***The following has a lot of potty training details, so consider yourself warned.***
Last Saturday, Paul and I decided we had put it off long enough and that we needed to finally brave the Potty Training Test of Parental Patience and Persistence. Even though Abby had been ready for awhile, Paul and I were not. When do we start? How do we start? Where do we find the extra patience? What if we screw it all up?!
Well, we never found any satisfactory answers as the experience seems to be different for every child and every parent. So, we decided to take a deep breath and just go for it! Abby turned 2 years and 6 months earlier that week.
We started Saturday afternoon after Abby's nap. The plan was to try to get her to drink as much as possible and put her on the potty every 30-45 minutes to see if she would go. This would allow her to associate the feeling of going with using the potty. We were armed with both a toilet seat insert (one that fits over a regular toilet, but had handles to allow her a place to hold on) and a "kid-size" potty chair. We gave her the choice of what she wanted to use every time. We watched a lot of Disney movies that afternoon, but saw no results. At dinner time, she finally said she needed to use the potty and we ushered her to the bathroom, but she had a small accident right by the toilet. Less than half an hour later, she had another small accident, but we couldn't get her to finish going on the toilet. Another half hour later, we were getting ready for bed and she said she needed to go potty, so we let her try again and.....success! She was so proud of herself and we gave her a lot of hugs and kisses, plus a few stickers. That night, she went to bed with just training pants.
Sunday morning, she woke up dry and as we were putting on her pair of princess underwear, she claimed she needed to use the potty and again was successful! Keeping her princess dry (as Abby calls it) lasted ALL DAY! At night, we rewarded her by letting her watch the movie, "Up." She loved the movie so much that she wouldn't allow us to pause it for a potty break. Unfortunately, this led to a strange bout of tantrums after the movie ended because she couldn't handle the urgency of having to use the bathroom. She didn't know what to do and ran around the house screaming. We suspected she needed to use the potty, so we took her to the bathroom and yet she continued to cry and scream. Finally, I asked if she wanted a diaper. That immediately calmed her down, but a second later, she had an accident right next to the toilet. We were able to pick her up and allow her to finish on the potty. Having the accident really upset her, but we talked her through it and let her know it was ok to have accidents and we have been so proud of her successes all day!
Monday was incredibly stressful for me because I didn't know how she would do at daycare. Would she speak up and let the teachers know if she needed to go? Would she do #2 in the potty, which we had yet to experience? However, I had no need to worry as she came home dry and had successfully used the potty twice at school!
Fast forward to now. We have not put a diaper on Abby since last Saturday morning. Abby is wearing training pants at night, but has not wet a single one yet. She has been 100% accident-free since Sunday night. She is able to handle having a bowel movement in the potty without a problem (the first time she hesitated, but when she did it successfully, we gave her a lot of praise and it brushed away her fears). And finally, it took her only 2 days to figure out going when it's convenient (like before leaving the house) versus only going when she feels the need to go, which we have been told - and have read - could takes months before kids figure it out.
We are so proud of Abby for achieving this huge accomplishment so quickly. Paul and I never imagined we could have gotten off so easily!! I think the key was really never pushing her to learn too quickly. Right after she turned two, we bought the potty chair and started to talk to her about using the toilet, but only every now and then. When several classmates at daycare were potty training, she showed interest and actually managed to use the toilet a couple of times. However, as these older classmates move up in class, Abby's interest in potty training dwindled and we didn't insist on her making progress. Around the holidays, Abby moved up to the next class and was once again in a class where several kids were training or were trained. By this time, Paul and I were finally ready to accept that we needed to give potty training a fair try. We were prepared to take many backwards steps in reaching this milestone, but I am pretty sure Abby was so ready by now to move on that she was willing to focus and push through it as soon as we let her.
Dora stickers - the best potty training incentives ever!
Last Saturday, Paul and I decided we had put it off long enough and that we needed to finally brave the Potty Training Test of Parental Patience and Persistence. Even though Abby had been ready for awhile, Paul and I were not. When do we start? How do we start? Where do we find the extra patience? What if we screw it all up?!
Well, we never found any satisfactory answers as the experience seems to be different for every child and every parent. So, we decided to take a deep breath and just go for it! Abby turned 2 years and 6 months earlier that week.
We started Saturday afternoon after Abby's nap. The plan was to try to get her to drink as much as possible and put her on the potty every 30-45 minutes to see if she would go. This would allow her to associate the feeling of going with using the potty. We were armed with both a toilet seat insert (one that fits over a regular toilet, but had handles to allow her a place to hold on) and a "kid-size" potty chair. We gave her the choice of what she wanted to use every time. We watched a lot of Disney movies that afternoon, but saw no results. At dinner time, she finally said she needed to use the potty and we ushered her to the bathroom, but she had a small accident right by the toilet. Less than half an hour later, she had another small accident, but we couldn't get her to finish going on the toilet. Another half hour later, we were getting ready for bed and she said she needed to go potty, so we let her try again and.....success! She was so proud of herself and we gave her a lot of hugs and kisses, plus a few stickers. That night, she went to bed with just training pants.
Sunday morning, she woke up dry and as we were putting on her pair of princess underwear, she claimed she needed to use the potty and again was successful! Keeping her princess dry (as Abby calls it) lasted ALL DAY! At night, we rewarded her by letting her watch the movie, "Up." She loved the movie so much that she wouldn't allow us to pause it for a potty break. Unfortunately, this led to a strange bout of tantrums after the movie ended because she couldn't handle the urgency of having to use the bathroom. She didn't know what to do and ran around the house screaming. We suspected she needed to use the potty, so we took her to the bathroom and yet she continued to cry and scream. Finally, I asked if she wanted a diaper. That immediately calmed her down, but a second later, she had an accident right next to the toilet. We were able to pick her up and allow her to finish on the potty. Having the accident really upset her, but we talked her through it and let her know it was ok to have accidents and we have been so proud of her successes all day!
Monday was incredibly stressful for me because I didn't know how she would do at daycare. Would she speak up and let the teachers know if she needed to go? Would she do #2 in the potty, which we had yet to experience? However, I had no need to worry as she came home dry and had successfully used the potty twice at school!
Fast forward to now. We have not put a diaper on Abby since last Saturday morning. Abby is wearing training pants at night, but has not wet a single one yet. She has been 100% accident-free since Sunday night. She is able to handle having a bowel movement in the potty without a problem (the first time she hesitated, but when she did it successfully, we gave her a lot of praise and it brushed away her fears). And finally, it took her only 2 days to figure out going when it's convenient (like before leaving the house) versus only going when she feels the need to go, which we have been told - and have read - could takes months before kids figure it out.
We are so proud of Abby for achieving this huge accomplishment so quickly. Paul and I never imagined we could have gotten off so easily!! I think the key was really never pushing her to learn too quickly. Right after she turned two, we bought the potty chair and started to talk to her about using the toilet, but only every now and then. When several classmates at daycare were potty training, she showed interest and actually managed to use the toilet a couple of times. However, as these older classmates move up in class, Abby's interest in potty training dwindled and we didn't insist on her making progress. Around the holidays, Abby moved up to the next class and was once again in a class where several kids were training or were trained. By this time, Paul and I were finally ready to accept that we needed to give potty training a fair try. We were prepared to take many backwards steps in reaching this milestone, but I am pretty sure Abby was so ready by now to move on that she was willing to focus and push through it as soon as we let her.
Dora stickers - the best potty training incentives ever!
Saturday, January 16, 2010 |
Category: |
0
comments
Comments (0)