Thursday, September 22, 2011

Potty Training Diaries: Day Two

I survived another day in the trenches of toddler motherhood.

I was even disciplined enough to wake Taylor up early to take him potty before he could go in his pants.  Big score on that one--I am so not a morning person.

The sad part is, we sat in the bathroom for an hour together wating for Mother Nature's wonders to arrive, 

and they never did.  It was stage fright I guess.

Play-Group

One hour later, I welcomed four other 3 year-olds into my home for Playgroup.  That added to the craziness, but it was good kind of crazy.  And besides, I'm already getting cabin fever.  It was good to have a change of pace.

The kids danced (little Russell LOVED that), they snacked, played, read books, made crafts.


Taylor remained pantsless of course.


Amazingly enough, through all the commotion my potty-champ-in-training rocked his new skills.

It was after lunch that the story changed.  It was gross.  Tedious.  Stressful.  Oh I hope my Taylor gets this pooping thing figured out soon!

I am so not a fan.

Any suggestions?

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I don't know if this will work for you, but for me I put both boys when they were ready in underwear, placed the potty chair where they liked it (for Fremon that was by the stairs and Moran was in the bathroom) and told them where to go and that was it. No asking again and again, "do you want to go potty?". I tried that with Fremon the first time and it didn't work. I didn't follow them around or in the bathroom at all. For some reason they just eventually figured it out after some accidents, and went. I think u don't want them depending on u, so that's why I never follow them, or sit with them. It works. Of course, after a few days put the potty chair where u want it. I still have Autumn to go so we'll see what she's like.

Maria Grover said...

Sadly, the pooping thing doesn't come as fast, but once they understand the whole potty procedure and have peeing mastered, it is soon to follow.

For me with my two girls, I started potty training with pull-ups during their "practice" period in which I left the little potty out and allowed them to sit on it for however long they wanted while reading a book, watching tv, etc. Then of course if they actually went, I got really excited and praised them. We also used a timer to remind them to try. For Claire, I had to start with every 30 minutes because she was not accustomed to holding it; Kate could hold it longer. But then we gradually increased the time. Every time it went off, it was potty time. Eventually, they got the idea of "I go pee, I get a sticker and praise". Whenever they had an accident (which they had a lot of with pull-ups... those are too secure for training, but great for avoiding messes while learning), I just reminded them of the potty.

Once they have a familiarity with the routine, I switch to panties and ditch the timer, which they think is all fun and games until they end up wet. My girls HATE being the least bit wet unless in a pool, so this was a big deal for both of them. Since they now had an understanding of the potty, they could avoid the wetness by rushing to the toilet. Pooping and night time potty come naturally shortly after that. For Claire, it was within a week of switching to panties and for Kate, it was within 2 weeks.

One other good idea someone in my ward does is she uses panties from the start, but puts a pull-up on top when in public or when a mess would be a really big deal. That way, the kid still feels the uncomfortable feeling, but doesn't land yucks all over the place. She says she trained her two kids really fast that way. Anyway... sorry for the long novel, and good luck!!!