Lack of Communication
I’ve discussed this elsewhere, but it’s worth mentioning again. Think
about this: your child is constantly communicating with you. It’s up
to you to decipher. Your child most likely is at the “point and
scream” stage. While this is a delightful way to communicate, it’s not
always effective when potty training. The best thing to do is to teach
your child the sign for pee; this can be Standard American Sign
Language or it can be made up. However, I suggest a vocal cue
because oftentimes you aren’t looking right at your child. The word
pee is easy enough. Some moms have used other vocals or can
recognize particular screams. One mom figured out her daughter
made a specific clicking noise. It became their signal for “gotta go.” I
would not worry about differentiating between pee and poop as far as
words. It’s going to come soon enough.
Pulling Down the Pants and Physically Manipulating Clothes
I discussed this in chapter 4, “Mental Preparation,” if you missed it.
You definitely want to start working on your child being able to
manipulate his own clothes as soon as possible. Of course, at this age
your child will naturally be more dependent on you than older
children would be.