Potty Training Reality Show (PAID) - January 28, 2009
We are conducting a casting for a POTTY TRAINING REALITY SHOW

Casting Dates: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday January 26, 27, 28, 2009
Prize Money: All participants will be compensated. One family will appear in a National commercial.

We are looking for the following:
Families that: Cover a broad and accurate spectrum of today’s American society. The parents should be engaging, outgoing and interesting. Their ages can vary from early twenties to mid-forties. Their family size should vary from an only child to multiple children (including twins and triplets if possible).

The parents should be comfortable in front of camera both when crew is and is not present.

The parents should be willing to use only the client’s products until their child is potty trained.

We are looking for Families with children who will be potty training in March 2009
We are booking a lot of families with children and we would like to see Boys & Girls ALL ETHNICITIES!

Caucasian, Asian, African American, Hispanic, Native American, any and All
Ethnicities. * Please note send only Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach families.
The children should range between 18 months and 4 years - old during shooting. Because of the time sensitive nature of potty training challenges and the shoot schedule, we should look for children facing challenges that fit naturally within the featured product offerings (extra protection at night when sleeping, time sensitive potty training deadlines like pre-school enrollment, etc.). The children need to be comfortable around a camera crew. Children with interesting personality traits (stubbornness, playfulness, etc) are a plus. Children who exhibit pre-existing special potty training related story lines are also a plus (fear of flushing, unwillingness to sit on the potty, etc).


Things that will be explored during casting:
· Single parents· Spanish (or other second language) speaking households
· twins and triplets
· Extended families under one roof
· parents of toddlers in their mid 40’s
· young first time parents
· children with challenges that require our featured product offerings
· children with pre-existing potty related story lines

Email Tammy If you want to attend this casting. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Below is the text of a post from the blog of Dr. Molly O Shea, a Michigan-based pediatrician. The original article can be read HERE.

Dr. Molly O'Shea: Ask the Pediatrician

Bedwetting is common; here's how to manage it

I get a lot of questions about bedwetting. I often suspect parents are going to bring it up when I walk into the room for a well visit for a really healthy 8-year-old boy and find both parents in the room.

In an attempt to solve the problem, parents have limited fluids after dinner, given their child a pep talk about getting up during the night if they feel the need to pee, and some have even set their own alarm or wakened their child when they go to bed to pee during the night. A few have tried dangling a big reward (like a new bike) if the child can stay dry, and others have punished their child for these wet nights. These strategies have something in common: They don't work.

What parents don't understand is that this is a very common problem, and their child is not to blame. Most kids complete potty training and stay dry throughout the day by age 3 1/2 to 4 years, but nighttime dryness can take much longer to achieve. Did you know that 9 percent of boys and 6 percent of girls still have consistent bedwetting at age 7? These percentages decrease only slightly by age 10, and even at age 18, about 0.5 percent of people wet the bed at least twice a month.

Sometimes the cause of bedwetting in school-aged kids is a sleep disorder. If your child snores a lot during sleep, be sure to mention this to your doctor. Very rarely is bedwetting caused by a neurologic problem and associated with constipation and clumsiness.

So what is a parent to do? First, it is appropriate to bring your child to the doctor to confirm there is no physical cause for the problem. This is especially true if your child never had bedwetting issues and has suddenly started wetting the bed.

Because an immaturity of the neurologic system is at the root of the problem, trying to train your child to stay dry at night before he or she is ready is futile. I liken it to trying to teach a 6-month-old to walk. How then do you know when your child is ready? If you have a family history of bedwetting and know the age at which the relative achieved dryness, you can start trying about 6 months or at most a year ahead of that age. If he has been wet every night of the week for years, and suddenly you are getting a couple of dry nights each week, it is a good time to try. Other signs of readiness are a desire to be out of Pull-Ups at night.

The best method for night training is to use a bedwetting alarm. These alarms awaken the child as soon as there is any wetness on the sensor. This process can take several months but is over 80 percent effective.

What about medications? DDAVP works by essentially turning off the kidneys so less urine is made. The medication works for about half the kids and can be tried if your child is going to camp or a sleepover.

Eventually, your child will achieve consistent night dryness either through normal maturation or the help of an alarm.

