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1.3 Adaptive: Toilet Training

Toilet Training

Adaptive (Self-Help) Development: Toiletting Skills for Infants, Toddlers and Children1

Toilet training is an area of development that many parents struggle with. Although we would like to see our children get toilet trained early and quickly, each child has their own timetable with regards to when they are ready to be toilet trained. The ability to hold one’s bowel and bladder is largely a biological/physiological function (see full Glossary) and cannot be rushed. It’s therefore important not to force a child to sit on a potty or a toilet seat before they are ready. Children are also more likely to be toilet trained quickly when they receive praise when they do use the toilet, rather than being criticized when they have a toileting accident. Most children are usually not ready to be toilet trained until they are two years of age or older. Parents who wait until after the second year of life to toilet train their children are usually able to do so much faster and with fewer accidents than parents who choose to start earlier.

In order to develop good toileting skills, children usually go through the following:

  • indicating that their diapers are soiled and are bothered by it
  • staying dry for a few hours, while wearing diapers
  • urinating when placed on toilet seat or potty
  • having bowel movements when placed on toilet seat or potty
  • seldom having toileting “accidents” (i.e. usually indicating a need to go to the bathroom)
  • wiping self after using the bathroom
1 see References
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1.3 What is Adaptive Development:

Adaptive (Self-Help) Development

Adaptive (Self-Help) Development: General Development1

Adaptive skills and behaviors are the skills needed to do everyday tasks. These skills are tools adults use to live independently within our community norms. They include dressing and undressing, bathing and hygiene, toileting, and later cleaning, cooking and maintaining a household.

Like all areas of development, the successful development of adaptive skills relies heavily on the successful development of other skills.

  • For instance, a child needs to have good fine motor skills in order to fasten snaps or hold a fork, spoon or chopsticks properly. Similarly, a child needs to have basic cognitive skills in order to understand when and how they need to wash his or her hands.

Like other developmental areas for most typically developing children, the development of adaptive skills follows a predictable order. Learning “simpler” skills  is crucial to the development of the more complex skills that are learned later on.

  • For instance, when a child becomes aware of their soiled diapers and is bothered by this event, then they are ready to start the toilet training process.

When developing dressing and undressing skills, children usually go through the following sequence of skills:

  • cooperating with dressing and undressing, e.g., extending arms and legs; putting head through opening of shirt
  • taking off certain items of clothing, with help
  • putting on simple items of clothing,e.g., a hat)
  • independently taking off certain items of clothing, e.g., shoes or socks
  • putting shoes on
  • independently putting on certain items of clothing, e.g., a T-shirt
  • unfastening snaps
  • unbuttoning buttons
  • fastening snaps
  • fastening buttons
  • helping to pull zipper down, then up
  • connecting a zipper and zipping it up
  • knowing what to wear, depending on the weather, e.g. coat for a rainy day; sunglasses if out in the sun

 

1 see References

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