So far, potty-training with Caleb is a lot easier than I expected it to be (I know every kid is different). I've heard that it's not something you should try to force if the kid is not ready. That's exactly what I did, so I was worried that this would be "attempt #1". Caleb has sat on the potty since he was about a year old while we would read stories. On the rare occasion, he would actually do something in the potty, but it was all by chance. So Caleb has been comfortable with sitting on the potty for a long time now.
For Christmas, I bought Caleb some "big boy underwear", but once he had a few accidents in them, he would always ask for a "baby diaper" and didn't like the underwear. We persisted with going on the potty several times a day with me trying to catch him at the right time, because he definitely has begun to understand the connection of doing something good yielding a reward.
Once he had a success, he got a sticker on a sticker chart, a small treat, and he could call anyone he wanted to (which usually was Grandma or Grandpa) so he could tell them what he did. This worked really well, and we have now gone 2 weeks of Caleb being able to go #1 in the potty almost every time. We had a few days of regression at the beginning of last week, but he gets very excited to tell me when he has to go. He has started to wake up dry from naps and bedtime frequently as well. (I once heard advice that you don't start potty-training until your child can wake up dry...that definitely would have been a lot longer down the road for Caleb.)
We still have a few more glitches to work out and areas where I would love some advice from those experienced moms who read my blog! We have not made headway on #2, which I have heard from a few different sources is usually mastered first. Caleb will run and hide anytime he needs to go because he knows that I will stick him on the potty if I see him trying to go. I'm not sure why he's scared to go #2 in the potty. Also, Caleb is scared of sitting on the potty unless he has his potty seat which makes going when we're out and about really difficult, and he's definitely too small to stand. Any suggestions on these issues?
4 comments:
Well first of all I think you are SO smart for trying to do this before the new baby comes. That was probably the hardest part for me was having Kylee to worry about and trying to be 100% consistent with Tyler. So if he's ready I would definitely keep pushing it-although don't be surprised if he regresses a little bit when the baby does come. Big changes seem to affect the PT; like when we moved Tyler had some regression even though he's been "trained" for months.
Sorry no advice for going #2. We were lucky in that it only took Tyler about 2 weeks to get over the fear of doing it and once he did he never (and still to this day) had a #2 accident. But I have no idea what it was that flipped that switch in his mind, one day he just did it.
As for taking him in public, Tyler was the same as Caleb. He would not go in a potty that didn't have his potty seat so I took it with me! Which is totally gross, but you do what ya gotta do. I had to do that for about a month and then he was over it and he would go in any potty. I just took the seat part, stuck in a plastic bag and put it in my purse (I have a pretty big bag) and nobody even knew I had it. Anyway, it sounds like you're both doing a really great job, it can be SO stressful so good job!
You are SO smart to get this taken care of before the new baby! Sounds like you're doing everything right. Hang in there and you'll be done before you know it!
Bribery... I mean, positive insentives. Go to the store, let him fall in love with some toy you would usually never buy, then explain as soon as he goes #2 it's all his!
As far as going #1 in public, I always have my boys stand on my feet at the toilet and that usually gets them tall enough to stand and go in public and its better than worrying about the dirty toilet seat. Its nice when they are tall enough to stand. We always had a peepee candy (m&m or skittle) and a poo poo candy (something bigger) and we would reward the kids as they went to the bathroom. As they get better, they forget so we get over the reward.
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