Part 8: Fear of New Situations
Learning how to manage anxiety and to become comfortable with the toileting process is important for both you and your child. Learning this new toileting skill may be a long process for you and your child. Being fearful of change is a normal human feeling. Being able to manage the inevitable fears and anxieties is part of successful toilet training.
Strategies that may help reduce your child’s anxieties include:
- Visuals to help with understanding and predictability
- Positive practice – For more information see Part 21: Handling Accidents
- Break down sequence into more specific steps. For example, if your child is afraid of just going into the bathroom, you may need to look at each of the steps of toileting and desensitize your child to one or more of them.
- To address more specific fears, see Part 25: Troubleshooting Toilet Training
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Toilet Training Tool Kit
- Parts 1 & 2: Getting Started
- Part 3: Toilet Training Steps
- Part 4: Developing a Toileting Plan
- Part 5: Habit Training
- Part 6: Creating a Calm & Welcoming Bathroom Environment
- Part 7: Communicating with Your Child
- Part 8: Fear of New Situations
- Part 9: Using Rewards
- Part 10: Toilet Training Away From Home
- Part 11: Cooperation Between Home and School or Daycare
- Part 12: Dealing With Your Own Anxieties and Frustrations
- Parts 13 & 14: Interfering Factors
- Part 15: Diapers & Pull-Ups During Toilet Training
- Parts 16 & 17: Toilet Training Older Children
- Part 18: Success at Home But Not at School or Vice Versa
- Part 19: Use of Books, Videos & Other Visuals
- Part 20: Toilet Training at Night
- Part 21: Handling Accidents
- Part 22: Increasing Independence With Toileting
- Part 23: Using a Visual Schedule
- Parts 24 & 25: Regression & Troubleshooting
- Parts 26 & 27: References & Resources