Going Potty on Their Own is a Lie
Potty training sucks. Plain and simple. It is one of the hardest milestones for both parent and child. Rolling over on their own, pulling themselves up to sit on their own, standing on their own and walking on their own - do you hear the "on their own" in all of those? Well going potty "on their own" is a big fat lie! Eventually it is true but in the beginning it's nothing but a deceitful twist of the truth....especially if you have a child who acts like they plan to graduate college still wearing their diaper. "On their own" doesn't start until the accidents completely stop and even then you still have to remind them to wipe, aim, flush, wash their hands, etc...
Between the constant reminders and questioning of "do you need to go potty" every 15 minutes until your questioning is added to the rest of other parental questions and instructions that become nothing more than white noise as it enters your child's ear canal, you find yourself having to drop whatever it is you're doing, even if you are the one who really has to go, and run your child to the nearest potty so they can strip all their clothes off, and why they insist on being completely nude is beyond me, and sit on this little potty seat and listen to you read for the hundred time the "Potty Book" or sing songs like "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" on an indefinite repeat. ... Hold on.....
Ok- even writing this I had to go take my tot to the bathroom so she could pee.... Where was I? Oh yes! You take them and half the time, sometimes it's more like 90% of the time, they already went in their diaper/pull up, they don't actually have to go but they just love seeing how you drop everything and think it's a game or in my case, they just need to fart....
You can find all sorts of advice for potty training in books, online, from other moms- there's even DVDs you can watch with your child about using the potty, complete with choreographed dance routines for the toddlers to do to get excited about going potty. The ideas are endless! So here's a few....
- a potty chart for logging when they go with stickers
- letting them pick out their own potty seat. We opted for the kind that sit on the regular toilet instead of the little sized toilet that you put on the floor as the idea of having to rinse pee or poop out of a bucket grossed me out
- letting them pick out their own pull ups or underwear.
- letting them soil themselves in their new underwear, which "should" gross them out
- a prize box they can pick prizes out of when they do go
- putting Cheerios in the toilet for boys to practice aiming at
- putting those blue tablets in the toilet tank that turn the water blue so when they pee the water turns green; they think it's magic
- setting a timer to go off every 30, 45 or 60 minutes and making them go try every time the timer dings
- constant reminders of "fun" things only big kids who go on the potty get to do like ride a school bus, spend the night at a friends or go to big kid school, etc....
- potty training kids books and DVDs
But most importantly- stay consistent and stay positive. Be your kids cheerleader. Make anyone who is around when they come out of that bathroom after a successful try a cheerleader too. They need to feel like what they did is the greatest thing in the world. It's a lot of work on the parents' behalf but the reward of no more diaper changes is definitely worth it. Don't get discouraged if it's taking more for your child than someone else's. Every child is different. My oldest started potty training on her own at a year old, my son wasn't wearing regular underwear until the weekend of his 4th birthday and my youngest is 3 and has finally started showing real progress- so what if she is eating a big chocolate chip cookie for breakfast? She woke up dry and then peed in the potty and that's totally something that warrants a cookie breakfast in my book....
Between the constant reminders and questioning of "do you need to go potty" every 15 minutes until your questioning is added to the rest of other parental questions and instructions that become nothing more than white noise as it enters your child's ear canal, you find yourself having to drop whatever it is you're doing, even if you are the one who really has to go, and run your child to the nearest potty so they can strip all their clothes off, and why they insist on being completely nude is beyond me, and sit on this little potty seat and listen to you read for the hundred time the "Potty Book" or sing songs like "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" on an indefinite repeat. ... Hold on.....
Ok- even writing this I had to go take my tot to the bathroom so she could pee.... Where was I? Oh yes! You take them and half the time, sometimes it's more like 90% of the time, they already went in their diaper/pull up, they don't actually have to go but they just love seeing how you drop everything and think it's a game or in my case, they just need to fart....
You can find all sorts of advice for potty training in books, online, from other moms- there's even DVDs you can watch with your child about using the potty, complete with choreographed dance routines for the toddlers to do to get excited about going potty. The ideas are endless! So here's a few....
- a potty chart for logging when they go with stickers
- letting them pick out their own potty seat. We opted for the kind that sit on the regular toilet instead of the little sized toilet that you put on the floor as the idea of having to rinse pee or poop out of a bucket grossed me out
- letting them pick out their own pull ups or underwear.
- letting them soil themselves in their new underwear, which "should" gross them out
- a prize box they can pick prizes out of when they do go
- putting Cheerios in the toilet for boys to practice aiming at
- putting those blue tablets in the toilet tank that turn the water blue so when they pee the water turns green; they think it's magic
- setting a timer to go off every 30, 45 or 60 minutes and making them go try every time the timer dings
- constant reminders of "fun" things only big kids who go on the potty get to do like ride a school bus, spend the night at a friends or go to big kid school, etc....
- potty training kids books and DVDs
But most importantly- stay consistent and stay positive. Be your kids cheerleader. Make anyone who is around when they come out of that bathroom after a successful try a cheerleader too. They need to feel like what they did is the greatest thing in the world. It's a lot of work on the parents' behalf but the reward of no more diaper changes is definitely worth it. Don't get discouraged if it's taking more for your child than someone else's. Every child is different. My oldest started potty training on her own at a year old, my son wasn't wearing regular underwear until the weekend of his 4th birthday and my youngest is 3 and has finally started showing real progress- so what if she is eating a big chocolate chip cookie for breakfast? She woke up dry and then peed in the potty and that's totally something that warrants a cookie breakfast in my book....
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