I hope your day is going well! After a busy morning yesterday of rushing out to music class and getting groceries, today we had a nice, relaxing morning at home. It is hard to go, go, go everyday, and after a couple of days of getting up and out of the house early, Keenan usually insists on staying home and playing. So, today, we stayed in and made birthday cards for Nonna and Daddy, since their birthdays are next week and went outside and played in Keenan’s sandbox. When making cards, Keenan did so much better with the glitter this time! I was actually able to contain it all in the cookie sheet (though, I’m still finding bits of glitter on the floor from our last craft day!). It was funny, today, Keenan was all about using the scissors and cutting up paper and gluing it. I found some old kid size scissors a couple of weeks ago and he has been having fun “practicing” his cutting lately!
Birthday cards for Nonna and Daddy!
Speaking of “practicing,” we are still working on potty training. It has been six months since we introduced the potty and started getting Keenan familiar with it, as well as sitting him on it throughout the day, but to tell you the truth, no real progress has been made. When we started the process in August, I was completely naive in thinking that it wouldn’t take longer than a couple of months and Keenan would be out of diapers in no time. Boy, was I wrong! I never anticipated it to take this long. In the first month, Keenan was excited to sit on the potty and would ask to go on it all the time. We wouldn’t force it if he didn’t want to sit on it, we just followed his lead. Now, he isn’t too excited to sit on it and he only goes pee. We sit him on the potty every hour to an hour and a half and for every pee pee that he makes, he gets a stamp on his potty chart (that he gets to do himself) and for every number two he makes, he gets a sticker (though that hasn’t happened yet!). When he is making his “poopy face” (as we call it), we sit him on the potty and he refuses to go, no matter how long he sits on it and how many books we read while sitting there. It never fails that as soon as we put his diaper back on, he goes number two within minutes, UGH!
Reading his “Highlights High Five” magazine while doing his business!
Keenan will be two and a half in a few weeks and I’ve read it is the age when boys start to show real signs of being ready to potty train. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this is the case with him! I feel he is fully ready because he tells us if he went pee pee in his diaper and he recognizes when he is wet, but he doesn’t want to stop what he is doing to sit on the potty. He would rather sit in a poopy diaper and play, than sit on the potty. So, I’m at a loss on where we should go from here. I don’t want it to be a battle; I want him to be excited about going on the potty. But, I’m not sure I can continue with this long drawn out process! I’m ready for him to be out of diapers, especially since we are planning on trying for baby #2 soon. I personally don’t want two children in diapers.
I’ve been reading up on the “potty training in three days” method, the naked or pant less methods of staying home for a week, giving them lots of liquids and keeping the potty close, and I think I’m ready to try one of them. But, at the same time, I’m torn…do I force my agenda on getting him trained as soon as possible? Or, do I continue to go with his lead, which is taking FOREVER? With everything else, such as weaning from nursing, introducing solid foods, I went with his lead, so I don’t want to force him to potty train when he isn’t quite ready.
We are going away to the North Coast for a few days at the end of next week for my husband’s birthday, while Keenan stays with my in-laws (our first time leaving him with someone for more than 2 nights…Eek!), so I’m thinking after our little getaway, I’m going to hit it hard and try one of the methods. So, we’ll see…I’ll be sure to keep you posted!
Questions:
– For all of you veteran moms out there, what worked best for you and your children in regards to potty training?
– Did you try any particular method or did you follow your child’s lead?
-If you used cloth diapers, did you buy cloth pull-ups or disposable ones? We use cloth g diapers, but to make things easier and for Keenan to get used to “underwear,” I’m thinking of getting cloth pull ups or breaking down and getting disposable ones.
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whatever you do, DON’T put him in disposable pull-ups! I’m convinced they elongate the process. They won’t feel wet, and though it’s easier to change at times, it’s no different than a diaper to them. With Noah, I just transitioned him into underwear eventually, and that’s when he started to “get it.” I still had to keep him on a potty schedule in order to keep him dry, because he would never take himself to the potty. But if I was consistent enough about it, just going every 90 min to 2 hrs would keep him dry throughout the day. Naomi was easy peasy, and did it on her own. But she still struggles to stay dry at night. I’m going to tackle that one after her 4th birthday. I’m done with buying pullups, even for that!
