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Potty training tips > Maintaining good hygiene
Tips on maintaining good hygiene
Getting clean after using the potty/toilet is another new challenge for your child. You can help foster bathroom independence by teaching good cleaning habits. Here are some tips on maintaining good hygiene.
- Change soiled underwear or training pants quickly. Change your child's underwear or training pants as soon as possible after soiling so s/he doesn't become comfortable with, or even enjoy, being soiled.
- Discard unusable underwear, launder the rest. Soiled underwear falls into one of two categories: save or trash. When it is just urine, a run in the washing machine will make it smell like new. When it is a bowel movement, it depends. Most likely, if the BM is wet or mushy, pitch the underwear in the trash. But there may be occasions when few or no traces of BM are apparent and the underwear can be saved.
- Encourage your child to wipe the seat. Since germs can be sprayed from the toilet flushing process and settle on the seat, teach children to wipe the toilet seat with toilet paper. Germs can be present whether the seat is wet or dry.
- Teach proper wiping. Girls should wipe thoroughly from front to back to prevent bringing germs from the rectum to the vagina or bladder. Teach your little girl to go "pat, pat, pat" instead of wiping hard. This will help eliminate irritation or possible rashes.
- Buy the right toiletries. Buy products that are gentle on children's extra sensitive skin but also are strong and absorbent. For example, pre-moistened wipes are ideal for young users because they gently and effectively clean children's delicate skin while providing the strength and absorbency to accomplish the task.
- Show your child how to wash his/her hands. Hand washing and other hygiene practices actually do reduce the spread of disease. Show your child how to wash his/her hands. Use antibacterial soap and warm water. Scrub hands for about 15 seconds. You can teach your child to count to ten or say a rhyme while washing hands to help them gauge the right amount of time. Dry hands on a towel (which should be laundered at least on a weekly basis). Hand washing should be routinely done, even if your child didn't actually "go" in the potty. And don't forget to wash YOUR hands, too.
- Close the lid. Children need repeated reminders to close the toilet lid before flushing to avoid contact with germs that might spray up.
- Use household products to clean the potty easily. For easy potty clean up, place cling-wrap or a coffee-filter in the bowl before your child sits down. When they're done, there's minimal mess - just lift the wrap or filter out and throw it in the trash. Don't flush the wrap and filter because it's not biodegradable like toilet paper.
- Clean the potty with bleach/water solution. Clean the potty periodically with a bleach/water solution after each potty training session. To avoid cleaning carpets, place the potty on an easily cleaned floor or invest in a mat that can be cleaned to avoid any spillage on the carpets. One mom puts down painter's plastic which is cheap to buy and easy to discard.
- Be mindful of the curious child. Your child may be curious and try to play with the feces. You can prevent this without making him or her feel upset by simply saying, "No. This is not something to be played with."
- Teach proper etiquette. While potty training, it's a great time to teach your child (especially if a boy) to lower both the seat and the lid when they are finished as a necessary part of the ritual. Their future wives will you!
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