- Before you start toilet training your little one,
there is one thing that you have to get right.
If you do not get this right,
then you are going to make toilet training
so much more harder than it needs to be.
In fact, your child's more likely
to be fearful of using the toilet,
and at higher risk of developing chronic constipation,
which is definitely something you want to avoid.
Now to avoid this common mistake
I see parents making all the time,
you only need two things.
So in this video, I'm going cover what these items are
so that you don't make the same mistake.
But before we get into it,
make sure you click on the free PDF document
in the description box below,
which covers my top toilet training essentials.
To successfully use the toilet,
your little one needs to feel safe and comfortable.
And it's not until they feel safe and comfortable
that they are able to relax their muscles,
including their pelvic floor muscles,
to do a poo or a wee.
Now to ensure the little ones feel safe on the toilet seat,
we need to do two things.
The first thing is we need to reduce
the overall size of the toilet seat.
Adult toilet seats are simply too big.
You will notice that when your little one
jumps on adult toilet seat,
they do sink in and unless they put their hands
by their side to prop themselves up,
they're going to fall into the toilet bowl.
Now, what you will notice
is when they put their arms down by their side,
they are automatically clenching their thighs
and tightening their pelvic floor muscles,
which means it is really difficult to do a poo or a wee,
and it can actually lead to fissures
when they're straining to do a poo,
or it can lead to chronic constipation
because your little one refuses
point blank to sit on the toilet,
or just a general fear of the toilet swallowing them.
The best way to reduce the overall size of the toilet seat
is to use a family style toilet seat.
So the beauty of these toilet seats
is they replace the existing one
that you have on your toilet at home,
but they have a child toilet seat,
which sits inside the lid of the toilet seat.
So that when it's not in use, it's an adult toilet seat
but when your little one needs to use the toilet,
you've just pulled down that child toilet seat.
I prefer to use the family style toilet seat
over the portable reducer rings for a number of reasons.
Firstly, the family style toilet seat
doesn't pinch the child's bottom when they're sitting on it,
which is often the case
when they're using a portable reducer ring.
I cannot tell you how many children have told me in the past
that the reducer ring is pinching their bottom,
and then they refuse to sit on the toilet.
The second reason is that the family style toilet seat
is really sturdy.
It doesn't move around
when they are getting onto the toilet seat
or when they are sitting on the toilet seat.
But when a child is using a portable reducer ring,
it will actually tilt when they actually sit
on the reducer ring for the first time,
and then it moves around when it is on the toilet seat.
And this gives the child the idea
that the toilet seat isn't safe
and they don't feel really sturdy on it.
And as a result, they can't really relax their muscles
enough to do a poo or a wee.
The other reasons are,
I find the family style toilet seat really neat.
So because the child toilet seat just rests inside the lid,
you don't have to keep bringing the reducer ring
on and off the floor,
which really just gets irritating over time.
So I liked that it just hides inside the lid
when it's not in use.
And lastly, it's really easy to clean
because you just clean it
when you're cleaning the toilet seat.
So it's not a big deal, it takes a fuss out of that.
The second thing that you must do
is provide your child with foot support.
Now, obviously this is going to make it easier
for your child to get on and off the toilet independently.
But more importantly, it is going to make sure
that your child's knees are higher than their hips,
which means that it is going to be easier
for them to do a poo.
If your child's knees are lower than the hips
and they are sitting upright,
then the rectum tends to be kinked
because there's a muscle that is wrapping around it
to keep the poo in.
To do a poop, your child needs to have their knees
higher than their hips,
and they need to be leaning forward
with their elbows on their legs.
Because this will relax that muscle,
and then there'll be able to poo without straining,
which will then ensure that they don't develop any fissures
or constipation.
Now my preferred foot support for children
when they're using the toilet are actually wooden footstools
with two steps, compared to the plastic footstools
or those footstools that have a ladder.
Generally the wooden footstools are heavier,
and as a result, they're less likely to tip over
or wobble when your child is walking up the step
to get onto the toilet seat.
And when they turn around, they're less likely to wobble
so your child feels a lot safer doing that movement
to then sit on the toilet.
I also liked the wooden foot rests
because they tend to have handles on there,
which your little one can use to get up onto the toilet.
But also when they're sitting on the toilet,
they can lean forward and hold those handles
to make it easier for you to complete the wiping process
or if they want to hold onto it all for extra stability.
But I would generally avoid those ladder type steps
on the plastic ones because children will often tell me
that they're really unsteady.
And if you try and use it yourself,
you will see that at wobbles all the time.
You wouldn't feel comfortable using it
and neither do children.
So those are the two items
that you need to get right now
before you start toilet training your little one,
because it will make toilet training so much easier.
Make sure you get that free PDF document
in the description box below,
and I will see you next week
where I'll share more parenting tips and tricks.
(upbeat music)