Thanks for the tip! I was thinking about just buying underwear, so he can feel the wetness of having accidents in his pants. Pull-ups definitely make changes easier, though! Hmm…maybe we will get some underwear and try the whole three day party training thing (having him wear the underwear except at night) and see if that works.
Unfortunately, for Jake it was a looong drawn out process and we did use disposable pull-ups so it may have prolonged it, but hard to say. We did the potty chart and after 10 stickers he got something from the Dollar Store or the Target $1 section. Then we let him play w/ a specific toy after 10 stickers for 15 min. instead of buying a $1 toy. Those things helped…oh and setting the timer and making him sit on it after every 30 min. or so. Then the pressure was on (on us, not him) for him to be potty trained before preschool started and he was excited to get a backpack for school. I told him if he was clean and dry for (I think) 3 days, then he could pick out a backpack. That’s what finally did it! For my nephew the incentive was going to Disneyland. Both boys were around 4 (no pull ups for my nephew). So he has to be ready and a HUGE incentive may work. Good luck!!!
We are going to move to a big incentive, which we talk to him about at dinner. He loves chocolate milk and asks for it all the time, but it isn’t something we buy on a regular basis. So, we told him if he goes a whole day with dry diapers, making all of his pee pee and number 2’s in the potty, then he will get a big glass of chocolate milk after dinner. I’m not sure if he understood everything, but we’ll see how it goes. It’s worth a try!
A friend’s pediatrician told them it should not be called potty training, but instead “potty convincing.” I think he hit the nail on the head!
Yes, SO true!! I love that!
I feel you on not wanting to compromise routine. I worry that even though it will only be 3 days, I will be trapped and get frustrated. We’re going to try in a few weekends though just to see how it goes. If it works great if not, we’ll try something new. I always try to remember that no Kindergartner ever starts school with a diaper so it’s going to happen eventually 🙂
We are going to do the same thing. If it doesn’t work, we will move on to something else. I try to remember the same thing about Kindergartners, but it is hard to see that far while we are in the trenches, so to speak! 🙂
Good luck mama! Potty training is no easy business. I do have quite a few friends with boys around the same age as my oldest (3-5 yrs) and I don’t believe any of the boys decided that they were ready on their own- which is what their moms had hoped as well! You are a good mom for wanting to listen to his readiness cues, but it seems sometimes they are quite happy living in diapers for eternity (they don’t have the foresight to see interviewing for a job might be awkward in them ;). In fact one of our boy friends was doing something very similar… pee but no poo no matter what. She finally had to draw the line. I know when big sister was close to being fully potty trained but seemed to start to loose interest, I asked a friend with older kiddos that I really respected for some advice and she whispered “m&ms” to me. I was shocked and at that point had given her virtually NO candy to speak of, but we tried one m&m for going on her own and it worked wonders (don’t tell anyone else I told you that though, lol!). I would say to follow your instincts… I think they usually lead you in the right direction 🙂
Thanks, Christy! A friend of mine also did the m&ms and it worked wonders. Like you, we haven’t given candy to Keenan (aside from a piece at Halloween) to and it is hard for me to give in to that, but if it works, I’m willing to try anything! I just wish this whole process would be easier!
Well i don’t have a child so I really can’t add in my two cents, but I can tell you that the photo of Keenan and his magazines is just adorable!
Thanks, Jessie! You are so sweet!
Kayla’s preschool recommended the fast approach and that’s what we used. Said within 2 weeks should be potty trained and she was! We didn’t do a lot of rewards either – just praise for good and were so “sad she didn’t behave” if accident. She loves to please so that worked great in our family. Not to say we don’t have occasional accidents but 95% good. The biggest advice we got from her teachers is once you decide no diapers during the day – don’t go back EVER! We cheated a couple times as easier for special outings, long drives, etc. Ugh. Next days were always full of lots of frequent accidents. 🙁 Don’t give in to that temptation!!
We have tried “beefing up” our incentives in the last couple of days and so far, it hasn’t worked. So, I think after our little trip next week, we are going to stay home, and focus on it for a week with him not wearing diapers. We’ll see how it goes!