Helping Children Meet Their Full Potential Faster
Welcome back to the 2nd part of our blog on “Starting your child on toilet training”. In today’s blog, we will cover the toilet training protocol that you can follow at home in consultation with your BCBA or Behavior Technician. The protocol involves scheduled sits on the toilet, communication training, and positive reinforcement of urination in the toilet with enthusiastic praise and high-value reinforcers.
The resources needed for the training include timers, cleaning supplies, cloth underpants, diapers or “pull-ups”, preferred beverages, foods, books, toys, and music and/or videos.
Drinking Schedule: Beginning at every 5 minutes and fading to every half hour, offer the child a preferred beverage.
Sitting Schedule: Time sits on the toilet, beginning with every 5 minutes.
Toilet training protocol includes:
At start of the session immediately go to and sit on the toilet, and then put on cloth underpants. At the end of the session, put on a pull-up/diaper.
Promote a fun atmosphere with lower levels of demand to encourage compliance.
Increase beverages during toilet training until the child reaches a schedule of at least 30 minutes off the toilet.
Check for dry/wet pants about every 5 minutes. When reliably dry, use the interval schedule below. Cue: “Are your pants dry?” (Have the child touch his/her own pants).
Each pants check that is dry, delivers high enthusiastic praise à then says “Let’s go potty” and takes the child bathroom.
Immediately deliver praise and highly preferred reinforcer if successful urination in the toilet bowl.
If an accident occurs, immediately rush to the toilet, and sit for 3 minutes. If urinates in the toilet, deliver reinforcer and praise.
In case of any accident, have the child remove their wet clothes and put them in a clean bag or laundry basket for cleaning. This can be aversive but teaches not to like being wet or changing.
Teach independent dressing steps to master the skill (initially use hand-over-hand guidance, then fade out prompts).
We hope our suggestions & protocol on toilet training your child bear’s fruit over time. Patience is the key and with the help of ABA therapy and our team this life skill can soon be aced.
