My daughter currently has some vocabulary and does not like sign or AAC devices, she prefers verbal communication. We’ve been stuck at a potty training phase where currently she can stay dry if taken to the bathroom every 30 minutes. She can stay dry for days sometimes if she’s taken consistently. If she’s not taken to the bathroom, she doesn’t give any cues or requests to go and will generally pee in her pull-up (she does poop exclusively in the potty). She does know the word potty but won’t use it intentionally. How can I encourage her to request to use the bathroom? Also, as a note, she prefers over the top praising over physical reinforcers. She’s also tried only using underwear at school, but they don’t seem to find success with that method so I haven’t really tried at home
Answer:
Thank you for your question! A few recommendations here:
1. For requesting, set a timer on your phone or any device with a fun sounding alarm to go off every 30 minutes. When it goes off look at your daughter expectantly and say, "What is it time for?" Prompt her to say "potty" and when she does provide that over the top praise that she loves! Do this EVERY TIME she goes to the bathroom. Do this for a few days and then when you say, "What is it time for?" wait her out and see if she says "potty" independently. If she does, EVEN MORE over the top praise! After a few more days when the alarm goes off look at her expectantly, but DO NOT say "What is it time for?" Wait her out to see if she says "potty" when she hears the alarm go off. This will teach her to say "potty" when she hears the timer then eventually we will fade out the timer.
2. If she is staying dry every 30 minutes, it is time to increase the time to 45 minutes! If she starts having accidents then try 35 or 40 minutes, but we do not want to stay at 30 minutes forever!
3. My final recommendation is UNDERWEAR UNDERWEAR UNDERWEAR. No more pull-ups!
Good luck! And keep us updated on your daughter's progress. 🙂
Thank you for your question! A few recommendations here:
1. For requesting, set a timer on your phone or any device with a fun sounding alarm to go off every 30 minutes. When it goes off look at your daughter expectantly and say, “What is it time for?” Prompt her to say “potty” and when she does provide that over the top praise that she loves! Do this EVERY TIME she goes to the bathroom. Do this for a few days and then when you say, “What is it time for?” wait her out and see if she says “potty” independently. If she does, EVEN MORE over the top praise! After a few more days when the alarm goes off look at her expectantly, but DO NOT say “What is it time for?” Wait her out to see if she says “potty” when she hears the alarm go off. This will teach her to say “potty” when she hears the timer then eventually we will fade out the timer.
2. If she is staying dry every 30 minutes, it is time to increase the time to 45 minutes! If she starts having accidents then try 35 or 40 minutes, but we do not want to stay at 30 minutes forever!
3. My final recommendation is UNDERWEAR UNDERWEAR UNDERWEAR. No more pull-ups!
Good luck! And keep us updated on your daughter’s progress. 🙂