When we prepare our child for toilet training, there are many things to think about.
In some of our other videos, we look at what you need, what to have in place, and how to get your child motivated.
In this video, we’re going to speak about how you can make a simple social story to help your child prepare for potty training.
Follow these steps to help you get it done:
Think about how it’s going to work for you and your child. Will you be using a timer to indicate when it’s time to go to the toilet? Will you make use of the toilet or a separate potty? How long will your child sit on the toilet? What happens when their toilet time is done or when they have success on the potty?
Take photos of the different steps. You need a photo of each step - so a photo of the timer, a photo of your child walking to the bathroom, a photo of your child sitting on the toilet or potty (make sure the photo is still respectful because it is going to be printed and put in your child’s social story book. Add a photo of flushing the toilet (unless your child finds this scary) and hands being washed. You can then also add a photo of the reward chart or tracking chart that you will be using.
Put it together in a book and write the story - do one step per page and use simple sentences to explain the process.
The book does not have to be elaborate - a few pages stapled together is perfect. If you cannot get a photo of your child sitting on the potty, for example, use a different picture or just a picture of the potty, but the main thing is that it needs to be relatable. It shouldn’t be a picture of a different potty in a different bathroom with lots of unfamiliar things - it should look like your bathroom and have the same potty; that’s why photos work best.
Now that you have the book, read it with your child a couple of times a day before you start potty training.
When you’ve read it over a few days, you can then start to follow the steps in the book to start the potty training journey.
It’s not going to happen overnight, but hang in there; they’ll get it!
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Potty training is a huge step in a child's independence. Using the Tracto app's journaling feature allows you to note your child's progress. Using scheduled reminders will also make sure that both you and your child stay on track to achieving potty training success.
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