One of the first signs is immediately after waking your child in the morning check to see if he has a dry diaper. This is telling you that your child has the bladder control to hold his urinating until he reaches the potty. Once you see this sign encourage your child to get to the bathroom as soon as they get out of bed so he can have a positive experience going to the bathroom and receive high praise from you.

Another sign would be that through out the day, as long as you do not irritate your child, you can ask him if he has a dry diaper. If yes, ask him if he would like to go to the bathroom. If he wants to go on the potty, encourage him to have another successful event.

Recognizing extended periods of dryness in your child’s diaper is the best sign for you to start encouraging your child. Potty training requires some bladder control so if your child shows he has this then GENTLY go for it!

In the adult world you do not hear this phrase, “I am going to ground you from…” Your boss, spouse or parent would very rarely, if ever, use this term to let you know that you disappointed them and did not follow their request or rule. In fact if your boss, spouse or parent used this phrase you would probably not take them seriously and a laugh may even come out of your mouth.

As we raise our children to adults it is important at times to treat our young adults like adults. Communicate what you really mean. The fact that your child forgot to call you while they were out is being irresponsible. The discipline should fit the offense. With an irresponsible child a disciplining statement like, “While you were with your friends you were not responsible with calling me when you knew what time you would be home. This is disappointing. What do you have to say?” After discussing the issues with your child and a punishment decided using words like, “I will have to take away _________ until you show that you can be responsible.” The use of the “grounding” word on your part as an adult is immature and is not showing your child how to behave like an adult. There are many good words to use while communicating with your child that can show him his immaturity and plant a desire to grow up!

What prepared me the most for this point of letting go of my oldest daughter was I gradually relinquished her. For the past year I removed her from the chore list and did not have any expectations on her help around the house. I allowed her to make her own schedule and let her have full control on how she planned her days. The hardest part was realizing she would not be at every meal which is the time we usually caught up on everyone’s activities for the day.

As your child grows there will be small steps in letting go. Allowing your child to make decisions on their own when they are emotionally ready is good for your child to exercise. It is best to have them learn how to make decisions, understand consequences and be held responsible for what they decided while they are at home with you. Plan on making your child’s last days as part of the family be a positive experience and it will be! If you have a good attitude 99% of the time everyone else will too!

Demand feeding method seems to be the most widely shared in our culture. When my ninth child was five months old I put him to sleep in the church nursery. Before leaving I had given the ladies instructions to get me when he cries. Within fifteen minutes he started crying. Respecting my instructions a lady carried him to the class where I was teaching, popped her head in the door and said, “Do you think he is hungry?” I have received this type of response more than I can count while in a public place with my baby. It seems to be the automatic, programmed response from people in the grocery store, on a plane or at a family get together that when a baby cries he needs to be fed.

Women have shared that using this method made them extremly exhausted! They are frantic in trying to figure out their baby and how they can get more sleep. Since their babies seem to be unsettled they instinctively feel there must be a better way. I encourage these women to let their babies cry and do not feed their baby because he is crying. Take time to try to figure out why your baby is crying. There are six reasons why a baby cries. This will be addressed later.

Waking a newborn can be very difficult, since the baby will be sleepy for the first few days. Yes, babies need encouragement to eat, but expecting your newborn to eat every two hours may not be realistic for your child. During the day try feeding your newborn every two hours, however, if the baby does not wake until three hours later, that is okay. By the third or fourth day your baby’s appetite should increase and he will wake more easily and will want to eat every two hours. Remember a newborn loosing several ounces after birth is very common. The important element here is you do not want your baby to loose too many ounces before gaining weight begins within the later part of the first week. You can achieve this by attempting two hour feedings during the day.