The Joys (and Trials) of Potty Training
The idea of potty training is enough to send a shiver down my back and make me shudder. You'd think it would get easier after you've trained a few children and figured it out. Someone without children might think that. The fact is that every child is different, unique and special, and that a parent has to figure out different, unique and special ways to deal with each one, especially for something as personal, yet important, as using the potty.
When I potty trained my daughter, it was pretty easy. I read a copy of "How to Potty Train in Less Than a Day", bought some M&M's for treats and some princess underwear and set to. It didn't happen in less than a day, but by the third day she had figured out what she was supposed to do and from that time on she was pretty consistent about using the potty. I don't mean to say she didn't have accidents, because she did, but they were rare and far between.
And then came my sons. I won't go into details, but they were a lot harder to teach and have taken a lot longer to be fully trained.
I began training my youngest son, Peter, a week ago. Now, I have to say that this wasn't really the beginning. We had borrowed a "Potty Power" DVD from the library and watched it several times. (Warning: the songs on this DVD are very catchy! You'll get them stuck in your head!) Sometimes when I'd change his diaper I'd have him sit on the potty for a few moments. He had even peed in it a couple times. He has watched his brothers numerous times, and so he had a pretty good idea of what the potty is for before we began.
So on Saturday I bought new training pants for him. He actually wore them for the rest of the day, and I've been pretty consistent about putting training pants or underwear on him every day since then. I did put him in a diaper when we went to church the next day, but changed him to underwear as soon as we returned home. I try not to switch back and forth too much because I think that is confusing for the child.
One challenge was getting him to sit on the potty. I started by putting him on the potty every hour or so, and explaining that "Pee pee and poo go in the potty." After the first few days, the novelty of this new game had worn off, and he no longer wanted to sit on the potty every hour. It took me a little while to realize and convince myself that he knows when he doesn't need to go. If I ask him if he needs to go potty and he says, "NO!", I need to let it go for a little while. Now I try to remind him to go potty about every two hours or so, or if I see obvious signs that he needs to go. I think it helps when I give him choices, like which bathroom he wants to use (my bathroom or the hall bathroom) or if he wants to use the big potty (toilet) or the little potty (potty chair).
Trying to get this active two-year-old to sit on the potty longer than three seconds (literally) was another challenge, but I found that it helped if I would sit in there with him and read to him or help him look at books while he sits there. I've been frustrated a few times when he sat on the potty for just a short while and then ran off and had an accident on the floor within minutes. I try to keep him on the potty long enough to relax and do his business.
When he successfully gets something in the potty I applaud, give him "five", give him a gummy bear, or otherwise try to let him know I'm happy with his performance. When he has an accident, I try not to be too disappointed, and remind him where pee pee and poo go. Sometimes it is hard for me to hide my disappointment or frustration, but I try.
After a week of working on it, he occasionally lets me know before he needs to pee, but usually when he has an accident he comes to me after the fact saying "I wet." At least he tells me most of the time. My other boys didn't seem to mind being wet and would stay in their wet pants until I found out on my own. I would think that #2 would be easier for kids to realize it is coming in time to get to the potty, but for some reason Peter has only done #2 in the potty once, and that is after he had already begun the process in his pants. I still try to remind him frequently to use the potty, and he is doing pretty well. He isn't going to be as easy as my daughter was, but hopefully it won't be long before he learns to recognize when he needs to go and find the motivation to get to the potty before it is too late.
When I potty trained my daughter, it was pretty easy. I read a copy of "How to Potty Train in Less Than a Day", bought some M&M's for treats and some princess underwear and set to. It didn't happen in less than a day, but by the third day she had figured out what she was supposed to do and from that time on she was pretty consistent about using the potty. I don't mean to say she didn't have accidents, because she did, but they were rare and far between.
And then came my sons. I won't go into details, but they were a lot harder to teach and have taken a lot longer to be fully trained.
I began training my youngest son, Peter, a week ago. Now, I have to say that this wasn't really the beginning. We had borrowed a "Potty Power" DVD from the library and watched it several times. (Warning: the songs on this DVD are very catchy! You'll get them stuck in your head!) Sometimes when I'd change his diaper I'd have him sit on the potty for a few moments. He had even peed in it a couple times. He has watched his brothers numerous times, and so he had a pretty good idea of what the potty is for before we began.
So on Saturday I bought new training pants for him. He actually wore them for the rest of the day, and I've been pretty consistent about putting training pants or underwear on him every day since then. I did put him in a diaper when we went to church the next day, but changed him to underwear as soon as we returned home. I try not to switch back and forth too much because I think that is confusing for the child.
One challenge was getting him to sit on the potty. I started by putting him on the potty every hour or so, and explaining that "Pee pee and poo go in the potty." After the first few days, the novelty of this new game had worn off, and he no longer wanted to sit on the potty every hour. It took me a little while to realize and convince myself that he knows when he doesn't need to go. If I ask him if he needs to go potty and he says, "NO!", I need to let it go for a little while. Now I try to remind him to go potty about every two hours or so, or if I see obvious signs that he needs to go. I think it helps when I give him choices, like which bathroom he wants to use (my bathroom or the hall bathroom) or if he wants to use the big potty (toilet) or the little potty (potty chair).
Trying to get this active two-year-old to sit on the potty longer than three seconds (literally) was another challenge, but I found that it helped if I would sit in there with him and read to him or help him look at books while he sits there. I've been frustrated a few times when he sat on the potty for just a short while and then ran off and had an accident on the floor within minutes. I try to keep him on the potty long enough to relax and do his business.
When he successfully gets something in the potty I applaud, give him "five", give him a gummy bear, or otherwise try to let him know I'm happy with his performance. When he has an accident, I try not to be too disappointed, and remind him where pee pee and poo go. Sometimes it is hard for me to hide my disappointment or frustration, but I try.
After a week of working on it, he occasionally lets me know before he needs to pee, but usually when he has an accident he comes to me after the fact saying "I wet." At least he tells me most of the time. My other boys didn't seem to mind being wet and would stay in their wet pants until I found out on my own. I would think that #2 would be easier for kids to realize it is coming in time to get to the potty, but for some reason Peter has only done #2 in the potty once, and that is after he had already begun the process in his pants. I still try to remind him frequently to use the potty, and he is doing pretty well. He isn't going to be as easy as my daughter was, but hopefully it won't be long before he learns to recognize when he needs to go and find the motivation to get to the potty before it is too late.
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