development delays.
In most of the Facebook groups that house parents of speech delayed and autistic kids where I am a member, it is a question that is posed daily. Parents are really struggling out there to get effective potty training tips. Unfortunately not all tips are going to work for your child. So you need to know what actually works for your kid so as to implemengt some of these tips being given around.
In this post, I will not talk about the potty training tips but rather the mistakes that you need to avoid when toilet training your child. Lets get to it.
- Being harsh on your child
At first, I made the mistake of being rather harsh on my boy. I was really frustrated because he had taken long to learn how to use the potty. This meant that I was still buying diapers even when he was past the diaper using age.
I would therefore order him to sit on the potty and do his thing. And this frustrated him. It was actually a sad picture seeing him sit at his potty looking sad and forlorn.
It also did not help things.
Using the potty needs to be a fun experience.
Even when your kid makes accidents, do not be too tough on them. Just laugh it off and go to your back-up plans such as using push up diapers.
- Expecting that things will go smoothly with every child
If you have other older kids who used the potty seamlessly, you might expect that it will be the same with your developmentally delayed child. No, it is not. You are going to have a rough ride with such an attitude.
Just know that every kid is unique and learns things at their own pace. With an autistic or speech delayed kid, it might actually be a really tough climb getting them to use the potty effectively. So just be ready to have it rough and tough.
- Not having a back-up plan–diapers, timing toddler
Not having a back-up plan such as diapers as well as timing your kid durations of using the potty is only going to set you backward. So have your diapers at the ready, loose clothes as well as schedule durations when you have to remind your kid to use the potty.
- Changing environment and potties too frequently.
If you are always travelling with your kid and so changing locations during their potty training lessons, it is going to be a tough one. Kids need some consistency during this period. They need to know where their potty is usually located as well as know its color and texture. This way, things are going to be commonplace for them.
5. Not making potty training a fun experience for your toddler
Research published by Researchgate shows that potty training can become errorless when you introduce fun activities such as potty parties, snacks as well as play during the activity. This way your kid will associate using the potty with fun things and will therefore be eager to use the potty so that they are rewarded.
