The NAKED CHILD APPROACH to toilet training

Another commonly cited approach involves keeping a child naked as much as possible for several days in a row. The philosophy behind this approach assumes children do not like to be wet and loose control of their urine. Variants of this approach allow the child to be in underwear but require the child to wear the wet clothes for a while if they have an accident. In order to try this approach, parents must view this as not being a form of punishment for being wet.  Parents must allow accidents to occur without getting upset. If a child is allowed to have accidents and not get punished, then a child who is otherwise unaware of their bodily functions can learn valuable lessons. The message for using the toilet to avoid being wet or having an accident is made more evident. Children are allowed to learn by observing and feeling, they begin to understand that urine and stool comes out and they either need to go into the toilet or they will go into the clothes/diaper. This technique can be rewarding for both child and parent since it employs a very simple concept of learning the normal bodily functions and how to avoid feeling wet or sticky.

If a child is not ready to train or is unwilling to change his behavior when an accident occurs, then this approach fails. Continuing to force a child to be wet or have accidents over a long period of time can result in humiliation and resentment. It can be difficult for parents to maintain a loving and encouraging environment if the child continues to have accidents. This approach can be very successful, but without also encouraging a child to sit on the potty, it will probably fail. Children do not always equate being wet with not using the potty. Parent instruction is necessary in order to explain that accidents do occur when you do not use the potty. This approach is very similar to potty training in a day, but it spreads the emphasis over several days and allows the child to learn from their mistakes.

 – Dr. D. Preston Smith