I think I'm ready to start the boys' toilet training. The only thing is, I don't think they're particularly ready. It's not that I'm just tired of changing diapers, or paying for diapers (honestly, I was tired of that when the boys were about three months old*). It's just that we had an incident a couple days ago that made me really wish the boys knew how to recognise the signs and convey to me that it's time to use the toilet. And for some reason, the toilet is great fun to them until it's actually time for business. Then it becomes something scary...
As a side note, part of this story is one of the bits I had wanted to put in yesterday's post, and had forgotten about. I think my subconscious must have been willing me to forget, because it's actually a little gross. Read on, if you dare...
Flashback to bath time, two days ago. Drew and Owen were happily splashing in the tub, when Owen got a look on his face. I asked him if he needed to use the toilet. Of course he said no. I whisked him out of the tub anyway, and onto the Cushie Tushie (I'm really against training potties. I don't like the word potty, and more importantly, I really don't want to have to clean one). He sat there for about two minutes, 'til he looked really cold, then finally said he was done. But he had done nothing. So I put him back into the tub.
Not two minutes later, I noticed floaties in the tub. At this point, I had started feeding Samantha, and didn't really want to put her down, 'cause she'd been losing patience with me not paying attention to her. So with my one free hand I yanked the boys out of the tub and told them to just stand on the bath mat for a couple minutes while Samantha finished eating. They were really good and just stood there, looking into the tub. Then Drew yelled, "Ew! Snakes!" and pointed to the floaties. We all started laughing, though I think for different reasons. Then the boys thought it would be fun to throw bath toys on the floaties. I about puked.
It seemed like eternity, but Samantha finally finished eating and I was able to clean out the tub and finish bathing the boys.
So I guess the point of all this, if anyone is still reading, would be this: how do I start? What are some good ways to get kids more interested in using the toilet? And how do I help them recognise the urges? I just feel a little overwhelmed. I've heard everyone say, "Don't rush it; that will only prolong the process." But how do I encourage without everyone getting discouraged?
*It took me 'til my boys were about three months old to get sick of paying for diapers because up to that point, I hadn't had to buy any. I had a friend give me a couple boxes (as in boxes of packages) for a baby shower present (she worked at the hospital and got good deals), and another friend passed on all the diapers that her kid had grown out of that she hadn't used. So I didn't really have to buy diapers for a couple months. I have awesome friends!
6 comments:
Put a Cheerio in the toilet for the boys to have target practice with. (Little boys love to "shoot things" like that.) Sorry, no ideas for training on number 2.
We've had a few poop soup experiences, but Ashlyn was still nursing so I am sure it only gets grosser as she gets older.
My kids have pooped in the tub before. Super gross. Talk about a Lysol moment.
As far as potty training goes, that's my LEAST favorite thing as a mom. It took me a year to fully train Ethan because he was afraid of pooping in the toilet. It just took time and more patience than I had to get over that. We had lots of underwear messes that made me a very unhappy mom.
Rachel did better because I waited until she was really ready, around age 3, then put her in pull ups for a while until she decided she'd had enough of those. It was a gradual process over about 4 months, but much less stressful because I didn't try to force the undies. I just got all excited when she did go in the potty and we had various rewards.
Each kid is different. I applaud you for even thinking about it with a newborn in your arms. Buy lots of fun books about going on the potty (and it's hard to find ones that don't show a little training potty...I have the same opinion of them that you do), lots of little rewards, make fun charts. That's about all I can give you advice on.
I just stripped Gracie down and let run around the house like a wild woman. As soon as she'd start to pee she could feel it trickle down her leg and that got her recognizing the "urge".
I started around 18 months every couple months I'd try different things. We had a little potty that she used for a couple of days. I just set in in front of the TV and she'd sit on the potty and eventually something would come out. Also, I tried the potty train in a day bit when she was about 20 months old. It didn't work, but I think it helped.
I highly recommend stripping them down, although I don't know what would happen at your house with two little boys running around naked, but the outcome might not be good.
Oh, and I never used pull ups, I think it helped. She as potty trained a week after her second bday. Ok, one more thing. Because she was trained so early she did have accidents pretty often. I think it's worth the occasional accident to just get it done and over with. Ok, sorry for cluttering your comments box, but it's a dangerous thing to ask for any sort of parenting advise.
It's hard work so good luck!
Ewww! I wish I could say that experience NEVER has happened at my house....but it did just a month ago! And Thomas was the first one to get bathed, so I had to clean it all out, scrub the tub, clean Thomas again, and start all over with new water for the other kids. Talk about a pain.
Since you asked about potty training...I have to say that training Rebekah (my oldest) was a NIGHTMARE because she simply wasn't ready. I started her when she was barely 2, read the books about how to do it all...and she did go potty in the toilet - sometimes. She mainly just wet her pants, though. I got frustrated with her a lot, and she was frustrated. Finally when we were packing for a 3 day trip to Texas and I was having to pack 20 pairs of pants, I finally realized that it just wasn't worth it and it had gotten rediculous. So I put her back into a diaper and waited until the next summer when she was 3, and she trained soooo fast that time!
After that lovely experience, I decided that I didn't have the patience to go through it again, so I waited until the kids were older before making it an issue. Michael was 3 when we trained him, and within a weekend he had it completely figured out and had only a couple of accidents by the time he was trained. It was so easy!
Anyway, I don't want to discourage you because some kids and parents are ready earlier and do just fine at an earlier age. However, keep an open mind to the whole training thing, and if it becomes clear that they aren't figuring it out too quick and you are getting burned out from cleaning up accidents...just put it on hold for a while and you may just have a different experience when they're older. Trust me when I say that changing diapers is a lot easier than cleaning up potty accidents! Hang in there!
I would love to start that with Brigham but he has started REFUSING to tell me when he is wet or poopy. I'll ask him "did you go poo poo in your diaper?" and he'll say "NOOOOO! I no go pooo poo in my diaper!" So I think we are a ways off from that. I have already had him go several times in his little potty with success. That has stopped being successfull after only one week. Now when I put him on the potty he says, " I done mama! I just done now!" and he cries until I take him off. So no advice hear. Only a sympathetic ear.
Abba
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