A couple of weeks ago the company I work for announced that, as their Christmas gift to us this year, they were giving us half of last week and all of this week off."Oh no!" I shouted when I read the email. "I'll be with my kids for 11 days in a row!" My cubemates howled with laughter. But it's true, I have not spent this much time with L&L since my maternity leave. It's wonderful and daunting all at the same time. I can honestly say I'm glad I'm not a sahm! But it's been great to get this extra time with my guys.
One goal I had for this week is to get Lk potty trained. I know he's ready as he has been giving me indications that he is. I thought I would start with him and once Lm sees what is going on, I could work with him in a couple of months. However, we have had an inauspicious beginning, my friends.
Having NO CLUE how to even go about this, I have tried a number of things. First, I read Lk a book called "Potty Time," and have played the Elmo Potty Time DVD over and over for both boys. (They love watching the video, but not using the potty!) Next I brought out the small potty and talked to Lk about it, then I peed on the regular toilet and had him watch me to get the idea. Then I got him some underwear with little tractors printed on them.
All leading up to the big moment of placing him on the potty and taking away his diaper from now until eternity (eternity lasting maybe 4 hours, as he went through EVERY PAIR of his new underwear in that time without landing a single drop in the pot). At first it was a battle just to get him to sit on the pot, but he finally got that down. Victory came once that day (Saturday) when he peed in the toilet. I lauded him and clapped with glee! Naturally I had visions that we were closing in on success.
But Sunday--no dice. After several loads of laundry and remaking his crib, I was weary and battle-worn, so I decided to let him wear his diaper and take him to the toilet every half hour to try. He only peed once in the toilet. Monday, as he was sitting on the pot, he kept pointing at things around the room for me to look at, so I thought maybe he had stage fright and needed a little privacy to do his business. "Mommy will come back in one minute. You keep trying," I told him and stepped out for 45 seconds.
Then I heard, "Oh no! Mommy! Oh NO!" I raced back in, and Lk was standing in the middle of the room, his pants and socks soaked entirely, and a big puddle on the floor.
I don't want to say I gave up after that, but it did knock the wind out of my sails a bit. Since then, I have suggested to him that we go potty, and he seems all eager to run into the bathroom, but once on the toilet, he just wants to chat.
Everyone I have asked says they either don't remember training their kids or else blithely state that their kid was trained in like 48 hours. Except for my sister, but she has no advice either since her daughter is about on par with my Lk! Now the clock is ticking and I have only 5 more days to get him going...
4 comments:
Oh, I can SOOOOOOOO relate. I've been potty-training Ben for TWO months straight. Granted he's a dog, but the principle is the same. And it's been a rocky road.
Some Ben Tricks:
1. The No Dinner for Mommy Trick--wait til I sit down to eat, after preparing something elegant and time consuming, then Ben runs to the door to "go pee." Of course, I put my fork down and race to assist him only to find that this was a Fake Pee, aka., "I just want to go outside and play." By the time we come back in, the food's cold.
2. The I Don't Have to Go Poop Unless You're not Playing With Me and on the Phone Trick-- He did this one tonight, running into the dark kitchen and pooping because I was on the phone and not playing with him.
Both tricks are probably your kids' tricks as well!!
I can help you here....
STOP now!!!! From what you have written, he is NOT ready. Trying to train a kid who is not ready will only cause stress for both you and him....As a mom and an early childhood major, I am pretty knowledgeable in this area. I can tell you that he is still quite young as most kids are closer to 3 nowadays and boys are especially older as they are more interested in developing gross motor skills like jumping hopping, etc...
Just hold back and wait a few months. He will tell you when he is ready and it will be smooth sailing and with many less struggles.
Kudos to you for trying, but you will just have to hang on to those diapers for a few months more....
(((((HUGS))))) to you both!
Sounds like you are making some progress and LK is getting the idea! If you inform him out how to go about it than he could start to become more interested.
With Hannah, she just started showing interest around 11 months by saying "poo poo" everytime she saw the potty. Than we tell me she wanted to make a poo poo and ran to the potty.
After she started to showing interest, I started reinforcing her behavior. I started saying things like, "Hannah goes poo poo in the potty, not in her diaper like mommy!" Most of all, she really enjoys flushing her business and watching it go bye bye. LOL
unfortunatley, potty training involves a lot of patience, it will come when the time is right.
GOOD JOB MOMMA! ;o)
Kudos to you for trying! My pediatrician says in Europe all kids are trained by their first birthdays. Alas, Sophia is months beyond her third and we are still struggling with the poo poo so I feel your pain. By kindergarten they should all have it down, right?
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