I wish there was an easy 10 step plan to potty training.
But the truth is every child is different and will go at
their own pace. To quote a teacher I had in a child
development class I took, "I've never seen a college
student wearing diapers."
Being a mother of two, one boy and one girl. I've had
my share of potty training experience. My daughter
was easy, very easy. She followed me around everywhere
and of course the bathroom was not an exception. I had
put a potty chair in the bathroom and she was 13 months
old when she first decided to sit on it. (of course, at first
she still had her diaper on) I guess this was social
time for her.
She became aware of the wet diaper and how she didn't
like it somewhere between 12-14 months. She went from
saying "need change" to just taking her diaper off at 18
months. So now I had a naked 18 month old running
around, now what?
That's when I started to encourage her to sit on the
potty without a diaper. It was amazing, she actually
wanted to do it.
It was great, by 2 years old she was trained. Of course,
night time was a different story. With a plastic cover
for her mattress and a lot of patience, she stopped
wetting the bed completely by the time she was 2 1/2.
So nine years later when I had my second child, I
thought potty training should be a snap. WRONG!!
At two years old my son showed no interest in potty
training. But I knew that wasn't unusual so I waited.
He started to show signs of readiness such as, he was
getting uncomfortable with a wet diaper. He was
taking his diaper off. He was staying dry for long
periods of time. But still, no interest in the potty.
We had a potty chair in the bathroom and a little
seat for the big potty all ready for him.
Finally on his third birthday, I brought home a
New Potty Chair. My son said to me "Is that
a present for me?" I said "Oh, yes!"
We opened the box and put it together. My husband
and I made a big deal about his New Potty and how
Great it was. He loved it, he loved it so much he
started taking it apart and putting it back together.
He loved playing with it, and we let him. We also
let him decide where he wanted to put it. He chose
to put it in the livingroom which is at the opposite
end of the house from the bathroom. Which was
probably a good idea.
He started to use it. We clapped, jumped up and
down, cheered, kissed and hugged him and told him
how proud we were. And his little face said he was
proud too. Success!!
(peeing anyway, or so I thought)
Meanwhile, of course he's running around naked
all the time. I can't get him to keep his clothes on,
everytime I turn around he's naked again.
Then about a week later he started peeing on the
floor. I knew it was to get my attention cause he
would come to me and say "Mommy, I pee'd on
the floor." At first my reaction was to ask,
Did you have an accident? And I'd clean it up
right away. After three days of this I decided to
ignore it. I knew at this point he was doing it
on purpose. So after that everytime he would come
to me and inform me that he pee'd on the floor,
would shrug my shoulders and clean it up when he
wasn't looking. This lasted two days.
When he decided to go on the potty again, we made
an even bigger deal about it. It worked, he wanted
the praise and not my shrug. Bowel Movements,
he had a few mess's but he didn't like that so
persuading him to use the potty for BM's wasn't
a problem.
The point is he decided when he was ready. It
took him a little over a month to be trained. And
now at 3.4 years old when he wakes up in the
middle of the night to go guess who he wakes up
to bring him. But that's another subject.
Suggestions for easier potty training.
- Dress your child in pants that are easier to pull
down for example sweatpants.
- Limit fluid intake before bedtime.
- Let your child place the potty chair where ever
they want. It makes them feel like they are in charge.
- Remind your child to go on the potty.
Sometimes during play they just forget.
- Make a big deal Everytime he/she uses the potty.
- Don't make a big deal about accidents.
- Don't push your child to potty train. All children
learn potty training at their own pace.
Good Luck !!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Sharon LaCroix is the owner,
editor and webmaster of Parents-Place etc.
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