Great Toilet Training Tips For Toddlers

Are you and your toddler just about ready to say goodbye to dirty nappies for good? If you are, then it's time to get clued up on the subject of toilet training. Toilet training (also known as potty training) can be a difficult and challenging time for both you and your little toddler but with good advice and guidelines it's easy peasy. It can also be a fun and memorable time, as your child is likely to say things about bodily functions that will make you laugh.

Toilet training tips

Even the most understanding parent with the most co-operative child can sometimes hit a snag. For these occasions, we have compiled a list of top toilet training tips to get you back on track. Getting your child to stay dry at night can be a tough task to accomplish. Here are some of our awesome toilet training tips:.

• Try not to leave your little one's feet dangling while they sit on the loo as this can sometimes hinder bowel movements. Put a little box or stool down so that your toddler can rest their feet and make using the loo as easy as possible.

• Try to get your kids to understand that it's way more comfortable to be dry instead of wet; this will add some extra motivation.

• Try to gradually phase out nappies as some children hate change and this may cause them to regress in their toilet training progress.

• Try to give your toddler as much privacy when using the toilet as possible as some kids won't use the loo if someone is watching.

• Make the bathroom environment as welcoming as possible by putting in some of your little one's favourite toys and maybe even a book or too next to the loo.

• Try making up a li'l tune aka "Look Who's Talking" and sing it every time your child goes to the toilet successfully. Include generous praise and compliments in the song so that your tot knows they are doing something good.

• Put some food dye into the toilet so your child can enjoy watching it change colour after using the loo. This tip is a huge hit with tots!

• Give surprise treats, lollies and gifts to your toddler after using the bathroom. This positive reinforcement will encourage the use of the toilet.

• Create a bit of buzz around flushing the lavatory and make this your child's special job. In order for this to work, you should try to make your child understand that they can only flush the loo once they have used it.

• Training pants, like Huggies Pull-Ups, can make toilet training quicker and easier.

The most important things to remember with toilet training are to wait until your child or toddler and family are ready and to make it a positive experience. Be patient, and look forward to the days of freedom from nappies and little accidents.

Sarah Pietrzak is a freelance writer and one of Australia's best known parenting bloggers. She regularly blogs for Huggies.com.au - a first class pregnancy and baby information resource that includes a great baby names tool as well. She is a mother to three small and extremely noisy children, and wife to a tragically neglected husband..

Halloween Costume Ideas for Toddlers

Dressing up your toddler for Halloween is a lot of fun. Enjoy it while you
can. Before you know it your sweet little toddler will be in kindergarten or
first grade and will have developed a much stronger opinion on his or her
costume choices and you'll no longer be able to dress him in the costume of
your choice. Here are a few ideas for toddler Halloween costumes to get you
started. Of course there are plenty of other options out there as well. With
a little creativity, the possibilities are endless.

Pumpkin

Start with a large orange sweatshirt. Cut eyes and a mouth shape out of
black or yellow felt and glue them on the front of the shirt. Put the shirt
on your child, fold up the sleeves, then stuff the belly and back area with
newspapers or quilt batting to make it look nice and round like a pumpkin.
Top it all of with a green cap. You can even cut some leaf shapes out of
green felt and glue them to the top of the cap.

Dwarf

Start with earth tone pants and shirt. Brown and dark greens work well. Put
your child in some boots as well. Make a simple hat out of felt, similar to
a witch's hat but with a smaller brim. Finish the outfit with some gardening
tools. Your little dwarf right out of "Snow White" is ready to go trick or
treating.

Sunflower

Dress your child in a green shirt and pants. For smaller children,
especially those in colder climates, a one piece pajama-type outfit with
feet works well. For the flower part, start with a brown hat or cap. Cut
flower petal shapes out of yellow felt and glue them all around the hat. If
you'd like you can cut two large leaf shapes out of green felt and glue them
at the back of each of the shirt's sleeves. A little plastic watering can
makes a cute pail to carry candy in.

Would you like to quickly make creative Halloween costumes that you and your children will be proud of -- for a fraction of the price of store-bought? Susanne Myers has co-authored a book to show you how -- no sewing involved. Visit http://www.ILoveHalloweenCostumes.com to learn more.

Cantilever Umbrella For Our Toddlers Sandbox

My husband recently built a large sandbox to the right of our yard for our very busy toddler. He seemed quite overwhelmed by the size of it but later enjoyed rolling in the sand along with our puppy.

My biggest concern was the hot sun on his young tender skin, so we decided to get a large outdoor umbrella that we could place in the sand box that would provide all the shade he needed. We had looked at all our outdoor umbrella options and decided that the offset umbrella also called a cantilever umbrella would be the best selection.

