This was another one of these parenting skills, where lots of people and books offer advice, which is universal. So why my lovely wife chose to ignore it is beyond me.
Advice 1 Wait until they show an interest
She interpreted this as – We need to get this nailed before we go home in the summer. Let’s start by making him interested by buying a children’s storybook about it.
Advice 2 Don’t stop and start
She interpreted this as – Do it some days or until you run out of clean pants. Making sure you destroy any progress you make by riveting back to nappies for weekend breaks or any planned occasion likely to be ruined if the little man has an accident, taxi journeys included.
Advice 3 Reward them for their attempts
She interpreted this as – ‘oh he looked at the potty, let’s give him a biscuit’. He soon get wise to this. We had to change it to stickers within a few days.
Advice 4 Don’t make a fuss if they make a mistake
She interpreted this as – Ok in fairness we did do this, but thanks to the fact we ignored the advice above, we continued to do it for months!
One great thing about potty training in Singapore; there’s very little carpet to worry about. Cleaning up a puddle of pee or pile of poo on a ceramic tiles is much easier then scrubbing and picking bits out of a carpet.
Thanks for the good article, I hope you continue to work as well.
What a stuff of un-ambiguity and preserveness of valuable experience concerning unexpected emotions. Fannie Bengt Tronna