Potty Training Accidents: Top 5 Questions About Potty Training

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Decrease Tantrums

in Young Children with

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Last week we featured the classic rebroadcast of, Autism Potty Training – When to Start and Steps to Take, and today I’m back with my community manager, Kelsey General, going over the top 5 questions about potty training we’ve heard in our online community.

1. When Should You Start Potty Training and What Prerequisites Does a Child Need to Have?

Potty training is a critical life skill but it’s important to understand if you start too early you could be causing more stress, problems, and frustration than needed. If you think your child might be ready you can look for: staying dry for 2 hours at a time, noticing if the child is uncomfortable when wet or dirty, sitting for 2 minutes, pulling pants up and down, and if the child is comfortable with handwashing. If your child isn’t ready, it’s never too early to start pairing the bathroom and the toilet, introduce your child to the concept and get on the same page with the other adults in your child’s life with the words and terms you’ll be using.

2. I Have Decided to Start Potty Training. What Should I Do Next?

I recommend following these four important steps: Extra Liquid, Scheduled Sits, Reinforcement, and Data. All of these play a big factor in the success of potty training. The extra liquid is going to increase the need to pee and practice on the potty and scheduled sits are going to build going to the potty into their routine. A high reinforcement your child doesn’t have free access to daily is crucial so they can see good things happen when they go potty, especially for poop. Lastly, tracking data is going to help you know when things are going right even if it might not seem like it, and it will also alert you when your plan isn’t working and you need to change it up.

3. My Child Will Go to the Bathroom on Their Schedule, but Only When I Take Them. How Do I Teach Them to Initiate and Go Independently?

Teaching, manding and requesting can be done during scheduled sits. Whether you’re using an image they can carry with them, saying potty on the walk to the bathroom, or signing for potty when they go potty all of these will get the child in the habit of telling you when they need to go. Fade the schedule away, and stop asking if they need to go!

4. What Do We Do About Pee and Poop Accidents and Asking for Diapers, for Pooping?

In potty training, your goal is to get daytime pee trained first, if pee accidents are occurring then you need to readjust your schedule. Take the child to try peeing more often and look at your data to find out their usual natural potty times. For poop accidents, firstly if they are a boy remember to train them to pee sitting to avoid accidental pooping while standing. Also, check out my episode with Dr. Steve Hodges all about constipation and its effect on potty training.

5. My Child is Doing Well at Home and During the Day but Won’t Pee Out of the House. What Should I Do?

Your child is not potty trained unless they are going potty daytime no matter where they are. I strongly suggest practicing this throughout the process by building in-store trips during your daily outings, getting to preschool early to use the bathroom, and trying different scenarios so it becomes part of the new normal.

For more information on potty training, you can check out my workshop or join our online community. I also have a chapter devoted to this in both of my books, The Verbal Behavior Approach and The Turn Autism Around Approach.

Potty Training Accidents: Top 5 Questions About Potty Training

You’ll Learn

  • Important potty training prep.
  • Signs to look for in potty training readiness.
  • Potty training steps and tips.
  • Fading the potty schedule and manding for the potty.
  • Handling accidents and poop holding.
  • Is your child constipated?
  • Learning to potty out of the house, steps to take.

Resources

Free Workshop

Increase Talking &
Decrease Tantrums

in Young Children with

Autism &/or Speech Delays