So last year, Dexy started showing an interest in potty training. I got SO excited b/c she wasn't even two yet... Yeah, yeah. I was really naïve.
In any case, her interest ended before it really began. We've spent the last year talking about the potty, reading books about the potty (e.g. "Everybody Poops" & "Once Upon a Potty"), practicing with her "big girl" cotton training underwear on warm days, running around nekkid, etc.
She peed in her potty all of twice, maybe three times max. While I didn't exactly give up, (I knew that eventually she'd get there), I also just sort of let it go. Besides, her pediatrician, my friends w/ older kids, and all the books I was now reading on the subject, said I'd be very optimistic to expect successful potty training before the age of three.
But there's been a real shift in nearly all areas of my life during the past month or so. Potty training is certainly no exception. We also got an offer on my parents house, but more on that later! Dex suddenly started asking me to read her "Poopy" books every night. She wanted to run around the house nekkid as often as possible. She didn't want to be in her diaper after she went poop in it and would ASK me to change her.
Then, on Tuesday evening, we came home & while I was fixing her dinner I decided to let her run around in her cotton training undies. Of course she peed in them. But this time, she was TOTALLY grossed out by it. While I was getting her bath ready, she just sat down on her potty & announced, "I went pee pee Mama!" ... I've heard this a zillion & one times before, but sure enough, this time there was pee in the potty!
Of course, we did the "Pee Pee Dance" ... We sang & took the little pot to the toilet & dumped the contents in. She got to flush ("bye bye pee pee"). There were lots of hugs and kisses. She was SO proud! She eagerly took her bath & chattered about her potty the whole time. When she got out of the tub, she wanted to go potty again. So she did, twice more! The next morning, she wanted to do it right after I took her diaper off. She went three more times before I took her to school. And several more times last night before bedtime. Hooray! Could it be we were on our way?
Hell yeah, I'm striking while this iron is hot mes bébés!
I took a 1/2 dozen cotton undies & several extra pairs of pants, socks, etc. to her pre-school. I told her teacher, "It's time!"... I'm going to get a sticker chart or something special to mark her progress here at home. I moved all her "toileting" supplies from her bedside to the bathroom. I'm jumping into this potty training adventure w/ enthusiasm. A life free of diaper bags, diapers & diaper wipes is coming. Frankly, I can't wait!
Ok all you Moms & Dads out there in parenting land ... I have so many questions for you! Please leave comments on how YOU potty trained your little ones, especially your daughters.
Did you use stickers? M&M's? Praise only? When did you switch from the potty chair to an adult sized toilet? Did you use diapers or pull-ups at night? For how long? What did you do w/ episodes of regression? How did you handle long car rides or traveling by plane? How did you keep their beds & car seats dry? Anything else you think this novice mama should know?
I need your opinions, suggestions & most of all your sage parental wisdom! I'm new at this, remember?
12 comments:
With my daughter, it's a little different. She's smart, but she's also very stubborn. We did the potty books, the fancy plastic potty that rings out tunes, and gave her lots of praise. But that's not enough. We hard to reinforce the need to go potty in the toilet by stern talking and sometimes spanking. The good news is, after a few months, she gets it and doesn't potty in the pants anymore.
Potty training takes patience. The toddler will get it, sooner or later.
We went with stickers and even M&Ms for a while. I wasn't a huge fan of the bribery angle, but it worked well enough.
One thing we had no luck with and really thought of as a hindrance more than help was pull-ups.
Also, our younger one had a period where she loved to run around outside, and nekkid if possible, but then she'd go pee right there in the middle of the patio or lawn or wherever. She thought it was the ultimate prank, getting away with peeing outside of the bathroom...
Best of luck!!!
I apologize in advance for the length of this comment. Here are my two cents...
With my oldest (a boy), he was doing fine going pee on the potty, but he just refused to poop on the potty. He would bring me a diaper and ask me to put it on. He'd go off and do his business and come back with his underwear and wipes.
I thought this was ridiculous.
