Going Potty
This picture is from Cateyesccj’s blog at http://cateyesccj.wordpress.com/2008/03/10/blog-that-interest-me-this-week/.
Help! I’m currently trying to potty train my daughter. I think I jinxed myself because we tried this when she was about a year and a half. We just put the potty in the bathroom in case she was interested and so she’d get used to it. The first few days, she used it! She actually went. And of course, I had to say, “She’s going to potty train herself. I won’t need to do anything. Why do people make such a big deal out of this? It’s easy.” That’s also what I said when I first took her home from the hospital and she slept through the night. “Why do people complain. It’s not bad at all.” She didnt’ sleep again for three months, so karma did come back to bite me.
Anyway, the problem with potty training now is that she has no interest in it. I ask her if she wants to go and she says no. I ask her why. She just doesn’t like it. I tell her to tell me the next time she has to go and we’ll use the potty. Nope. And we even bribe her! A few M&Ms when she goes. She always asks to use the bathroom after she’s gone in her diaper.
I found a guide to potty training at the Mayo Clinic website and there is a checklist for potty readiness. One of the questions is does your child understand simple questions and can he/she tell you when he has to go to the bathroom? Peanut can understand complex questions, give complex answers, she knows when she has to go. She just does not choose to.
My quandry is whether to make her. Like enough is enough already. Or just continue to encourage - bribe - her until she does it on her own. I’m fine if she has accidents or doesn’t make it to the toilet in time. But I want her to at least try. The Mayo Clinic also gives some tips. If you want to check them out, click here.
What are you doing that gets your child to go to the bathroom? Treats, bribes, regularly scheduled bathroom breaks? Yelling and screaming? (Just kidding - I don’t want Peanut to need therapy when she grows up.)
May 2nd, 2008 at 7:59 am
Alright, here’s where I come across as a bad parent. For both of my children, I had to eventually get a little mean about potty training. They were over 2. *I* knew that they were ready to potty train and so did they, they just didn’t want to. I think a lot of parents let their child stay in diapers because it is “easier”. Trust me, its easier to not have to deal with diapers entirely.
With both Toad and Babygirl, I did a sticker chart, ect. After awhile of this, when I knew they had the concept and were ready to move on, we went naked. Seriously! You’ll find that most children do not like to mess when they are naked and will run to use the potty.
I swear - it works. There was one time for both children when, in a power struggle, they tried to pee on the floor. They got disciplined and it never happened again.
My biggest tip? Once you start DO NOT STOP. Buy some underwear that you don’t mind getting wet, and do not use pull-ups - pull ups are just easy to remove diapers that don’t work. Seriously.
Buy some undies and watch the first time Peanut wets herself…she’s a smart chicken, she’ll get it immediately.
Good luck!! I’ll drink some Crank2O for ya
May 17th, 2008 at 9:17 am
Just a thought.
Think like a caring, but unworried about how the kid will turn out grandmother, that might work during the process.
For instance, how about providing a surround-a-privacy screen which provides the ability to see-through, but gives the child a more independent feeling?
My grand-daughter is at the stage where she’s interested in the potty - when she’s interested (age 2). She ’sat’ on the one we have - then up - looking in there - and down - up and down - for 10 minutes. Just a week earlier, she wanted no part of it. She has one at home, too, and it’s the same routine, so far.
We’ll have to see what comes next, keeping in mind that crucial feeling of independence is the ‘reward’ necessary to motivate the consistency during the training process.
May 22nd, 2008 at 3:41 pm
We live in a split level so you can imagine it’s pretty hard for a little kid to negotiate the stairs and make a run for the bathroom. We picked up some discreet little potty seats from Ikea (about $4/ea) that we hide away in corners. My child is bribed, a jelly bean for number one, a few for number 2… after her hands are cleaned, that is.