Oh Crap! Potty Training

pee. If you’re doing your job, which is watching your child, you’ll catch
that pee quickly. Don’t panic, don’t scream. Just say something like,
“Oo, oo, hold it, honey . . .” Pick your child up and get him to the
potty ASAP. Hopefully, you’ll make it in time for some of the pee to
go in the pot (yes, you will leave a trail of pee behind). Once the pee
is in the pot, you have lots of options, depending on your child. You
can high five, dance around, have him look at it and empty it, you
can make a big deal out of it, or you can just say, “Thank you” or
“Wow. You did it.” Don’t make the rush to the pot frantic or scary—
just quick. I suggest keeping the potty nearby at all times.
You are not to ask you child if she has to go. Never, in the coming
week, will you ask your child if she has to go. You will prompt her by
saying something like, “Come. It’s time to pee.”
So, back to that first pee. Honestly, I’ve seen greater success from
parents who wait for the first pee to start and then run the kid to the
pot than from parents who randomly sit the kid on the pot to try to
pee. Do you understand the difference? Some people maintain that if
you just put your child on the pot every half hour or so, eventually
they’ll pee. A lot of day cares train this way. It can work, but I’ve
found it’s more effective to wait for the child to start peeing and then
get him to the toilet. I think this is because he makes the connection
between “feeling” and “doing” faster this way. Just sitting on the
potty and waiting for the pee doesn’t allow him to connect the dots as
quickly.
Over the course of the next few pees, one of two things will
happen: either your child won’t recognize that he’s peeing (still
“clueless”), or your child will notice that he’s peed or he’s peeing.
Most kids skip directly to the “I’m peeing” stage, which is typically