Pottie Training and Social Learning - Essay Example

Pottie training Toilet teaching is an important stage of social learning; as it must take place in each child's live regardless of his/her abilities and health state: sooner or later everyone will get involved into social mechanism, and the knowledge and appropriate social behavior will be vital during the first encounters. As one knows from developmental psychology, toddlers' and infants' activities are based largely upon reflexes (Blum et al, 2001), so toilet teaching is not an easy task, especially when dealing with toddlers. On the other hand, Brazelton et al (2001) writes: 'We assume an infant is incapable of toilet learning since infants are small and uncoordinated and also because they cannot walk or talk []A normal, healthy infant is indeed aware of the bodily function of elimination and can learn to respond to it from infancy. By using diapers, we condition and thereby train baby to go in them. Later the child must unlearn this training" (Brazelton et al, 2001, p.1353). This negligence of previous knowledge can be traumatic for a child. The scholar also holds that infants from their early childhood make attempts to communicate and articulate toileting needs to their parents as well as to discuss their awareness of elimination process, but facing the parent's low understanding, looses contact with elimination functions and uses diapers, imposed by adults, as a toilet (Brazelton et al, 2001). The child is thus forced to avoid caring about this function and finally forgets the need for more appropriate toilet. Furthermore, self-training in this case is highly unreliable, so it important for a parent to provide assistance in disposal system 'adjustment'. Graham Hocking (2005) assumes that potty training is most relevant between the 18th and 24th months of the infant's life, as at this time he/she is already able to give signals when diaper becomes wet or soiled, i.e. the child obtains complete awareness of disposal system and elimination issues and needs to optimize these processes so that he/she has more freedom in movements and activities. Developmental readiness for potty training is also determined by other psycholophysiological factors, such as distinguishing the processes of urinating and voiding and reflecting upon them - for instance, asking questions if the infant can talk by that time. The child should also walk and sit well as well as be capable of primary activity coordination (walk in the desirable directions, make simplest voluntarily manipulations, e.g. put on or take off pants). The child's interest is probably the main determinant of successful potty training - and the majority of 1,5-2-year-old babies really wish to try on 'big kid's underwear'. I would also like to note that some scholars offer potty training at the age of 6 months, when learning window opens (Brazelton et al, 2001; Blum et al, 2003), since this period is characterized by the rapid development of reflexes and reactions to the parent's voice and gestures. On the other hand, Ganger argues that at this period the baby is extremely weak in physical sense, so additional training will require changes in the basis of the baby's life. In order to begin toilet teaching, the adults should discuss disposal issues with the child. M.Macias (2006) present specific guidelines for this conversation: "Tell him that everyone goes potty (even animals) and it's a normal part of life. Talk with him about the toilet, a special place where he can potty. Tell him how the potty works and let him try flushing himself. Explain that he's going to be wearing underwear instead of diapers, just like you" (Macias, 2006, p.417). In case of availability, it is also helpful to give visual examples for toileting and involve other siblings who can explain the same question in different words. Furthermore, the purchase of underwear and a potty chair is necessary, and the child should be given an opportunity to participate in selecting the 'equipment', as the decision-making process in future will provide more cognitive commitment to elimination issues, as the aspect of attractiveness is particularly important for infants, who are likely to reject the 'toilet' he/she doesn't find bright. Potty training is in fact an initial preparation for toilet for adults, so it is important to show the interrelation between the infant's and the adult's 'potties' - this simple strategy, as a rule, stimulates the infant's interest and inquisition. In general the 'potty topic' should be discussed as often as possible so that the child realizes and remembers its importance. Furthermore, potty chair should be placed in several places including the infant's normal living and playing area, so that the little family member becomes familiar with this item and begins to identify it as an object, the functions of which are clear for him/her. In order to stimulate the desirable behavior, it is vital to explain that the potty chair is the child's own chair, "allow the child to sit fully clothed on the potty chair, as if it were a regular chair" and "to leave the potty chair at any time" (Ganger, 2003, p.79). Ganger also notes that those children who are put forcefully onto a chair spend 60% more time for learning the related skill (ibid). "After the child has become used to the potty chair and sits on it regularly with his or her clothes on, the parent should having the child sit on the potty without wearing pants and a diaper" (ibid, p.80). Those parents, who do not follow the principle of gradualness in potty training, are more likely to encounter the problems with algorithmization in the child (Ganger, 2003; Blum et al, 2001). It needs to be noted that the time of adjustment varies among children, and different infants need different time to relax and feel comfortable on the potty chair and without a diaper. Furthermore, the adult should ensure there are no external stressing factors (such as noise, crowds of people) in the room, so that the child can proceed the new information and turn it into knowledge and consequently - into a skill. The next step is the visual demonstration of the use of the potty chair. The caregiver should place stool from dirty diaper into the chair so that the child can see the bowel movement from his/her toilet to the 'adult's toilet'. Furthermore, the infant should be asked to flush the toilet and observe and disappearance of the bowel movement. After having becoming familiar with the potty chair and comfortable with sitting on it, the child is ready to learn how to go to the bathroom. The caregiver should place the infant on the potty chair once he/she shows the signals of approaching elimination. The little individual's face expression and gestures (which vary among children) can indicate to his/her physical need for urinating or having a bowel movement. As a rule, children cancel or stop any activities at such moments, as the need for elimination is among the primary needs which come to the infant's consciousness, so it gets enough behavioral demonstration. "Most children have a bowel movement once a day, usually within an hour after eating. Most children urinate within an hour after having a large drink. In addition to watching for signals that the child needs to urinate or have a bowel movement, the caregiver should place the child on the potty at regular intervals. This may be as often as every 1-1/2 to 2 hours" (Blum et al, 2003, p.814). Blum also notes that the applicability of potty training significantly decreases at the age of 2, so it should be considered much earlier, even though training 18-month-old infant needs more stable regularity in terms of interval between placing him/her on the potty chair. The caregiver is also supposed to stay with the infant while he/she is on the potty chair - this time can be devoted either to distracting attention from elimination process or to simple communication without certain goal. The primary task for this stage is to help the infant relax and behave as if he-she has a diaper on. The first potty training session often takes much time or turns out a failure, but the child should be praised regardless of the overall success, because the transition from diapers to the potty chair is a challenge for his/her neural system. It is important to keep in mind that the process shouldn't be forced - as a rule, nosy infants are interested in using the new item and eliminate into the potty chair deliberately, yet in the state of stress infants might show their refusal to accept the new experience. "It can create negative associations with using the bathroom that can be hard to undo, and can also cause the child to withhold urinating or voiding, which can be harmful. It is vital to approach this time of learning much the same as the caregiver did with other skills like sitting up, walking and talking" (Hocking, 2005, p.394).As a rule, potty training takes 2-3 months, depending on the child's obedience and will. To sum up, each parent should estimate potty-training appropriately and avoid long delays in skills teaching, because the research suggests that older children need more time to get accustomed to the new item. Furthermore, there is a certain algorithm of social learning, and the caregiver should act consistently and within a certain sequence - discussion, purchase of the item, reaching child's familiarity with the potty chair and finally the training itself - it lasts about 3 months. Reference list 1) Ganger, B. (2003) Parents' and child care professionals' toilet training attitudes and practices: A comparative analysis. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 35 (5): 78-85. 2) Blum, N., Taubman, B. and Osborne, M. (2001) Behavioral Characteristics of Children With Stool Toileting Refusal. Pediatrics, 105 (1): 58 - 62. 3) Blum, N., Taubman, B. and Nemeth, N. (2003) Relationship Between Age at Initiation of Toilet Training and Duration of Training: A Prospective Study Pediatrics, 111(4): 810 - 814. 4) Brazelton, T.,. Christophersen, E., Frauman, A., Gorski, P., Poole, J., Stadtler, A. and Wright, C. (2001) Instruction, Timeliness, and Medical Influences Affecting Toilet Training Pediatrics, 106(6): 1353 - 1358. 5) Hocking, G. (2005) Relationship Between Age at Initiation of Toilet Training and Duration of Training: A Prospective Study Medical Journal of Australia,183 (7): 391-395 6) Macias, M. (2006) Toileting Concerns, Parenting Stress, and Behavior Problems in Children with Special Health Care Needs. Clinical Pediatrics, 45 (5): 415-422. Read More