It's time...
It's that awful, dreaded, totally grosses-me-out time. Potty training. The plan was to start at the beginning of June, but with Bobby's school, work, our callings, vacations, etc. there was just NO time for me to be 100% fully vested into potty training. And the thought of having to stay home for weeks and weeks, with no air conditioning and a 6mo old baby, until he is potty trained is enough to just make me want to cry. And since we thought we were going to be moving sometime this summer (still waiting for that call!) we didn't want to start and then have to interrupt things with a move. I will NOT do this for months at a time. I want to start, be fully committed, and be done with it. So long story short, I just don't think we have the time yet. However, as it normally is when ever children are part of the story, what you want doesn't really matter. Tyler is ready and that's all there is to it. He's been asking us to buy him a "big boy potty" (a toddler toilet) for the past 2 mo. or so. Everytime we go to walmart he asks to go look at them. I've been promising him for the last mo. that we would buy him one, but haven't because...I don't want to potty train yet. And yes I'm fully aware that every other child his age (2 1/2) is potty trained. He actually threw a FIT in Walmart on Mon. because we didn't buy him one. We got out to the car and were loading the groceries in the trunk and he said, "Mommy! Where's my big boy potty?!" I said, "Oh shoot Tyler I forgot it." He cried the whole way home. Yes, it's time. Every time he goes poop he says, "I want poop in big boy potty like Daddy!" We're going to buy him one tonight. And so it begins....
But I'm totally at a loss of how to go about doing this! Since all your kids are trained, what's your advice? Like what am I supposed to do for church on Sun.? I don't want to put him in a diaper-it's underwear from here on out-but I don't want him to wet his pants. Or is that what I'm supposed to do and just bring a change of clothes? Or do we just not go? Help!
11 comments:
Ok so I know I dont have a child potty trained but I have heard a lot of moms who do talking about it with Amy because she is thinking about potty training Josie before the next baby comes along. So this is what I have gathered.
There is a way (supposedly) to train them in 3 days, but you have to be 100% commited and can not leave the house at all! So make sure when you start either you or bobby can be home with him (so if it falls on a sunday have one of you guys stay home and not take him to church). To begin: they say to include tyler in everything...picking out the "big boy potty" and the "big boy underwear". Have HIM throw out all his diapers so he understands there are no more and he is wearing underwear from here on out. The day you decide to potty train him they say its best to just let him just wear the underwear and nothing else. Every 10-15 minutes say "tyler lets go potty" (do not ask if he needs to go because they say they may lie or not realize they need to go)so just go set him on the toilet every 10-15 minutes and let them try for a couple minutes. Once they do go give him some kind of reward (candy or tell him he can get a toy if he poops or pees). Most importantly know he will have accidents at first and you can not get frustrated with them because then they wont want to use the potty and it will be more of a chore for them rather then something they can get a reward out of. Possibly make up a potty song you can sing while they are trying to go and if they do go do a potty dance :). It would probably be a good idea to lay down a tarp or blanket in the front room or where ever he is the most so when he does have an accident it is easy to clean up by just throwing it in the wash rather then trying to clean poop or pee out of the carpet.
This is what I have heard works best however I do not know from experience. It sounds like Tyler is ready to me :)
oh and GOOD LUCK!!
Good Luck. It sounds like the little guy is totally ready so it will be relatively easy. I really only think the reason why my boys had trouble is they got the stomach flu mid way through and the "effects" were present for about three weeks. So I think they were confused why I kept telling them that their accidents were okay and I was so sorry. I am a fan of the three day potty training method, I wish I would have found it before I started though. As far as Sunday I kept them in their underwear, but put plastic pants over them, the ones you have to put on when they go swimming. This way if an accident happened it wasn't embarrassing, but they still were wearing their underwear and could feel what was happening. I also took them right before church, and after each block. I actually didn't ever have a problem on Sunday's until Michael told his teacher he needed to go 3 times and when they finally brought him to me I was teaching a lesson and the neighbor had to take him. He stayed dry that week, but the following week he had an accident and said he was scared to tell someone. I'm definitely not all knowing, but those are some of my tips. PS I found this perhaps it will help your sacrament meeting boredom. http://www.mormonchic.com/crafty/filefolders.asp
i wish i knew what to say to you to help you out. my son is three and still not trained... but i think tyler is closer than my son anyway. my son doesnt want to go. keep telling us your experiences and maybe something will help me. :)
good luck!!
My kids were as different with this as they are with everything. Jake was a bit older than Tyler but I knew he was ready. On a Monday morning I gave him a bath and put a long t-shirt(for a little modesty) on him and nothing eles. He asked for pants but if he had anything on he thought he could just go in it. He had three accidents that day and HATED it since he had nothing on to catch it. The next day he had one accident in the morning and that was it. Wednesday we put underware on and by Friday he was fully dressed and staying dry day and night. He had one poop accident a few weeks later and that was all for him. I know it sounds weird, but we had tried several things with him and this is what my sister did with her son and it worked great for them. Kate was done sooner but it was a long process and she just stopped having accidents for good a few weeks ago. Good luck!