Dr. Molly O'Shea is a Troy-based pediatrician. Read Dr. Molly's blog at www.detnews.com/drmolly

I just found a great product that I wish I had had while night-time potty training my daughter. It's the SOS 4-in-1 Mattress Pad. The concept behind the product is to make for quick and easy changes when your child has a bed wetting accident.

Nothing is worse than having to change sheets at 2:00 am. With the SOS 4-in-1, you quickly zip off the wet top layer, leaving a fresh and dry layer underneath. Wah-lah! Quick, easy, and painless. It sure would have saved me countless nights of lost sleep in those potty night-training days!

The SOS is available from Amazon. Click this link to learn more: SOS Mattress Protector

Question:

I started the potty training process with my daughter about 3 months ago at 22 months old. It didn't take her long to catch on.

It was late July at the time so I tried to start her off bare butt. She now recognizes every time when she needs to pee and poop and will go to either the big potty or her potty chair all on her own...BUT ONLY WHEN SHE'S NAKED!!!! Yes, my plan backfired on me. If I put panties on her (we're not even talking about pants too) she will go as if she were still wearing a diaper. It doesn't matter how many accidents she has.

I don't think she likes telling me that she has to go potty. She's very independent and likes to do everything on her own and if she's wearing panties she hides and just goes potty in them. I've tried everything from bribery to taking away privileges or toys. Poop is the worst though. She can sometimes remember to tell me when she needs to go pee but she will never tell me with poop. If she has to take anything off, she'll hide and go in whatever she's wearing. If you have any advice I am open to just about anything!

Answer:

You are really at a 'naked' standstill. I think your instinct about her independence is dead-on.

Since it has lasted for months, it might take a creative option. Try this for a few days and let me know how it goes.

Take a pair of panties that you are willing to 'sacrifice'. Then cut out the crotch. Make a BIG deal of presenting them to her. "Wow! Look at this special present! These are special pee-pee panties" You can wear panties that are so special that you don't even have to pull them down to pee.!" (And so on and so forth.) This way she can still use the potty, while 'wearing' panties, and without your help!

If this goes well, we'll talk about how to wean her back into "non-crotchless" panties!!! The first step is a baby one....just to get her to use the potty while doing something besides being naked.

Also, I would have "pantie practice sessions".....for a couple minutes per day, put some on and practice pulling them up/down/up/down. Then take them off. It's just to give her some practice doing it herself.

For some kids, "baby steps" is the magic solution. Go slow, GRADUALLY wean her into panties, and in no time she'll be right on Track.

Question:

My daughter was 20 months when we started and is now 22 mo. She is now dry through night time and naps and knows it is potty time right when she gets up. She also knows that number two goes in the potty with only occasional accidents here and there. We have never done completely away with pull ups for outside the house. I tried undies underneath and she never noticed. How do I get rid of the pull ups and not have her wet several outfits while out and about? It is hard to spend several consecutive days at home right now. We are getting a travel potty, but even when we have it how will she know she has to tell us while out of the house that she has to pee? Or does she just learn through trial and error?

Answer:

Glad to hear you're making progress...and that we just need to get over that last hurdle.

I think you might have to just bite the bullet and totally get rid of the pull-ups. You might have a few days of accidents, but I think we can minimize them. I think it should be pretty easy but a little time consuming.

My advice is to wait until you get the travel potty. Plan on bringing it with you EVERYWHERE for a little while. I would also get a Potty Watch or even just a kitchen timer. The first day out of pull-ups, set the timer for about every 20 minutes. Take her to the potty every time the timer rings. You can increase or decrease the timer intervals depending on how well she is staying dry. The beauty of the travel potty is that you can take it out anywhere (from the grocery store parking lot to the trunk of your car!). Once she goes two or three days with very few accidents (even though she won't be self-initiating) it will usually help her brain to make the connection between a full bladder and that feeling of needing to go. I think you'll find that shortly thereafter she'll actually start telling you - especially if the intervals have gotten far enough between that it gives her the chance to self-initiate.

So...hopefully that helps. It should be a good way to stop the pull-ups for good without having to deal with the stress of a bunch of accidents.

