Hello, everyone. I am honoured to write the blog and share my thoughts and experiences.
Before moving to the topic, I would like to introduce myself.
I am Chiaki from Japan. After graduating from high school, I attended a university in the United States and earned a bachelor’s degree. Then I moved to Canada and obtained an early childhood educator’s license.
My major at the university was applied behavioural analysis (ABA). I completed a nine-month practicum at an ABA-based daycare, where I served as a research assistant to Ph.D. students. Therefore, I spent most of my junior and senior years at an ABA facility and a research laboratory.
I think many people have heard about ABA, yet are not exactly sure what ABA is.
My understanding of ABA is that it focuses on a specific behaviour (target behaviour) to either improve or reduce the behaviour by changing the environment and stimulus. The particular behaviour can be anything, such as hitting, picking up a toy, and of course, toilet training. As I work at a preschool, many parents have shared with me how challenging their experiences with toilet training their children have been. I am not an expert on toilet training, but I would love to share some ABA-based ideas, my experiences, and thoughts on the topic to make it more enjoyable rather than stressful.
These are some tips for toilet training:
1. Make a daily schedule
When you feel your child is ready for toilet training, the first step is to create a daily schedule for toilet training. Overall, there are two ways of making a toilet training schedule. First, you can add toilet training time to your child’s daily schedule, such as after lunch, nap time, dinner, or before bedtime.
The other one is doing it in intervals, e.g., taking your child to the bathroom every 3 hours. Based on my experience, if a child often has accidents, I would send them to the bathroom every 15 minutes. Then, if the child starts to have fewer accidents, I would increase the duration of the interval.
2. Gradually increase the number of times you would take a child to the bathroom
Even though you have created a toilet training schedule, there is a high possibility that the child may not want to use the bathroom and may refuse to go at the designated times. To prevent this from happening, gradually increase the frequency of taking the child to the bathroom. For example, for the first week, take the child to the toilet about 1-2 times every hour. Then, if the child does not refuse to use the bathroom, take them to the toilet three to five times a day.
3. Praise!
For me, this is very important for toilet training. If the child succeeds, praise the child (positive reinforcement). When you praise the child, praise specific behavior instead of just saying ‘good job,’ e.g., “Great job, you made a wee-wee!” So that the child understands why you complimented them. Most of the time, when I praise children after they have been successful with their toilet training, they seem to feel proud of themselves and say, “Yes, I did!” Praising always helps build a child’s self-confidence, which I believe is crucial for them to become more independent.
4. Decorate the bathroom together with your child
Give one sticker every time the child succeeds with toilet training, and ask the child to put it on the wall, decorate the bathroom, and make the bathroom their special place. The purpose of this tip is to give additional praise to a child. For me, it helps a child to visually understand how many times they have been successful with their toilet training. If they make the bathroom a special place, they may be more willing to use it.
5. Special treat
Give the child special treats when they succeed with toilet training at certain milestones, e.g., if the child succeeds 10 times, take them to their favourite park. When you give a special treat, explain why the child received the special treat so that the child can connect the toilet training with the special treat. Try to avoid giving food and sweets/candy as a treat; instead, offer them as an experience.
6. Gradually decrease the moments for praising, giving stickers, and special treats
If you think the child is making progress with toilet training, you can gradually decrease the frequency of praise, stickers, and/or special treats. For example, first, you praise the child every 2 times, he/she succeeds, and every third time… every fifth time, and every tenth time until you do not need to praise, give stickers, and/or special treats. This phase enables the child to become more independent and use the bathroom naturally.
I believe there is no right or wrong way to help children with toilet training, which is why it can be a challenging process. My advice is just one of the many approaches to toilet training. I would be glad if you could consider the various approaches and combine your method of toilet training with my advice to see if it can become more efficient and enjoyable for you and your child.
