Potty training children is probably one of the things that parents, especially first time parents, have a hard time doing.

The varieties of potty chairs available in the market don’t help either. Dr Phil has some simple tips to help you overcome your potty training problems.

Dr Phil advocates using a doll to teach your child because he will find it easier if he gets to watch you teaching the doll. There are dolls available in the market that “wets” when it is not taken to potty for the purpose of teaching potty training children. You can make the setting more real by giving the doll a name and talking to it as if it were a real child.

Start by giving the doll a drink then walking it to the potty chair. Pull the doll’s underwear down and let your child watch it go potty. Your child should be watching this entire process. Children learn by example and this is a good way to get your child to make the effort.

After the doll has successfully gone potty, throw a party for it with your child. Make an event out of it with party hats and cakes. You should give lots of attention to the doll so that your child understands the importance of going potty. He will become excited about it.

If he also successfully goes potty, he too will get a big party like the doll.

Another incentive is to allow your child to call his favorite superhero when he has successfully gone potty to report the good news.

Potty training children should not go back to wearing diapers. Put underwear on the training doll and make your child wear them as well.

It is also best that you throw out all the diapers you have around as well so that you will not be tempted to let your child wear them again whenever you get frustrated with the training process.

Give your child lots of fluids to increase the opportunities to get him to use the potty. It is also a good way to get him to learn to hold it in. He is not wearing diapers any more so he needs to hold it in until there is an opportunity to use the bathroom.

If, however, your child can’t hold it in and has an accident in his underpants, don’t snap at him. Instead, take him to the potty, pull down his underwear and have him sit on the potty chair. Doing this 10 times in a row will help him build muscle memory and he will eventually be able to go on his own.

Ask your child frequently if he needs to go potty. A common potty training problem is he will tell you no even if he needs to. This is fine and if you have been giving him lots of fluids as advised above, he will eventually have to go.

If he has an accident, do like above and have him sit on the potty chair.

Lastly, when your child finally goes potty, have a celebration! Now he can finally call his favorite superhero to report the good news. Get a friend to play the superhero role on your behalf.

As you can see, getting your child to go potty is not really that hard, is it? All you need is some persistence and keep up the positive reinforcement.

Note: You can read more articles and watch videos related to potty training for children at www.childpottytrainingtips.com.

Children between the ages of five and eleven can suffer from depression and it may go unnoticed. How will you know what the symptoms are and how can you help your child live with depression? Know the signs and symptoms.

There are several reasons why a child would suffer from depression; parents getting a divorce, separation, parents who abuse them, school work may be overwhelming, they may be struggling with learning, bullies in school, relationships, peer pressures and more. Because children live a busy life today they can sometimes suffer from depression. Children are not going to come to you and tell you that they are depressed so it’s up to parents to realize the signs and know what to do in order to treat it.

It is important that you help your child with ways to ways to improve your self esteem and teach them to look after their inner health.

Symptoms of Child Depression
Some of the symptoms of a child who suffers from depression include:

* A child who withdraws from the family. When they come home they head for their bedroom and will not come out.

* A child who does not eat or just eats enough to satisfy.

* A child who changes the way they dress suddenly, and prefers dark clothes

* Refuses to join in family activities and refuses to go anywhere with friends

* Start failing tests and bringing home low grades if they usually bring home good grades

These are just a few of the symptoms that you may notice. Basically the change may not be noticed at first so you will need to pay attention to it to see. Also, sometimes, a child will change their behavior because that is the stage that they are in. It’s okay to change as long as it is a healthy change. Spending hours in their bedroom without socializing is not always good.

Some children will show depression as anger and their specific anger management techniques for children.

Your Child Has Depression – You Can Help
* Talk to your child every day. They need to know that you are interested in their day and what they did, even if it is for a few minutes. Keep up to date when you talk to your child.

* Oversee homework. If they say they have homework, check it to see if they need any help and help them if they do.

* Insist that your family eat dinner together. It may be in the dining room, kitchen or in the living room while watching a movie but make sure that everyone eats together most of the time.

* Establish a bedtime. It’s never too late to establish a bedtime so that everyone can be in bed and get enough rest. If they are not sleepy, allow them time to watch television in their room, read a book or listen to some music to relax them. Sometimes it’s hard to get to sleep at first and that is why you need to make sure that they get use to going to sleep at a certain time each night.

* If your child is active in activities you may want to put everything on a schedule so you can make sure that your child gets to eat a good dinner and goes to bed at a decent hour. They also need to have time to do homework if necessary.

It is important that you help your child with methods to improve your self esteem and remember that your child counts on you to take care of them. Your not always going to catch everything but the more you know about your child the more likely you will be able to determine when there is a problem.