Toilet fears

What fears do children have about toilets? Well know author, media consultant and neuropsychologist Peter Stavinoha, PhD addresses some of the concerns that young toddlers might have about using the toilet.
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Toilet fears

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There are a number of things about potty training and the toilet that can actually be frightening for a child. For one thing, some children are simply afraid of being up high and for those kids, they really do need to have a potty chair to sit on so they can be firmly planted on the ground. For some kids, it's the noise that is associated with it, so the act of flushing can invoke that fear response or that anxiety response that interfere. It may make the child not want to come back into the bathroom. We see that with public restrooms a lot, the really high pressure toilets. Whatever it is that is making a child fearful of the potty, parents need to simply bypass what that is. If it's being up high, we will get them a potty chair. If it's the fear of the noise, they don't need to flush. The parent can take care of that. What you really want to do is move your child in the direction of potty training, in a way that you are removing all of the barriers that might interfere with the process until the child has grown more accustomed to it.

What fears do children have about toilets? Well know author, media consultant and neuropsychologist Peter Stavinoha, PhD addresses some of the concerns that young toddlers might have about using the toilet.

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Peter Stavinoha, PhD

Neuropsychologist

Peter L. Stavinoha, PhD, ABPP, is a board certified clinical neuropsychologist in Dallas, Texas.  He directs the Neuropsychology Service at Children’s Medical Center of Dallas and he is Professor in Psychology/Psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. He was named Distinguished Psychologist for 2005 by the Dallas Psychological Association. Dr. Stavinoha specializes in the cognitive, behavioral, and emotional aspects of developmental disabilities and acquired brain injury in children. As a general parenting expert, he is regularly interviewed in the media, Dallas morning television, Parents and Parenting Magazines, and numerous parenting blogs. Together with Sara Bridget Au, he is co-author of Stress-Free Potty Training. He has also authored several chapters in scholarly texts on subjects ranging from pediatric concussion to brain tumors in children. Dr. Stavinoha received a BA in Psychology from the University of Notre Dame and a PhD in Educational Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Stavinoha completed a residency in Clinical Neuropsychology at the Medical College of Wisconsin, and is a member of the American Psychological Association, the International Neuropsychological Society, and the National Academy of Neuropsychology. Dr. Stavinoha has a 16-year old son named Joe.

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Transcription: 
There are a number of things about potty training and the toilet that can actually be frightening for a child. For one thing, some children are simply afraid of being up high and for those kids, they really do need to have a potty chair to sit on so they can be firmly planted on the ground. For some kids, it's the noise that is associated with it, so the act of flushing can invoke that fear response or that anxiety response that interfere. It may make the child not want to come back into the bathroom. We see that with public restrooms a lot, the really high pressure toilets. Whatever it is that is making a child fearful of the potty, parents need to simply bypass what that is. If it's being up high, we will get them a potty chair. If it's the fear of the noise, they don't need to flush. The parent can take care of that. What you really want to do is move your child in the direction of potty training, in a way that you are removing all of the barriers that might interfere with the process until the child has grown more accustomed to it.