Are you potty training and need something to boost your toddler’s motivation?
Then consider potty training goals. Simply put, you flush disposables down the toilet and let your child aim and shoot. These can be as easy as pieces of toilet paper or luxury-bought targets.
By looking at the pros and cons of using this training resource, you can decide whether or not using the goals would help your toddler or preschooler move through the potty training process.
* The advantages of using goals to go to the bathroom.
– Fun fun fun.
Many parents think that only children enjoy using potty goals, but that’s not true. Little girls find this game fun and many training targets are designed to be used by both boys and girls.
The high fun factor is what makes this resource work so well. Most kids find the idea of ”shooting” their urine at something irresistible, so I often recommend reserving goals for when you need to move a resistant child.
– Develop good clothes.
When you’re trying to help your toddler understand the connection between his bodily drives and potty training, potty training goals can help.
Give him plenty of water for a day and offer to use potty goals whenever your child has the urge to urinate.
Your child must identify that urge, contain it, reach for the potty, let go (and aim). All good to practice healthy bathroom habits, without bothering you.
– Use creatively for long-term effectiveness.
You can use pieces of toilet paper and round cereal pieces (remember, they must be disposable) to start the training.
Then you can buy fancier potty goals for special occasions. Some purchased targets actually look like targets, some expand in water, and some are bright and colorful.
Save these special targets for those times when you know you’ll encounter frustrating resistance. For example, going to the bathroom in a public bathroom or at a friend’s house. Maybe when your child is tired and doesn’t want to cooperate. Or as a special gift for a well-behaved toddler.
* When are potty training goals not helpful? The cons.
– You can’t throw everything away.
A parent definitely wants to have a conversation about potty goals and explain that it’s okay to put them in the toilet. Many parents have used these little tricks just to get their toddlers to put all sorts of things down the toilet to pee.
– Excessive use will sink the idea.
While kids love potty goals, the novelty can’t last forever. The wise parent will use them selectively, and therefore effectively, cycling them with other potty training resources for maximum impact.
– Things can get complicated.
Remember, you are asking an untrained toddler to aim and shoot his urine. This is a small being that does not care at all where that urine ends up.
Things can and will get messy, especially if you have two kids trying this together.
If you get mad at your child for messing while practicing potty goals, you’ll lose some of the good you could have gained.
Bottom line? Potty training goals are a super fun way to motivate toddlers and preschoolers to go potty. Goals can also help beginners learn basic potty habits.
But you’ll need to use them thoughtfully and with a heavy dose of humor to maximize their effectiveness.