To me, one of the most difficult aspects of parenting to date has been potty training my very independent, stubborn daughter. Isabella has declared a 'jihad' on potty training and has made our potty training experience a tough one to-date. Matt and I deserve a medal (a big shiny one, the size of a car's hub cap - made of chocolate) for perseverance and bravery.
I have read a whole lot of books about potty training, talked to tons of parents, including my mom and Matt's mom and our very patient pediatrician about this, and we finally came to the conclusion that we were going to let Isabella set the tone for this. It seemed the more we pushed and bribed and cajoled, the more she dug her heels in; so we watched videos about potty training, and read books, and generally asked in a very casual way every time we changed a diaper if she would like to try the potty.
We tried asking her if she had to go every 15-30 minutes, and even taking her hand and leading her there, only to have her say 'I don't have any pee-pee yet'. We even tried using M&M's as incentive; that worked for the first couple of times, and then she would say, "No thank you" to the offer of candy for using the potty. We then bought her Dora the Explorer panties, and she was willing to try the potty.
As many of you have probably experienced, we haven't had the same level of success with potty training for pooping as we have with peeing. Most people say that once you get the peeing, the pooping will come shortly thereafter, so getting them to acknowledge they have to pee is the major hurdle. The key point here is getting them to learn their body's signals is the tough part, especially when they are busy playing.
Case in point: on a recent trip to Babies'R'Us, Isabella was busy playing with a toy that was left out by the crib section. Matt was hovering nearby as I was shopping for formula about 50 feet away, and I heard him repeated ask her, "Bella, do you need to go potty?", to which she replied, "No, Daddy" each time. Sounds good so far, right? Well, about a minute later, Matt catches my eye, and then screams across the store, "GET OVER HERE NOW, SHE JUST PEED ALL OVER THE FLOOR!!" Aye carumba -- I jogged over to where Matt & Bella were standing, and there was a rapidly-expanding yellow puddle of pee where Bella had been standing not more than ten seconds before. This thing was huge -- if it weren't pee, for God's sakes, we could have sold pool memberships! Makes you appreciate the absorbent power of diapers, that's for sure. It was definitely cleanup on the center aisle.
I have often heard people say that no child ever went to college in diapers and I hope that is true! We are trying hard to make sure that Isabella, earns her merit badge for potty training but its been tough going. I would like to think that our efforts are not in vain and that, by the time fall comes around and school starts our efforts would be rewarded with a little girl who is fully potty trained and recognises that this, is an essential part of being independent.
I am sure I will be writing more about our potty training woes and in the mean time I would appreciate any advise, potty training tricks and anecdotes you would like to share
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2 comments:
Too funny! :) I'm still floored at how inattentive the Babies R Us staff was to cleaning up Bella's "accident." It's almost as though the store's name should be "Babies R Us -- Just Don't Bring Them Here!!!"
Hi Shan
You have my sympathies on the potty training front. Everyone I spoke to told me that boys were difficult to train but at 2 years and 3 months Matthew told me no more nappies (diapers). We had a few accidents but that has been it. The key is letting them decide when they are ready. I found an ingenius contraption called a pottete which is basically a portable potty with super absorbent liners. It was my lifesaver. Once they have used it you tie up the bag and throw it away. I can get you one from here if you want. No more Babies R Us accidents:) I also found it helpful that in Matthew's nursery class most of the kids were training together and you know what kids are like they LOVE to copy each other. A friend of mine went cold turkey and took her son out of his diapers completely and as he was older over 3 he trained in days. There will be a light at the end of the tunnel. Thinking of you.
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