Helping Your Eager-To-Please Child Know When To Go To The Bathroom

Eager-to-please personalities tend to have fairly regular potty times, so you can time potty visits to what you’ve already observed about your child’s schedule. Go together to the bathroom whenever you can; your agreeable child wants you there every step of the way and loves the special potty time together.You know how you thrive on a good piece of chocolate and 10 minutes alone with a magazine? Well, your eager-to-please child thrives on positive feedback. That’s why they need your approval in order to progress. Help your agreeable by encouraging them and making sure they know you’re noticing their efforts — even when they’re not perfect. And don’t forget the power of a few stories, fun songs and silly dances.

Potty Scripts

You and your child can also make a schedule with pictures that show the day’s potty breaks. For example:

How does your body feel when it’s time to go?

“Part of using the potty is knowing how your body feels when you have to go. I know I have to go to the bathroom when my tummy feels tight and heavy. I have to squeeze my tummy from the inside to keep the pee or poop from coming out until I get to the toilet. Do you ever feel your pee or poop coming? It helps to put a hand on your tummy to check. How does it feel in there? Once I sit down on the potty, I can stop holding my tummy tight and let it all go. Ahhhh. This helps my pee or poop come right out into the toilet! When you think you have to go, tell me so I can help you try, too. You're doing great so far. It’s so cool that you’re learning all this Big Kid stuff.” Be sure to remember that if your child is a girl, it is important for her to learn to wipe from front to back. During potty training, there will be many more trips to the bathroom, but the idea is to give your eager-to-please children the sense that we all go to the potty many times each day, as part of our normal routine. Practice makes perfect!