A blue cantilever umbrella made with Sunbrella fabric now sits in the sandbox and gives a special touch to our backyard. With all the fears surrounding sun exposure having a cantilever umbrella was the clear choice. You can tilt this umbrella in any direction to help shade you from the moving sun and still enjoy the outdoors in the strongest heat of the day.

Sunbrella fabric is an added plus, made of solution dyed acrylic fibers that are fade resistant in the sun along with UV ray protection, Sunbrella stands out above the rest.

Our toddler is happy to have his own mini island with all the amenities of a classic beach resort; cantilever umbrella, Adirondack chairs and a mound of sand to do build as many sand castles possible. Now all his sandbox needs is to be surrounded by a body of water and this island would be complete.

Purchase a Cantilever Umbrella today at http://www.umbrellasource.com and check out our patio, market, fiber built outdoor umbrellas. Need logo umbrellas? go to http://www.commerciallogoumbrellas.net See how we can help advertise your business.

How to Potty Train Toddlers : Dealing with Potty Training Accidents

If your toddler has a potty training accident, it's very important to use positive reinforcement and avoid making them feel bad or embarrassed. Learn how to act after accidents with potty training in this free parenting tips video. Expert: Shelby Emmer Bio: Shelby Emmer has an Associates Degree in child development. She has been teaching preschool children for the past 4 years at Temple Isaiah in Los Angeles, California. Filmmaker: Devin Boddie

Baby and Toddlers Clothes - The Evolution of Children's Clothing

Children's clothing evolved as with all the things that are now present today.

From the beginning, children's' clothing used color to separate the genders. Especially in the olden days where little boys looked like little girls, the distinction can be made by the color of the clothes. Girls wore pink and little boys wore blue, this is as much true today as it is in the era of days gone by.

Because of historical accounts available like painting and photographs, it was not easily distinguished if a child was male or female. Thus, not only do the clothes determined the gender but the general appearance as well. This was manifested by the hair style that they were told to wear. It became a strong convention that little girls wear pretty dresses and their hair long while the little boys were told to wear the pants and sport short hair. However due to the evolution of time, little girls of today have adopted to wearing pants but the day hasn't come yet where the boys adopted the dresses of girls!

In our modern world today, a general convention exists that girls are able to wear the clothes of boys but never the other way around. But that wasn't the case in the 19th century where little girls and boys were dressed alike. Although during that time, girls were not allowed to dress in pants, otherwise, there was not much difference in the way they were dressed.

Up to the time of the second world war, clothes associated with girls were dresses, pantalets, smocks and pinafores.

Dresses

This was the basic clothing of girls up to the second world war since it was not everyday occurrence that girls wore pants or shorts before the war.

Bloomers

This was another staple in the little girls' clothing where it served its purpose of
providing an alternative option to the restrictive and binding fashion sense during the 19th century. This can be attributed to Amelia Bloomer born 1818 - 1894 who was an American reformer espousing this cause. But the bloomer concept must be credited to Elizabeth Smith Miller as she was creator of the bloomers. Although this type of garment did not bloom at all.

Rompers

These were worn both by the girls and boys that were used primarily for play time. By the end of the second world war, rompers were basic staples for little girls wardrobe. They were usually used as costumes or uniforms for gym classes of girls.

Smocks

This is one generic children's clothing of years gone by. As this was so common, different styles, accessories, adornments, and other details filled the repertoire of how a smock can look like. There were smocks of different colors, smocks with different buttoning styles - buttons located at the back, in the front, or on the side. There were also smocks with collars, with trims, with ties, with pockets, with belts, etc. It was usual in the 1950s that smocks of identical cut were bought by mothers for their children.

Pinafores

This was a very essential piece of garment for the girls' wardrobe as they were usually worn by little girls of Europe and America.

Pantalets

These were worn both by boys and girls. Usually, boys wore plain pantalets while girls wore the fancier ones. But there were some boys who like to wear fancy Pantalets too.

Sailor suits

This was basically a boy's garment but it became a unisex garment as girls started to wear sailor suits too.

Mark Dietzel operates Baby-Clothes-Stores.com a website that specializes in Baby Clothes

Potty Training Toddlers - Readiness, Preparation and Techniques

When it comes to potty training toddlers there are three key stages: Potty Training Readiness, Preparation and Techniques

Potty Training Readiness

Before you embark on your potty training journey it is important to understand that the key to your success will be ensuring that your child is ready to use the potty.

