It seems like one of the most frustrating parts of parenting a toddler is potty training them. I hear many facebook status updates from my friends who are growling about it.
Potty training is tough but can be quickly achieved through these five simple principles:
- I have no clue.
- don’t ask me.
- I’m completely void of information regarding this situation.
- I’m scared of this topic.
- I really haven’t even tried potty training my kids much at all.
See, no problem right!?
Right.
So, since I have two unpotty trained children whom I’m about to rely on therapists to help me train because Silas is a bit of an exception.
Ikey, however, I have no excuse for other than the fact that he’s only two…stop pressuring me dagnabbit!!! He is very interested in the potty and will spend a lot of his time sitting on it because if he sits on it I allow him to be naked and nudity, along with holding as many spoons, rocks and trucks in his hands as he possibly can, is his number one joy in life.
Today I let him run free after a shower thinking he peed all he could in the shower…like mmm it’s warm…mmm peeee. I set him up on his potty in front of youtube so he could watch Silas’ ABC obsession in action. I soon found him in my room, legs spread, head down watching himself wee on my floor. I brought him back to the potty to find pee in it already!!! YAY IKEY. So I praised him like a little puppy dog and did the celebratory walk to the toilet to dump in the pee and let him flush it. How exciting.
Soon after I found he had peed in there again, he also tinkled on the surrounding floor and Silas’ smushy. Dang. Oh well, hit and miss. We emptied it in the toilet again and he was happy. Then I noticed more pee in more places. Perhaps this isn’t fun anymore…on with the diaper.
You might be wondering why the heck I wasn’t watching a naked two year old roaming free with his little pee shooter loaded. I was doing my hair and makeup…that stuffs important…pshh.
I so don’t like pee on my floor.
I think what we’ll do is check their diapers every 15 minutes and see when they are peeing during the day to optimize success. We’re also getting the therapists to write a social story for Silas so he’ll be better prepared. He doesn’t ever want to sit on the potty, and if I make him he’ll go nuts on me. When he does sit on the potty he is happy peeing and pooping in it, he just never does it. Ugh.
So, seeing as though mothers LOVE to talk about what THEY did with their kids. Please tell me what methods you used, what worked and what didn’t. I will learn from your mistakes and hopefully have a smooth and easy ride down the potty training lane…ya right.
Who’s pressuring you? I’m with you on this one … absolutely no idea.
I have a special needs 13 year old. Email me and let’s chat! I have been through probably the exact same therapy your using and am embarking on another round of it, and I am also going to school to be a BCBA.
I’d love to chat with ya about potty training and other stuff with other issues too!
Download an e-book called “3 day potty training’. It worked like magic for us and everyone that I know. It’s totally worth the $24.00
The library has lots of books and dvds and songs, too!
Ikey is already on his way to success! I found that about a week, once Cornelius was interested, of pretty much full on potty time did the trick. Full on potty time in this case means the toilet is in the bathroom, as that is where we typically pee in this society, and you sit on the potty while he is sitting on the potty and have fun. About every fifteen minutes for the first couple days and longer stretches after that. I didn’t have to force Con, we just had fun. One smarty per sitting and lots of pee and poo songs, books, etc. And yes, he needs to see you pee and wipe and flush. We’re teaching by example here. I put diapers on Con for sleeping and trips out, but at home it just took that week. Drink lot’s of water to make it fun and splashy!!!
Jilly’s plan sounds good. It sounds like Jilly. I like the idea of the potty staying in the bathroom. I’m not a fan of potties here and potties there.
I agree about the toilet!! Plus I always waited until my kids were over 3, that way they could be completely independent. Get up, wipe and flush all by themselves. Remember you are training them, not yourself to remember to take them every so many mins!!!
So what’s new??? Same problems have been going on for scaity-eight years, ever since diapers and pottys were invented, but, on the other hand, there’s always something new that works for some. The fun part is being grand parents and just handing them back when the need appears.
I feel your pain!
We are still in the middle of potty training our oldest.
I had a themed week on our experiences over on my blog – which you may empathise with!
Thanks for this
Mark
Um potty training in our house was so wierd. Isabella was completely trained for us by 2.. ONLY for us though. She would pee her panties if left with relatives or friends or anything. And then there was the problem of she refused to poo in the potty.. Or her panties. Oh god, I used to be tidying up and i would hear mama I poo. And find a nice log laying on my carpet. ERG. that was fun. But yeah I dont remember how we trained her, I think it was 1 smartie (shes not otherwise allowed chocolate or candy, we started this at 18months) if she sat on the potty (she was scared of the toilet at first) Then once she was willing to sit there if she peed we would give her a smartie.. We also kept the potty in the bathroom though. Oh I hear boys are way different though. Harder. Good luck, I am sure the therapists will have lots of good ideas. 😀
Oh my gosh, I just laughed so hard. I love all five of your points on potty training and will study them diligently to prepare for when I potty train my son. Which will be no time soon by the way because a) the whole topic terrifies me, b) he’s not two for another 3 weeks, and c) I’m not ready. And please don’t ask me about when I’m going to take him out of his crib and give him a real bed because that topic terrifies me, too. 🙂
P.S. You really do have cute kids!
P.P.S. Sorry I don’t have anything constructive to add to the potty training discussion. Except, maybe, that we were all somehow potty trained and don’t need diapers, so that has to be encouraging.