I was bound and determined that he was going to BY GOD be pottytrained. I nagged and pleaded and punished and cried and prayed. It was ugly. Worse, it was counter-productive. He wasn't ready, and me trying to force the issue wasn't helping matters any. I was a young mom then (only 20 when I had him), so I didn't know any better.
An older woman who happened to be a good friend saw some of the craziness of this whole deal and said to me, "Honey, he's not gonna go to the Prom in a diaper, so relax. Let him do it in his own time." For whatever reason, that struck a chord, and I let it go. I figured the kid would use the potty when he was ready. I gave him diapers when he asked and changed him when he was done. I wasn't thrilled with it, but at least we weren't fighting.
One day, we ran out of wipes. So when he came to me for a diaper, I told him that he could either go on the potty, or he'd have to wait until we went to the store for wipes. He chose the potty. And bam, it was done.
With my middle child (a girl), I pretty much didn't do anything to pottytrain her. We'd talked about the potty, and I'd gotten her a potty chair, but that was really it. We were in a store, and she saw some Blue's Clues panties. She wanted them something fierce, and I told her that she could have those once she was using the potty regularly. Three days later, I was back in that story buying the kid the Blue's Clues panties. She trained herself for the most part.
Moral here? When they're ready, they'll do it. There's no sense, IMO, in forcing the issue. I think you're handling it just fine, and when it gets tough, just remember - she's not gonna go to Prom in a diaper, honest. ;)
I Totally agree with Steph!
The Dex will do her own thing in her own time. Just give her encouragement and praise, like you are doing, and it will all work out.
There's no one formula that works for every kid.
One thing that did help was having preschool friends who made the "change" it seemed to avalanche once one kid in the group was a potty kid. The others just fell like dominoes.
Thanks all! One of the things that helps I'm sure is that her little school buddy Lauren also decided to use the potty this week. Great timing, they'll have each other for encouragement. Most of the 12 kids at her pre-school are all about the same age, within a month or three of each other. It's gonna be fine no matter what happens this time around... though I do hope it's the only time we have to do this (Steph, I'm not counting on poop training yet, she's never pooped in the potty & hasn't wanted to).
Keep the comments coming!
I wholeheartedly agree with Steph. I have been working on potty training my 3 yr old twins for months. Just putting them in cotton underwear for the weekend did NOT work. They never have an accident when naked, but always seem to when they have anything on. One liked stickers, the other didn't care, and it didn't make a difference in the long run. You think it'll be over in weeks but in reality it can take much longer - you just have to be patient. Just make it part of the routine, and wait. Today we rewarded them with spiderman underwear for going the whole day yesterday (home and daycare) with no accidents - progress! We'll see how today went.
Mine were all around three. They mostly just did it when they were ready.
On a different note, a not on topic but fun book is The Mole Who Went In Search Of Whodunit.
How exciting!!!!
Mine were all around three. They mostly just did it when they were ready.
On a different note, a not on topic but fun book is The Mole Who Went In Search Of Whodunit.
Thanks all! One of the things that helps I'm sure is that her little school buddy Lauren also decided to use the potty this week. Great timing, they'll have each other for encouragement. Most of the 12 kids at her pre-school are all about the same age, within a month or three of each other. It's gonna be fine no matter what happens this time around... though I do hope it's the only time we have to do this (Steph, I'm not counting on poop training yet, she's never pooped in the potty & hasn't wanted to).
Keep the comments coming!
With my daughter, it's a little different. She's smart, but she's also very stubborn. We did the potty books, the fancy plastic potty that rings out tunes, and gave her lots of praise. But that's not enough. We hard to reinforce the need to go potty in the toilet by stern talking and sometimes spanking. The good news is, after a few months, she gets it and doesn't potty in the pants anymore.
Potty training takes patience. The toddler will get it, sooner or later.
We went with stickers and even M&Ms for a while. I wasn't a huge fan of the bribery angle, but it worked well enough.
One thing we had no luck with and really thought of as a hindrance more than help was pull-ups.
Also, our younger one had a period where she loved to run around outside, and nekkid if possible, but then she'd go pee right there in the middle of the patio or lawn or wherever. She thought it was the ultimate prank, getting away with peeing outside of the bathroom...
Best of luck!!!
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