Potty Training Pointers

Well, last night we had a huge breakthrough...Lucy told us she had to go potty, willingly sat down on the potty, and peed IN the potty! Of course it happened at 8:25pm, five minutes prior to bedtime, but we still awarded her with her promised rewards: 3 M&M's, her princess crown, her Cinderella high heels, and she got to watch her favorite nursery rhymes show...This but bedtime behind by about 20 minutes, and she was so wired after our huge celebration and excited praise, but I think it was totally worth it!

She was holding those little M&M's like they were gold! :-)















Today has been accidents all day, no surprise, but I'll take any positive experiences I can!

While Lucy and Jack were happily playing at Mom's Morning Out today, I was happily sipping a latte and reading a book about potty training. I'll share some of the notes I took for any of you who might be able to gain a tidbit or two. I found some helpful strategies to try...

*have your child demonstrate the entire process (pulling down pants through washing hands) on a doll

*dress them in very simple, easy to operate clothing (dresses work great for girls, elastic waists for boys, etc.)

*don't ask them too excessively, "Do you have to go potty?" This makes them question how much control they actually have, and we want them to be learning how to control their bowel movements. (This was particularly good for me to read, for I have been asking her all the time, "Do you need to potty!?! Do you need to potty!?!" in an attempt to hopefully "catch" her when she needs to go. Makes sense how that's actually counterproductive.

*Best way to handle nonperformance: 1) Don't pretend it's okay, but nicely say, "Oh, too bad! I know you wanted to use the potty. It feels yucky to be all wet." Then quickly move on to getting them in dry clothes and letting them help clean up their mess.

*Put cheerios in the toilet and tell them to aim for the holes! I loved this one!

Also loved this tip,
*Put food coloring in the water to make it more fun. (I'm going to try blue and make a science experiment out of it (she loves "Sid the Science Kid" on PBS :-) and encourage her to turn the water green. We'll try that after nap time...

Finally, this one is very helpful to me:
*Remember, it's not forever...When you find yourself upset over an accident or lack of progress, fix a date six months from now in your mind. Assure yourself that by that date, your child will probably no longer have daytime accidents. By remembering how short this hit-and-miss period really is, you can temper your reaction to minor setbacks.

Not that I thought potty training was going to be easy by any means, but I do have to say, I had no idea it would be quite this difficult! And long of a process! I sigh every time a parent tells me how it took their child several WEEKS, sometimes MONTHS (and I know a few people who have been working with their child for over a YEAR! to get this whole PT business down) before they got the hang of it! And the book has said that for at least 6 months after they've begun to successfully use the potty, you still need to bring extra clothes and necessities out with you when you leave the house; accidents are likely to still happen from time to time. GEEZ!

Despite it all though, I still can't wait to have another baby! :-)