Also, never underestimate the power of sleep. Much will be
accomplished in his sleep tonight. Information gets sorted out in the
brain, and you can begin fresh in the morning.
If you feel that Block One went pretty well—that there was some
forward movement and some clicking—rock on. That’s awesome.
Move on to Block Two: pants, commando, and small outings. If you
are feeling less-than-stellar or simply a little unsure, it’s okay to
bounce a little from Block One to Block Two. I recommend having
your child go half naked and half clothed. I call it . . .
Handing Your Child Success
Often, parents are just not really sure where their kid is at with
regard to taking everything in during the early phases of potty
training. If you fall into this category, it’s okay to do more naked
time. To make progress, though, we need to start stacking up
successes. This will build your child’s pride and confidence. Learning
to use the potty is a lot like learning to read. You can’t just learn a
letter and move on. You have to study the letter, hear it again and
again, and write it in lower and upper case many, many times. (I have
a small rain forest in worksheets that prove this.) To create progress
in potty training, you have to nudge the child forward with the
expectation that they can rise to the next challenge, but you also
have to know they’ve gotten the last step. It’s a balancing act, to be
sure.
One way to hand your child success in Block Two is to start with
your child naked (at least from the waist down) and make sure you