My Child Will Only Use One Bathroom

Even if you do your best to create a potty routine that is easy and flexible, your child may still insist on using one bathroom. This works fine during the initial training time, but makes daily errands, school and vacations impossible. Build your child's confidence step by step, taking home skills into an ever widening assortment of places.

• Use portable routines to create familiarity in other bathrooms, potty song, potty stories, or a teddy bear who always tries the potty first.

• Prepare your child. Guess what different bathrooms will be like and role play your child's potty experience in different context.

• Have a plan B. If your child still refuses, don't make it a test of wills. Bring diapers, pull ups, or a portable potty. Think ahead, though you have to be willing to live with your plan B indefinitely.

• Be a good role model. Show your child that your a happy and comfortable using, a variety of bathrooms, even if you don't really have to use the bathroom.

• Conquer one bathroom at a time. Tell your child to pick one new bathroom each week and keep adding new bathrooms until it's no longer an issue.