There is a lot more to look out for than just the age of your child. Using the potty requires a lot of skills and you may well be beating your head against a brick wall if you decide you want your toddler to be potty trained before it is even possible for them developmentally. Once you have established that your child is ready and you have chosen the best time for you and your family then it is time to begin.

Tips on Potty Training Preparation

• Model the correct use of the toilet for your potty training toddlers. Let them watch you go.


• Ensure you have all the equipment you will need. You could buy this with your child to really help motivate them.


• Read all about potty training toddlers yourself.


• Explore some of the many potty training toddlers resources you can get specifically for girls and specifically for boys. Choose the ones that are right for you and your child.


• Really talk up using the potty. Make it sound fun and exciting.


• Allow your child to go commando (bare bottom!) at some times in the day.


• Ensure your child has a 'using the potty' vocabulary.

Some Potty Training Techniques

• Help motivate your child. What ways can you come up with that will really make your child want to use the potty? You know them best.


• You may like to use a sticker chart.


• Use a doll to help model behavior. Potty train the doll first. You can get some great wet/dry dolls, who wet when you feed them and come with their own pottys.


• Watch potty training videos with your toddler.


• Read books with your toddler about using the potty.


• Begin to use training pants (and clean up the messes as they happen) Or use pull up nappies Or a combination of both.


• Watch your toddler. What are their signals to show you they are about to go? Is there a pattern to the times they go?


• Watch the clock. Set a timer and take your child to the potty every hour and after meals.


• Turn on a tap while your toddler is sitting on the potty. (The trickle of water noise is very suggestive!)


• Ensure that you and other family members are really enthusiastic and supportive.


• Lavish on the praise.


• Make a game out of using the potty.


• Teach your child good hygiene such as washing their hands.

There are many other great motivational potty training resources that you can use.

Try these motivational potty training aids for girls and these potty training resources specifically for boys.

Find out what the experts say is the right age to start potty training.

7 Sure-Fire Tips For Potty Training Toddlers

There seems to be a widely held impression, past down from generation to generation, that potty training toddlers is arduous.

Follow this practical plan and you will be able to go from all those diapers to dry in days. But only if you are prepared not to be side-tracked by other distractions during this period and able to give your focus to toilet training.

1. Evaluating Your Child's Readiness

Does your toddler have the required verbal understanding? This includes being able to understand and carry out simple instructions.

Does your toddler show signs of wanting to do more things for themselves such as pulling up their own pants?

Is your child's bladder and bowel control adequately developed? For instance, can he or she go for two or three hours before wetting their diaper?

You really must not go on to item 2 until you are confident your toddler can handle being toilet trained.

2. Let's Go Shopping

You want to make this trip to the shops as much fun as possible for your toddler. So what's on that shopping list?

You should get:

• An anatomically correct doll (a boy doll if you have a son, a girl doll if you have a daughter);


• Potties (yes it's best to have two or three around the home so there is always one close at hand when it's wanted);


• Underpants, preferably vibrantly colored. It's even better if there's a picture of one of their favorite cartoon characters on them. Diaper or training underpants can be a practical solution for any trips out but make sure you treat them as real pants not diapers;


• a wall chart and stickers.

Remember to let your toddler have a say in the purchase choice.

3. Toilet Train The Doll

Silly as it may seem, you potty train the doll. The doll is a great teaching tool, it should not be seen as a toy. You will be using the doll to model correct behavior.

4. Celebrate The Doll's Success

Each time the doll correctly uses the potty it is praised and a sticker is placed on the wall chart that records the doll's progress. And when the doll has been potty trained it gets a party.
You want your toddler to realize that being potty trained is a happy, fun experience.

5. It's Farewell to Diapers

Put your toddler in pants. There's no retreating back to diapers even if there are two or three accidents along the way.

6. Give Your Toddler Plenty Of Fluids

The more your toddler drinks the more they will need to urinate. So they should get plenty of practice in using a potty.

7. Ask Your Toddler If They Need the Potty

If they say no that's fine. With all those drinks they'll soon need to go. Quiz them again a little later.

If they have a little accident you must not let your child see you are angry or disappointed. Just tell them they'll do better next time. Take them to the potty and have them sit on it for two or three minutes. Give them fresh pants to put on. At short intervals take them back to the potty for a total of ten times. This will help to build muscle memory. Very soon they will urinate in the potty.

A little food for thought. It is not just what you say, it's how you say it. This is certainly true when it comes to teaching a toddler new skills.

Find out how you can potty train even the most strong willed child in days.

Discover the right tone of voice and words to use when toilet training your toddler.

Learn techniques that will accelerate your child's learning and potty training.