Early-Start Potty Training

by Linda Sonna

Overview

The time-tested, gentle, and successful method that introduces children to potty training as early as six months

While parents around the world successfully potty train their children well before preschool age, in the United States, we've moved away from this early introduction. However, there's no evidence that later is better—in fact, there's even significant reason to believe that later can be detrimental.

Written by a respected child psychologist, Early-Start Potty Training shows why the early-start method is preferable to the commonly used readiness method. Waiting until children show signs of readiness can hold them back from preschool, cost a fortune in diapers, and lead to health problems. The early-start method avoids these concerns by starting the process of training as early as six months old.

This easy-to-follow program provides you with:

• Time-tested training tips for introducing toddlers—and even infants—to the potty
• Methods for combating common problems of training delay
• A troubleshooting plan for moving toddlers from diapers to potty independence
• Hints on how to overcome accidents and build confidence in children

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780071458009
Publisher:	McGraw Hill LLC
Publication date:	06/13/2005
Edition description:	List
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.57(d)

About the Author

Linda Sonna, M.Ed., Ph.D., is a professor of counseling psychology at Yorkville University with twenty years of experience working with parents and children. Dr. Sonna is the author of eight parenting books and is a public speaker.

Table of Contents

1 All Aboard! Speeding Your Child’s Journey
2 Many Different Roads: Choosing Healthy Travel Routes
3 Potty-Training Travel Guide: Before Your Departure
4 Parents’ Trip Kit: Packing for Your Journey
5 Smoother Takeoffs and Landings: Reducing Jet Lag
6 Advance Reservations: Lessons for Infants (Zero to Six Months)
7 Early Departures: Lessons for Babies and Young Toddlers (Six to Eighteen Months)
8 Standard Schedules: Lessons for Toddlers (Eighteen to Twenty-Four Months)
9 Late Arrivals: Lessons for Older Children (Two Years and Older)
10 Nighttime Accommodations: Bed-Wetting Solutions
Appendix A: Emergency Landings— Solving Special Problems
Appendix B: Resources
Endnotes
Index

Editorial Reviews

These two books address toilet training issues from opposite perspectives. Child psychologist Sonna believes in traditional parenting practices-which continue in some countries to this day-predating the introduction of disposable diapers. These include leaving off diapers altogether whenever possible, using cloth diapers when necessary, and introducing the potty to babies as young as a few months while "cueing" the child with a recognizable signal. Sonna contends that children trained with these traditional approaches complete potty training at a much earlier age than disposable-diapered children in modern Western countries. Her objection to conventional wisdom from pediatricians and disposable diaper companies (which suggests delaying potty training until two years of age or later) seems overstated at times; she also naively downplays the notion that busy working parents and child care providers would find the traditional approaches impractical. Nevertheless, Sonna represents a viable perspective, and her book is well worth including in the toilet-training books of any parenting collection. Pediatrician Bennett narrows his focus to bedwetting, and while he subscribes to Western-style potty training, he and Sonna concur that bedwetting can have damaging effects on children's self-esteem and social status as they age; their approaches to dealing with the problem are very similar. Bennett's "Waking Up Dry" program addresses the child directly, with frequent "Coaches' Corner" asides to parents. The intensive program includes questionnaires to determine the child's depth of motivation to become dry, a calendar to track progress, contracts and rewards, the use of a bedwetting alarm, and, sometimes, medication. Although the reading level seems high for the younger children who might participate, the author's tone is consistently positive and encouraging, both to children and their parents; recommended.-Kay Hogan Smith, Univ. of Alabam at Birmingham Lib., Lister Hill Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

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