I also forgot to say that we never had the potty chair. Both my kids used the seat that goes right on your toilet. You do have to help them up and down, but for me it was a small price to pay to avoid having to clean out their own little potty every time.
I personally don't agree with the 3 day potty training. I think that your kid is going to do it when he's ready and on his own time - just like Tyler's been telling you he's been ready for the last 2 months.
I didn't change anything in my schedule for jackson. I just made sure he went to the potty BEFORE we left and WHILE we were out and BEFORE we left the place and WHEN we got home. You have to be the one to ask him and make him go over and over.
For Sundays: we took him to church like normal and made him go to the potty several times while we were there and he never had an accident. You HAVE to go in nursery and take him to the potty because he'll get playing and forget about it.
We got character underwear and would say "don't peepee on Diego, he doesn't want your peepee on him" and that was hilarious and enough to try and make him not peepee in his pants.
I let Jackson wear underwear to bed too. He had a accidents every night for a couple nights and I'd have to change his bed in the middle of the night (yes I know this is hard with a little baby) but it was worth it because he started to realize what it felt like and never wanted to wet the bed again.
Make sure you put a nightlight in the bathroom so he can see in the middle of the night if he has to go.
but no matter what anyone tells you, Tyler is his own person and he'll do it the way HE wants to.
I think you just have him go to the bathroom on the big toilets. You don't want to have him have an accident because that would be hard for him. Sounds like it might be smooth sailing because he's verbalizing he's so ready! Sorry you don't have air conditioning! Also, I wanted to let you know that we are seriously considering using Tyler for our little one It just seems right. Hopefully you're okay with that (:
oh and that is SO not true about every 2 1/2 yr old being potty trained either. My youngest brother wouldn't and wasn't until he was 3 3/4 old. My other friend has been having a lot of trouble and her 3 year old is just now going poop on the toilet. It can be really easy for some and harder for others, but don't think you're way behind because you're not.
I totally agree about waiting until they are ready, and then using the 3 day method. I know several people who have started before their kids were ready and it was a nightmare and they ended up going back to wearing diapers completely for at least 6 more months before they tried again. Also, don't feel like you have to start Tyler standing up. There is nothing wrong with a little boy sitting down to pee. We had people tell us that it was just wussy, but it was also cleaner and eventually boys figure out how to stand up once they have the basics down. Anyway, good luck!
Since Tyler seems ready, go for it! I DREADED it too, and for us it was hard for 2 days, and I didn't dare leave the house, but then it went really well. I'll tell you what worked for us, which may or may not work for you... Motivate him with the cute toilet or toilet seat, and the fun BIG BOY underwear. Don't make him stand up to pee yet, because Daddy can teach him that later and they can "shoot" Cheerios in the toilet. :) Give him lots of drinks so there are lots of opportunities, keep him in only his underwear, & talk about going in the toilet. Talk about how great it is to go in the toilet. Name all the big boys he knows and looks up to who wear underwear, and tell him that he can do it too! And when he goes in the toilet, PRAISE him like crazy, and name all the people who are proud of him for going in the toilet (like Grandpa, Curious George, Daddy, Kylee, etc.). Remember to praise a TON and be way overexcited about everything!!! I liked the ideas in the book Toilet Training in Less Than a Day, although I did a slightly slower/less intense version because I didn't want to force it along. You might want to read it and adapt it to what you want to do. I like how they say to get a "pee doll" and you show him by having the doll pee in the toilet, then he gets to show the doll how to do it, and wants to do it himself too. I personally don't like the idea of training them by taking them to the toilet all day every 15 minutes, because that doesn't train them quickly enough, and makes you go CRAZY. My neighbor has done it that way and her kids both took about 2 years to potty train. So after Chase had the basics down and would go when he had to go in the toilet, I did "dry checks" throughout the day, where I'd ask if his underwear was dry, and if it was, I'd give him a tiny treat (like 1 skittle or something). He was very motivated to stay dry by going to the toilet so he could get a treat in the near future at a dry check. If he wet his pants, HE was accountable and HE had to clean up the mess and carry the wet underwear to the hamper, etc. So after a couple of times, he really didn't want to wet his pants anymore & have to clean it up. For nursery I took him to the bathroom before and/or during nursery, and had him in a Pull-up just in case, so they wouldn't have a pee-floor in nursery. He still wears a Pull-Up to bed at night (not at naps) because he's a really deep sleeper now and he doesn't wake up to pee. I've heard of some kids having bladder control issues at night time, through kindergarten age or older, so that's something to keep in mind if he does have trouble staying dry at night. But some kids stay dry at night as soon as they are potty-trained! So those are a lot of ideas that I liked, but you should do whatever seems best for you & Tyler!
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