Below is a press release from Potty Tots, a company that makes a cute line of toilet training products:

San Diego, CA (1888PressRelease) January 09, 2009 - Potty Tots,www.pottytots.com a provider of comprehensive, child-centered potty training products and resources, was recently recognized by JPMA, a national trade organization representing 95% of the prenatal to preschool industry, as a finalist in their annual Innovation Awards Competition. Gaining recognition for their new comprehensive potty training kit, the company also recently received Honorable Mention from StartupNation, an organization, which was founded to serve the need of entrepreneurs, in their second annual StartupNation Home-Based 100 ranking in the category of most innovative.

The JPMA awards contest included more than 130 products, which were evaluated by a selection committee of trade media representatives and industry retail buyers, and judged on their innovation, marketability, trend-setting potential, appeal and usefulness. A finalist in the contest, Potty Tots launched their new product this past year at the ABC Kids Expo. The product, which consists of a storybook, animated DVD with bonus music videos, step-by-step illustrated potty chart and progress and rewards game, features a group of ten ethnically diverse preschool characters, all with their own personalities and interests.

“We are thrilled that identified as a finalist in the contest,” stated founder Jill Leech. “It’s encouraging to see that other industry professionals view our product as an innovative and useful tool for kids and parents. Our goal is to address what we see as a challenge in everyday parenting by giving those parents and kids the tools they need to be successful,” she added.

The Potty Tots training system was developed to work for all children including those with special needs such as Reactive Attachment Disorder, Autism, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Pervasive Development Disorder, who commonly have issues with potty training and need structure to feel secure. Toddlers learn best with a lot of visual and structured programs, which also include positive reinforcement and tangible rewards but most of all when learning is FUN. The Potty Tots training kit, which provides extensive visual aides, including a detailed “how to” chart, is intended to encourage kids to participate, ultimately fostering independence, confidence, and self-esteem. The program also features a “Toilet Bowl” game, fashioned after the Super Bowl, so that kids can keep track of their progress and gain positive reinforcement with praise and rewards.

Additionally, the program focuses on addressing multiple learning styles (visual, auditory, and kinesthetic), which is reinforced through a variety of program components. The story book was animated on a DVD so young children could easily follow along and original songs were developed (the Potty Song, Potty Rock, and Potty Stomp) to help kids sing and dance their way to remembering the six steps in potty training.

In addition to the potty training kit, the company also has launched an interactive web site, www.pottytots.com. An integral part of the Potty Tots Training Program, the web site features a variety of tools and resources for both parents and children. Those include a “Parent’s Page” which features an FAQ section; an online informational newsletter, “Tidbits for Toddlers;” and “Tales from Toddlerhood,” a Parent’s Blog which offers parents a glimpse into one witty mom’s world of raising two toddlers and the adventures they encounter every day. The site also hosts a “Just for Tots” page, which was designed for the express purpose of having fun while learning about potty training. It includes coloring-pages, interactive games and a “Meet the Potty Tots” page. It also has a Potty Tots “Diploma,” which can be customized and printed once the child’s potty training has been mastered.

The potty training kit, available in both boy and girl version, can currently be purchased online for the cost of $19.95 and ultimately will become available at retail stores. Also, individual Potty Training Charts, featuring any one of the ten adorable Potty Tots can be purchased online for $7.95. The company plans to debut its new program this month at the ABC Kids Expo in Las Vegas. For more information on the Potty Tots or to take advantage of the company’s online resources visit www.pottytots.com

About Potty Tots

The Potty Tots® Potty Training Program is a unique and universal system that is child-centered and provides all of the resources necessary for successful potty training. It features an adorable group of ethnically diverse preschool characters that engage children by singing and dancing their way through the six steps of Potty Training. This highly interactive program, which includes storybook, animated DVD with bonus music videos, step-by-step illustrated potty chart and progress and rewards game, addresses multiple learning styles, encouraging kids to participate and ultimately fostering confidence, self-esteem and independence. It provides everything you’ll need for a fun, stress-free potty training experience.

The Potty Tots Potty Training Kits are Available from Amazon:

Friday, February 20, 2009

Early Childhood Parenting Examiner: How to make your own baby wipes for free from recycled materials around the house

I found this great tip on the Early Childhood Parenting Examiner website. Making your own wipes is certainly more difficult than buying some at Wal-Mart, but is a considerably more Eco-friendly option. (Not to mention a more cost-effective one as well.)

