The Barking Method: A Unique Way to Potty Train Your Child

Potty training can be a very frustrating experience for you and your child. There will be a lot of screaming, crying and begging (of course, your child will be upset also). At least that is the way it was for me.

I tried just about everything I could think of to potty train my daughter, Haley. I read books about what to do, which might work for some, but definitely didn't work for me. I got her the potty chair and let her sit on it all she wanted to get the feel of it. I had heard that if you let your child decorate her potty it would be like a bonding thing and they would want to use it. I got out a pack of stickers and let her decorate her potty chair. In the end, all we had was a potty chair covered in princess stickers that Haley forgot about the second she was done.

I tried taking her to the bathroom every time I went, reading her potty story books, showing her how to go potty by using a doll, asking her every 10 minutes if she had to go, and yes, even begging and bribery. Nothing worked! I even tried sitting her on her potty and just waiting until she would go. She ended up sitting there for 30 minutes and still nothing. Of course, the moment I told her she could get up, she would stand up and pee right in front of her potty!

I spent weeks after that trying to figure out what I was going to do. I knew she would not be able to go to school if I didn't get her potty trained. I cried. That didn't even work!!

At this time, Haley was in one of those phases where she wanted to be a puppy dog (you parents know what I'm talking about!). She would go around barking all the time at home and in public. Even barking at random people she saw when we were out (but that's another story for another time). I remember I was sitting at my computer when she started barking one day. That's when the idea hit me!

I would use her barking as a way to get her to let me know when she has to go potty. I sat Haley down and explained to her that whenever she felt that she had to go potty to just start barking really loud. I was afraid that she would forget about our plan so every day I would ask her, "Okay, Haley, what do you do when you have to go potty?" Every time, she would start barking, telling me that is how she lets me know. She loved this game and caught on very fast. I figured it would help her to see me play the game with her, so whenever I had to go, I would bark at her, then go to the bathroom. Sure enough, she would start barking and I would get her and take her to the potty where she would go!

I guess I should add that every time she used the potty, I would stand in the doorway and do the pee pee dance for her, which she thought was just hilarious. It wasn't so great for me when I had to do that dance whenever she used the potty in a public place, but, hey, I was a desperate woman!! I would have done just about anything to keep from having to spend all that money on disposable diapers!

I'm not saying that she didn't have accidents every now and then, but in the first 3 weeks, she went from not using the potty at all to going all by herself. So, if your child is as stubborn as Haley, then you might just want to try out this unique method of potty training! It worked for Haley and me!!!