I knew I was quickly approaching my 500th blog post. Here it is. I have nothing fantastic or fascinating planned. Actually I got on to talk about our potty training efforts, then realized it's my 500th post. Isn't my life glamorous?!!
Several of you commented about the potty training from my last post. I knew I'd have to say more about it, because most mothers want to know. It's a thing that we all go into not really knowing what we're doing. I honestly haven't met a mother who doesn't sweat potty training even a little bit.
We are not doing anything too special right now. We've had Zachariah sitting on the potty off and on for over a year. He didn't have too many successes, but he knew what it was for and what to do there.
About 6 months ago we started pushing it harder. He went poop on the potty for several days in a row. But we couldn't get him to pee on it. Then we hit a stand still. Zachariah just decided he wasn't having that anymore, so that was it for a while.
I haven't given up. I ask him several times a day if he needs to use the potty. For months and months, he said no. Most times he got mad and flat out refused to even try. I knew at that point it was futile to push him.
About 2 months ago, I decided to start trying harder with him. On days that he would allow it, he wore underwear and tried going in the potty. There were a few random successes, but mostly I just washed a lot of training undies.
We use these training pants with a liner over them. That way if he has an accident, he feels it but it's not wetting through all his clothes. And they are both washable.
The week of Christmas Zachariah was using the potty with success now and then when he felt like it. We were very proud of him. I took our potty chair along on our Christmas vacation. I thought he'd like going potty at Grandma's. But he didn't. He spent plenty of time sitting on the potty while he suckered aunts and grandparents into reading to him while he sat there. I think he just wanted the attention. Other than one pooping success for Grandpa, he didn't do anything. So we called that a fail.
Since we came home, he's wanted to sit on the potty a lot. And here is the shocker...he's peeing almost every time he tells us he wants to go. Hurray! Today he spent most of the day in undies. He put them on when he got up in the morning, then we did a pull up for nap time and diaper for bedtime. He only had 1 (one!!) accident all day. Otherwise he went potty on his own. I've just been shocked. I think something just clicked for him, and he's now peeing in the potty.
Most of this has been a lesson in patience. As much as we wanted him to use the potty, he had to decide to do it on his own.
We are by no means finished. One successful day may not mean much. I worry about church tomorrow, and I also don't know how he'll handle errands and tutoring when we're not home. But we'll get there.
Jana was asking about potty training a boy. Woo, this has been an adventure. I need advice from the rest of you in this too. So far we are just sitting on the potty for everything. He's using a training potty, and we have to use the cup in front for him. He has some interest in standing up to pee, but he won't aim his pen1s. Unhelpful. So when he wants to try to do it standing up (not often fortunately) I must help him with that.
This makes it difficult to take him potty when we're not home. To sit on a regular potty he has to use both hands to hold himself on it, then he can't aim "it" down. I get that job. I'm thinking it would be helpful to have a foldable potty seat for errands and such, but that doesn't help with the aiming thing (none seem to come with a cup for boys).
So here's what I'd like to know from you. First of all how do you teach boys to pee standing up? And how can I get him to understand he must hold it down for now in public restrooms? I am the oldest of 3 girls, my mom is not helpful in this area. This boy thing is new to us. Any more helpful hints and tips for where we are now?
That's all folks. Sorry I don't have any great wisdom.
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6 comments:
Congrats to Zachariah for a successful day! My boys learned to pee standing up after a good while of consistant sitting. Eventually they learn to balance and point it down but it takes a little while. I usually try to get them to open their legs a bit wider while sitting and then lean forward so that it kind of point down itself. They have both just decided to learn to do it standing up on their own. When they were ready for that stage though we would put cheerios in the toilet and have them try to hit the cheerio. Good luck!
I just have a moment...
We put our boys backwards on the potty for a while. Then they got old enough to stand on a stood and pee, standing up, with help from one of us. My oldest is four and he is almost ready to do it alone, but I still am not ready for that! Baby bjorn makes an awesome potty seat (that goes on the big potty)that is made for boys, its all one piece but the front is up further then the seat. Then it all goes in the potty!!
d learned sitting down and then D taught him how to do it standing. Now he usually stands, but he's been trained for nearly a year (with some backslides).
Thanks for posting about this...I'm feeling a bit more confident about it, but I think we'll hold off on the heavy duty training until summer (and mother's day out is over). I'm hoping he'll get the hang of it like Zachariah. How exciting to be rid of diapers (for a while at least).
You'd think I'd have a little wisdom in this subject being in my third go 'round, but I don't. Well, maybe I do, but I still feel inadequate. Here's my 2 pennies for what worked for my first two boys.
As for standing up, my boys went to standing almost as soon as they were consistently using the potty (within about 2 weeks). At home, we used a stool for them and when we went out, we accompanied them and held them up over the toilet. That worked just fine for us until they got tall enough to it all themselves.
Starting out, we have always done "n@ked training". We strip them down from the waist down and watch them like a hawk (you can almost always tell when they are getting ready to go if you are watching close enough). When they start to go (on the floor, no less), we say "Wait! Let's go to the potty!" and run them to the potty. We're on day 3 with M-A and so far he's spent most of the day in diapers today because we had church and shopping and a family thing. We'll start back full-on tomorrow. So far he's had a few more successes than accidents, so it's going well, I think.
IMHO, I think "n@ked training" is the quickest, easiest way to get a kid trained, but it's also the messiest. We had carpet for the previous two, but I didn't worry about it because we were planning on replacing it. Now we have laminate through most of the house and M-A's not allowed in the carpeted rooms.
Most importantly, don't get stressed! And find what works for your family. This process is just like any other in parenting...no one thing works for everyone! AND keep in mind that they will be potty-trained sooner or later! :)
We are approaching the time to potty-train...my son has shown some interest and will go on the potty but not with any consistency. Thanks for sharing your experience- it's good to read the advice!!
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