I don't know who's side my mind is on or where all of the firm determination not to go down this path again went, but here I am, with a newly 2 year old, contemplating potty training. I decided after the year and a half of terror with Willow not to go there anymore, and wait until much later with my next one before bringing it up. yeah. right.
Reasons why it is different this time:
- I have been cloth diapering which means 2 things--1)supposedly Rhys should have a better understanding of what it means to be wet because cloth diapers don't keep a baby quite as dry as disposables. 2)with Willow, my main potty training motivation was to stop paying for diapers. This is a moot point with cloth diapers, (though not having to wash them any more is a bonus. But I'll just be having to wash underwear and every horizontal surface in the house for the next year instead.)
- Rhys actually has successfully made poopoo in the potty 2 times. It has never been the full amount he had inside, and was shortly followed by a dirty diaper both times, but it was success! And he has occasionally woken up from nap time with a dry diaper. This is much more than I can say for Willow.
- I am done with gimmicks. No more sippy cup of juice and potty in the living room all day long. I just have to put underwear on him, watch, and take him to the potty. And clean up messes, of course.
- Yesterday, independent of potty trianing contemplation, I decided to give myself permission not to go to walking group any more, just because feeling like it is a necessity is stressing me out when I feel like I have too many other things to do. So I just freed up all of my days from external commitments. I can do this.
- My mom is here. She pottytrained 10 children (one was potty trained in 2 days by her father while he was visiting, so even she is in awe of her parent's potty training abilities), all before the age of 3. With her support, I can do anything. Which gives me 2 days. Because she's leaving soon.
Reasons why nothing is different (why I am crazy):
- I am still lazy. The idea of watching my child every waking moment to try to "catch" him when he is about to relieve himself bores me to death. I have never been able to see or "tell" when my child is about to go, or even when he his going. This is going to be haphazard at best. And very, very, VERY messy.
Please, wish me luck. Actually pray for me. Hard. That would be good. Very, very good.
3 comments:
This is a very timely post....Elisheva has had a diaper rash, and she doesn't want to wear a diaper. So during the days I've been letting her wear underwear, and I'm fine with accidents, so that's no problem. The problem is Elisheva has not once, not ever, got in her little potty. Nothing, nada, never. And I don't know how to change this. She likes her potty. She loves underwear. She has even occasionally shown symptoms of the "potty dance." (although usually there are no signs. But once she's on the toilet, nothing comes out, and she quite clearly has no idea of what to do, despite how much we talk about it together. I don't know how to get past this block, but as the weather is warming up (so it's warm enough inside the house to go around pantsless), and as she wants to wear underwear anyway, I'm going with the flow. Which I wrote thinking just of the metaphor, but now seems somehow personal to this situation.
Good luck with Rhys! And if you find any magical secrets, please share them with me.
I've just been starting this with Anne, and we've had a few days of 4+ pairs of pants (I put her in a diaper if we run a lot of errands in the morning, especially if we take the bus, or it would be more). In the last two days she's finally started saying "I want go potty," but usually right after or while she's doing her business, so we still haven't made it to the potty in time yet.
And I'm no good at telling when she's about to go most of the time, either.
~Ruth
Good luck Carol and Rhys. I hate potty training. But I wanted to tell you that grandparents have some amazing ability. Henry wouldn't go in the potty for me, but last M arch when Mom came to help me with my hurt hand, he would go in the toilet for her. She left and he still wouldn't go in the toilet for me. He is potty trained now. He never really used the little potty we have. Grandma would have him stand on her feet to raise him up to reach the toilet, so that is what we did later too. When they are standing on your feet, you hold onto them under the arms and can lean them forward just a little to aim. It works well.
And for Thora, I had one that never ever had gone in the toilet until I had a hot wheels car that he wanted so badly that he stayed sitting on the potty for about two hours until he did something in it and got the car. We did eventually move the potty infront of the TV while he was waiting. He was very determined he was over 4. I had another that had never gone in the potty despite numerous attempts, until one day when hewas 3 1/2 and then he trained in two days ( for day time). Night times for him took several years. Everyone's body is different in what they can do and when.
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