Early Childhood Parenting Examiner: How to make your own baby wipes for free from recycled materials around the house

http://www.examiner.com/x-608-Early-Childhood-Parenting-Examiner~y2009m1d7-How-to-make-your-own-baby-wipes-for-free-from-recycled-materials-around-the-house

A technique that has been around for many years is recently gaining popularity among parents - it's called Elimination Communication, or "infant potty training." It helps parents teach babies as young as 7 months old how to use a potty instead of a diaper.

A key part of the method is to teach the baby a verbal cue, such as "sssssss-sssss." When whispered into the ear, the infant is conditioned to release their bladder. The infants themselves are not necessarily "trained." Instead, parents get their children used to responding to the need to go.

Below is a link to a story on CBS about Elimination Communication, as well as additional information. In addition, resources for parents on the topic include The Diaper-Free Baby: The Natural Toilet Training Alternative and Infant Potty Training: A Gentle and Primeval Method Adapted to Modern Living, both available from Amazon.com

Here's the link to the CBS story: 7 Months Old? Potty Train Her! - CBS News

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/10/11/earlyshow/health/health_news/main931782.shtml

This article discusses some unique ideas to help with potty training - from using "peer pressure" to "male bonding." My favorite is the tip that came from a dad who said he and his son ran around in underwear all weekend while singing "the manly man song" - a special tune he made up just to get his little boy motivated. Whatever works!!!

http://www.kansascw.com/Global/story.asp?S=9946168

Here is a GREAT idea for you creative types! Instead of buying a potty training book, make your own!

In the following article on the Parenting Examiner website, a number of unique ideas are discussed to personalize a special book for your little one:

Parenting Examiner: Potty training tip: make your own personalized potty training book

http://www.examiner.com/x-494-Parenting-Examiner~y2009m2d19-Potty-Training-Tip-make-your-own-personalized-My-Potty-book

(I recently received this comment on a previous blog post about bedwetting. Since it has such valuable information and advice, I wanted to publish it as it's own blog post.)

I work with the Enuresis Treatment Center, which deals only with bedwetting cases, and I know they can help. They have treated thousands of bedwetters, including teenagers, and adults. Bedwetting is actually a problem caused by abnormally deep sleep, which doesn't allow for the bedwetter's brain and bladder to connect so they can effectively respond to each other.
In 99% of all bedwetting cases, the root cause is sleeping so deeply. It is an inherited deep-sleep disorder that results in bedwetting as well as a non-restorative, unhealthy sleep. This compromised sleep can also result in daytime symptoms; difficulty awakening, fatigue, memory difficulty, irritability, difficulty concentrating.

There is No guaranteed that someone will outgrow bedwetting, in fact after the age of seven, it is less likely. 1 in 50 teenagers, as well as 3.2 million reported cases of adults still wet the bed. More importantly, if a child were to outgrow this problem, they are then left with a sleep disorder, along with possible challenging symptoms that can no longer be treated. Meanwhile, the psychological impact of bedwetting can be devastating.
Studies indicate that deep sleepers rarely hear smoke detectors and can sleep through fire/burglar alarms. Alarms alone are ineffective as the key component for ending bedwetting. Children/Teenagers report great confusion and frustration when using an alarm, because they cannot hear it in time, or at all, to make any impact on the bedwetting. A majority of the time they simply experience another failed attempt to end their bedwetting. The core of the problem is an inadequate arousal of the brain, a sleep disorder that needs to be changed to permanently end the bedwetting.

We encourage parents to discontinue the use of diapers since they only keep the bed dry, not the child, as well as prolong the child’s suffering from the bedwetting and sleep disorder. There is a false belief that older children will get discourage by wearing Pull Ups or Good Nights and be able to wake up and go to the bathroom. Our experience with tens of thousands of bedwetting cases indicates this has never occurred. If a child could wake up, they would.

For 34 years, the Enuresis Treatment Center has been ending bedwetting for children, teenagers, and adults who thought there was no hope. Our research and experience has validated that bedwetting is the result of a genetically-linked sleep disorder that can be treated without drugs or invasive surgery. I would encourage your readers to visit their website and take advantage of their extensive knowledge.
Sincerely,

Lyle D. Danuloff, PhD

www.nobedwetting.com

Farmington Hills, Michigan