Email From Customer:

Hi,

I have a 34 month old boy who we were very successful using the Potty Training in Less than a Day book ( the old version ) of what Dr Phil is using. And it worked....then my son was diagnosed with Growth Hormone Deficiency and is now on Growth Hormone Injections daily. He has grown 2.5 inches in 3 months, and now is having many accidents. I have spoken with his Drs and the drug company and no one wants to make any links to the set back and the drugs. Have you heard from any other parents with this problem!!! We were accident free for over 2 months...now it happens daily...

Please help if you can.

Cheryl Hernandez, CPI

Our Response:

Cheryl,

I am sorry, I have not heard from any parents about the effect of Growth Hormone injections and potty training regression.

I would suggest that you try asking Dr. Greene at his site - www.drgreene.org. I like what he has to say on potty training, so since he is a trained pediatrician, he may have some thoughts for you.

I am sorry I could not be of further assistance.

Sincerely,

Narmin Parpia

Email From Customer:

Hi,

Thanks for the response, in general any tips on handling the regression? Do I start the two process over again?

Cheryl

Our Response:

Cheryl,

Normally, children regress or resist because there is a reason (other than medical or related to medications such as growth hormone injections), so basically I recommend that the parent figure out the reason and once they know what the reason is, then they can work out a plan to address the reason and help the child overcome the issue.

This article helps identify the reasons and also links to all the other related resistance and regression articles.

I hope this helps.

Please do let me know how things go with you and your son. If there is a relationship between this medication and his regression, I will gladly post the information on my site so that other parents out there struggling with the same issue can learn from your struggle.

Take care and have a great day.

Narmin

Dear Parents,

Cheryl called me today to thank me for helping her out and also wanted me to post this information, so that if you are out there - struggling with similar issues as Cheryl, then hopefully this forum will provide you with a place to communicate with each other.

So, please, post your comments or go to my website at www.pottytrainingconcepts.com and email me and I will gladly pass your email to Cheryl.

Narmin Parpia

Email From Customer:

Greetings,

I'm not sure if this is the right email address for this, but if not, I hope you will forward it to the appropriate party.

I followed a link on an email list I belong to, to your "History of Potty Training" on your website. Granted, the disclaimer at the bottom does advise people not to use this history as an authoritative source, but I still felt that it was somewhat culturally biased. Perhaps "A Recent History of Mainstream Potty Training in the US" would be slightly more accurate. Certainly, there is little context or cross-cultural information.

Around the world, diapers are still relatively uncommon. Most people today still find themselves in the situation where diapering is not particularly feasible. So the rest of the world still practices an approach much more like how you describe the "1950s" mom, "by learning their children's schedules and observing their signals." Although it's true that 18 months is a fairly typical age for children to meet the conventional definition of potty training under this approach, it has nothing to do with "physiological readiness." Instead, it has to do more with their mobility and communication skills. The physiology of elimination itself is under the child's control to some extent *from birth*, with control increasing as the child grows older. By around three months of age, a child can "hold it" for a short time and wait until they're in a good potty place, using only the method briefly described as paying attention to their schedules and signals. Some people refer to this method as "Elimination Communication" (EC).

My 10-month-old son is currently out of diapers (in training pants), and we usually have 2-3 accidents per day. We've been practicing EC with him since he was about two weeks old. Although we may, as many families do, experience a setback (often called a "potty pause") during developmental milestones, he is doing about as well as many children who are a year or more older than him, and his success is not unusual.

I would hope that a site called "Potty Training Concepts" would embrace the realities of "readiness," which is that children *instinctively* want to stay clean and dry, and it is only our cultural biases which allow them to lose that early awareness when their elimination needs are not met. For more information on how potty training is handled in other cultures, you may wish to check out "Infant Potty Training" by Laurie Boucke (www.timl.com/ipt), and "Diaper-Free: The Gentle Wisdom of Natural Infant Hygiene" by Ingrid Bauer (www.natural-wisdom.com).

Thank you.

Email From Customer:

My 2 1/2 year old granddaughter is resisting putting anything solid in the potty or the toilet. We have wetting down although she will not stop playing to go to the potty and has accidents sometimes. She just says no when I know that it is time and I send her to the potty. She sits there and then runs behind a door or hides and goes in her pants. We are using underwear only and this gets really messy sometimes. I need any help you can give. She does like going to the regular toilet but that does not help us with this problem.

Our Response:

There are number a reasons why children resist using the potty. This article describes why and you will have to figure out why she is resisting and then come up with a plan based on why you think she is resisting.

I hope the article is helpful. Please let me know if there are any other questions or issues that I can address.

Narmin