Pot training..

Training a baby to control his or her bowels and  bladder is a needless cause
of anxiety to many parents. Sooner or later all children become clean and
dry -five – year – olds do not normally need to wear nappies.
There is no point in starting to train a baby until he or she can sit up easily.
By this age – nine months or so – the baby will probably have settled in  to a
pattern of passing a motion once or twice a day. often this happens at regular
times, such as shortly after his mid-day meal .
Sit the baby on the pot for five minutes or so at that time. If he passes a
motion,praise him; if not, put him in a nappy and wait for the next time. Soon
he associates the feel of the pot on his bottom with the feeling of passing the a
motion, andincreasingly often the first sensation becomes the stimulus for
the second .
Let the control of the bowels become well established before starting to train
the baby to controlhis bladder. Again the principle is to sit the child on the
pot in the hope that he will by chance pass water. Give praise for success but
do not make an issue about a dry pot.
By the age of 15 months or so a baby should be able to learn simple words for
passing urine and bowel motions . When teaching him these words remember
that he or you will need to use them in front of other people for some years,
so short, inoffensive terms such as `wee` have much to recommend them.
Most children grasp the idea of pot training  quickly enough. It is then
infuriating when they lapse, soiling a nappy within a minute or so of a
fruitless ten-minutes  squat on the pot. Never scold a baby for this.
Sometimes it happens when the child is under stress-perhaps he is just
learning to walk,or another baby has been born into the family and he
jealous,or  his father has been away from home. Patience and peseverance
are the best ways of dealing with this situation.

Small children love talking about their  excreta,and sometimes they play
with faeces or urine. The mother should make an effort to suppress any
disgust shemay feel, since this may cause the child to feel distressed about
`dirtying` hisclean pot, and set him back in his pot training. A simple
explanation  that grown-ups don`t talk about excretion, having other things
to discuss, is the best response to endless chat about the subject from a child.
Source: Family Health Guide(Reader`s Digest)
Posted by M.Nowshath Ali.