Well wow. Either kids have changed, or everything else has! I had the simplist time toilet training my brother and sister, and really didnt use a potty with either of them. But my son is a different story altogether.
Firstly, He isn't yet two. This has desperately increased the
need for a potty until he learns to tell us in time to plonk him on the loo. Well, we went out and spent 50 bucks on the awesome potty that made majestic music when you sit and/or do something on the potty, usign light sensors. Well Liam wasnt quite as ready as he appeared and the batteries went flat before he could really use it. He loved sitting on his potty and having a read or a drink. and he would stay there for ages. But the instant he got up he would pee. not once, but anywhere from 3-6 times in the next ten minutes. We gave up with the move and all and waited until we were settled in before beginning again.
Again the same thing with sitting on all day reading and peeing like you wouldnt beleive when he got off. We had bought about 20 pair of 'big boy jocks' for him, and went through the whole lot of them in a day. Very frustrating for daddy, i must say. Eventually, he started doing wee on his potty. We introduced a reward chart (Potty train from childavenue.com) in which he gets a star for each time he weed on his potty. When he was able to tell us he needed to wee BEFORE he actually did it, he would not only get the star on his chart, but he would get a small lolly like a jelly bean for the first few times of doing this, regardless of whether he made it to the potty on time or not. This is because we have opted to focus and reward PROGRESS. Whenever he does something new and makes some progress he will get a small lolly the first few times. When his chart has been filled he gets a small choccy as a reward.
I know there are some who preach about not making a big deal and rewarding (some even say bribing) with regards to potty training, but each to their own, this is what worked for us.
Liam is now filling his chart with stars in around 2-3 days, and in the past few days has made some very solid progress. He can now for the most part tell us he needs to wee and get to his potty on time. He has also managed a poo or two in his potty. Sometimes he ggets on his potty and the first we know about it is when he brins the tray part out of his potty to show us his wees. He now has the downpat routine of alerting mum or dad he has done wee, mum and dad checking ( a few false alarms here and there) and then he follows us to the toilet, where his wee (or poo) is flushed, then to the bathroom to wash otty tray and hands, back to kitchen to spray some disinfectant into potty tray, pick out a star (LIam loves to choose his stars and even is able to pull some of them off the paper, also learning his colours through this excercise). We always tell him specifics as to why he is getting his sticker- your getting a star even though your wee wasnt in the potty because you tried REALLY ard to tell mummy and daddy before you did your wee.
Any messes he makes he cleans himself (unless poo). He doesnt even notify us anymore, the only way we even know its happened is that we hear him talking to himself when cleaning (mess.... towel... yukk...scrubby...clean...wash). Poo he starts saying (very loudl;y) POO!POO!! and then we put the poo in the potty, then flush etc. he is told that while it was good he told us about the poo he doesnt get the sticker because he didnt tell us he needed to do one and it wasnt on his potty. He understands this, even at his young age, and although sometimes disappointed, and even rather upset as he IS trying, he accepts this as what goes.
All in all we are very proud of how we are progressing.
We often let him run around nude if we arent expecting anyone. Why? he loves his big boy jocks and gets very upset when he wets them. He loves to wear them, and we let him whenever he likes, but some days he asks for a nappy. I beleive this is due to stress, not that we are putting pressure on him (at least i hope we arent) but just from the hard work he is putting into it. instead of letting him have his nappy we let him go nude in the backyard, where mess dont matter. We also say its ok to make messes as he is still learning and we are still proud of him. I find by removing the potty for the day leaves him less anxious and refreshed the next day.
I still personally trhink nude is best for beginning. Why? Underwear gets in the way.
Children first have to learn the feeling of needing to go to the toilet, and at first this oftne the second before they wet themselves. It can be heartbreaking to watch a child cry because they just werent able to get their underpants off in time. it adds more stress than is needed for such a difficult learning experience and should really be avoided if you havea sensitive kid.
Liam is at the stage where he can get his jocks off quite often in time, and so nude is only necessary when he gets a bit overwhelmed.
THen theres the new trend i have read about in a few books. The training from birth thing. Apparently, some people in Asia start training from the day their baby is born, holding rthem over a pot or a tub to catch anything. This leads to completely toilet independant (no assistance at all) children by the age of two. While it sounds fantastic, i dont find its practical for my family. If anyone has done this successfully i would be really interested to hear about your experience.
In the end it comes down not so much as to what suits you, but what suits your child.
(December 2007) (
