All aboard the potty train!
Okay guys - I am looking for any advice you can offer on potty-training - P Day is this Saturday in the Vogler house! I've loaded up little containers of fun doo-dads like car magazines and toy cell phones and . . . well, you get the point . . . for the boys' enjoyment while they sit on their potties. I've got the prize bin of stickers ready for the big reward when "It" finally happens. Any tips you can spare? Thanks!
posted by twinmama @ 12:05 AM
7 comments
7 Comments:
What an exciting big step! They always say it's about timing, when your children are ready. I say it's also about personality! It took forever to find the magic motivator for Jane. Stickers and even candy did not work at first. The prospect of pudding after dinner was what opened the flood gates, so to speak. Also, bath toys the squirted water and "peed in Janie's potty" gave her the idea of what was supposed to be happening! We'd say "Oh, Nemo has to pee! Hurry to the potty Nemo!" It felt like it would never work until one day the miracle happened. So keep making games until the miracle becomes a common event, then lay down the law that pee and eventually poo Only goes in the potty! Peace and patience to you all!
Ditto. This is something that really can't be forced. It may seem like forever before they "get it" or are willing to stop what they are doing to go but it WILL eventually happen. I might also suggest buying a pair of Big Boy Undies with their favorite character on it as the ultimate reward for going x number of days with no accidents. Boys take much longer to train so be patient. Good luck.
I agree with Karen. It's mostly about personality!
One thing is make sure they are FULL and I mean FULL of liquids to the point of bursting it will be much easier this way. Give them a few cups of their favorite drinks. Then keep an eye on them take them around 45min later and check them at short intervals after that 45min. How old are they again? If you don't think they're ready and not getting it don't worry, try again in a few months. Caleb and emily both didn't really get it until they were about two and a half. Also don't forget to buy those big boy undies. those might be a BIG incentive. One more thing to try cheerios. What boy doesn't want target practice while relieving himself?
Hey I must tell you those baby bjorn potties are very tight to sit on. caleb hated sitting on the bjorn potty I kept in my car. He refused to use it. Really I don't blame him the thing was so small it was squashing his penis. So That could play a factor too. I just taught them on the the regular toilet and taught them to be careful not to fall in. And I taught Caleb how to hold his penis down since he preferred sitting instead of standing.
Although it would be good to have a portable potty for when you're out with the boys. I had a childs potty in my trunk. Because let me tell you as soon as you leave are half way to where you need to be and there are no restaurants around they will say, "mom I need to go potty." And let me tell you when a two year old tells you they have to go, they have to go. they normally wait until they're ready to burst to tell you. So I'd pull over break out the potty and have them go. I keep a plastic grocery bag in the potty so I don't have to clean it out. I just pull out the bag and find the nearest garbage can. It's also great for when you're at the park and those GROSS port-o-potties are there.
Both of mine were ready, but not willing. Emily, the one who I was told would be the easiest, was the most difficult. She could and WOULD for her teachers but not for me. She would go both poop and pee for her teachers but not me. I tried all of the tricks. Stickers, taking things away, giving things away. Nothing worked. UNTIL Caleb's 6th birthday party. He had his party at his gymnastics gym. Emily technically wasn't old enough to go out of the floor, but the lady didn't care so she went. Well let me tell you when my daughter had her dream fulfilled to go out on the gymnastics floor it happened. My answer to her was, "the big girls don't go poop in their pants. You can't do gymnastics until your four AND using the potty." After Caleb's birthday that was the turning factor. She has only had one or two accidents since. But let me tell you she was STUBBORN!
Sorry, I could go on and on. I remember those days clearly!
I know I'm the uninitiated here, but I thought I'd chime in from my experience from volunteering at the day care center.
The kids were between 18 mo and 3, and potties were almost always THE Hot Topic of conversation.
Here is what the kids said was important. This is general- every kid has his/her own currency. (I'd say pudding after dinner would work for m, too!) I have no idea if they're parents would agree, but this is what the kids talked about:
1. Big Boy/Girl undies, preferably ones they picked out. The first thing the kids would tell me when they saw me was what they had on. Undies were bigger than stickers, bigger than candy (although that helped, too). Getting to wear those undies is quite the badge to most kids.
2. Comfort. Potties that are too warm, too cold, too tight, too wobbly, too big or too anything else are bad. ***Very***, very bad.
Wobbly seems to be the worse, after tight. Jenn is right on that one.
Oh, yes, and toilets that flush too loud are sometimes scary, too. (A lot of kids are afraid they'll get flushed, too.)
3. Teddy bears (or dolls, or action figures) peeing and pooping. Don't ask me why, but everyone's bear pees in the potty before they do. The play acting is apparently important.
An aside: Everyone Poops is a terrible book if you're an adult, but a big hit if you are 2.
4. Timing. Not the age thing, or the maturity thing, but from the kid's point of view: the actual timing of when to stop doing what your doing and go. It's really hard to figure out, and seems to be as frustrating to the kids as the adults for quite awhile.
OK. Now, as myself. If the boys watch TV, Potty Time with Bear (Bear in the Big Blue House) is really great. It addresses that when to stop playing and GO issue. Most libraries have it.
Oh, yes . . . and if you tell the boys to blow, it helps the appropriate muscles to relax for them to poop. Blowing feathers, or toilet paper helps. Bubbles, if you are brave. Weird, but it works.
One more thing: The Cheerio thing is very popular with boys, but be careful. If one Cheerio is cool, I've heard from the source that 3-4 cups is The Bomb. You might want to talk about that beforehand. :D
GOOD LUCK!!!
You guys are the best! Thanks so much for all the fun reading. I guess that truly is the key, huh? MUST NOT LOSE THE SENSE OF HUMOR! I actually am looking forward to this Poop Party of the Century. Will keep you all posted.
P.S. Kris. Love the blowing bubbles idea. Heather, we've got the Cars undies ready to go when they're ready. Karen, the peeing duck is my favorite. Jenn, we will beware of the too-tight potty!!! Unfortunately, we've only one toilet on the 1st floor for two little hineys. Oh, and the downstairs bathroom is too tiny to fit two boys and one mama all at once!!! Hence the two portable potties. Wish us luck . . .
Well, just an update for everyone:
There are few fundamental truths we learned this weekend:
1. This Will Take Some Time! I think Jayden's more ready than Corban. Unfortunately, Corban's gotten himself into a terrible pattern the last five weeks of withholding his poopies, so he really NEEDS the potty, because then he can't hold it in any more. Sorry to be graphic, but let's just say the first time he sat on the potty, there was so much poop that it plugged the toilet going down! Poor kid!
2. After just one run with Corban standing and spraying his fire hose around our dining room (despite our frantic attempts to help him sit down,) we have taken apart the built-in shower in the downstairs bath and created a potty spot for the boys where there are no hardwood floors or tables to splatter on!
3. It's much easier to have TWO parents around when two boys are on the potty at once - both trying to stand up and poop and pee all at the same time - phew!!! I may have to invest in some really good rain gear. Wish me luck!!!
Thanks to all for the support. Hopefully, a year from now, we will at least have SOME of the mechanics down and be making some progress! :)
Regarding point #1, I can only say that flushing 5 times is better than backing up the toilet once. :)
Matt
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