By Fred Longenecker
on June 05, 2020
A training tip for success with Potty Duck is to make a peeing sound whenever the rubber duck pees in its toilet, like "psssssss" or something similar, then repeat it when your child is on the potty to help make the connection. The idea is to hard-wire your child's brain to associate that sound with peeing.
To help your child understand, you can also start talking openly about using the toilet every time you use it, and make the sound when you go. Along with making the sound, we encourage setting a potty seat out early on, and have your child get used to sitting on it (with clothes on is fine) whenever she or he is in the bathroom with you as you are making the sound.
Because all children learn sounds before they learn words, this approach can begin at any age. It also helps to use words a LOT while the playing and peeing is happening so the child's vocabulary expands to include pee, potty, bathroom, and other key words.
The idea of using a sound to build a neural pathway is very similar to the way half of the world's children are toilet trained, at a very young age, where diapers aren't available. Usually by age one, parents have taught children to respond to a sound that they make whenever they hold the child over a toilet (or over a desired place for the child to go potty). In many places, this approach has been used for centuries.
Remember, you don’t need to wait to begin potty training!
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Bonus tips:
· To make sure your child sees the connection, pre-load the duck with water and demonstrate the pee going into the bowl as your child is seated on her potty.
· Promise to let your child use the regular toilet flush button IF and Only If they pee in their potty. In other words, make it a REWARD because almost every child likes to flush a toilet.
· Replace the duck with your child's favorite squirt toy to make the learning even more fun and personalized!
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