*If you don't like reading about potty training & all that goes on with it, then this post is not for you.
Yesterday was supposed to be the beginning of potty training. I had gone shopping with Shaylin & let her pick out her own big girl underwear, set up her Elmo potty in the living room, & covered the love seat with trash bags & a sheet (that's her tv watching seat). I was nervous about the extra work it was going to give me when I'm already caring for a toddler & a 9-week-old, but I was so ready to get her out of diapers. She's still in cloth diapers & I'd really like to pass them on to her baby sister.
It started fine. She was excited to pick out the pink pair of undies. At first she wanted shorts too but I just said she wasn't wearing shorts today & she was fine with that. This girl really prefers having clothes on, something her daddy couldn't be happier about.
My plan was to have her sit on the potty every 30 minutes. She drank a lot of milk with her breakfast & then started drinking a lot of water. I've always felt that if she could just actually pee in the potty & see the praise she would get for us she'd pick up on it real quick. She's a smart kid! So I was hoping that keeping her bladder full would cause her to pee in the potty at some point.
But an hour into it she had her first accident. There were a total of 4 #1 accidents & 1 #2 accident, all before 12:30. And that's when I decided to call it quits for the day.
I still think mentally she's ready or at least almost ready. She's been able to tell me when she needs to go #2 for a while now & then tells me after she's done it too. But I'm thinking physically she's not there. She doesn't seem to get how to make her body do this stuff. And she apparently doesn't know the sign of needing to pee & to hold it till she's on the potty.
She's also an extremely heavy wetter at night. So bad that I finally decided to put her in disposables just for nighttime because I was tired of her cloth diapers soaking through her pajamas. I just couldn't stuff those diapers enough to make them that absorbent. But even yesterday morning her diaper was so heavy & that was after not having anything to drink after dinner. So I can't imagine how nighttime would have been since I wanted to still keep her in undies at night, too. Between that & Jillian still waking at night I wouldn't be getting any sleep!
I know I'm not a failure but I still don't like to quit something. What doesn't help is when you read up on developmental milestones for 2 years old, potty training is on the list as one of the things most 2 year olds start to do. So I think it makes moms feel like they have to get their kids potty trained before they turn 3 or else their kid is developmentally behind. That's just not fair! Some kids are ready sooner & some just aren't. It's not fair to the kid to force them to do something they just aren't ready to do. I don't make Jillian walk because she's not ready to walk (wouldn't that be amazing to have a walking 2 month old?!).
My plan for now is just to casually potty train. She's already been used to sitting on her potty before she takes a bath. So I'm going to add in some other times. This morning I had her sit on it after she got up. Then I'll add in other times like after naps or after meals. But she'll still be in her cloth diapers. If she can show any better signs of being ready, I'd like to try again in August. We have family that will be in town through the month of July which will have us away from the house a lot. I'd also like to give it a try while it's still hot since I want to still go the route of just undies & a shirt. Good thing Texas summers last so long!
Until then I'm going to focus on the things she can do. She may not know how to use the potty yet but she can speak in clear, complete sentences, does some crazy stunts on our king-size bed, & can eat better than some adults!
I have a very smart girl, too. She understood but she wasn't ready. Emphasis on the SHE! When Shaylin is ready, she'll do it. People kept telling me that and I'd get really frustrated saying, "but she gets it!" But it's true. When K was finally ready to just do it, she did. And I found that she did better when I didn't nag her. There's my two cents. I also tried it right after my second was born. It was a lot, but I was fine with that. Also, on the nighttime thing...we're still in pull ups at night. There's a lot of change in our lives (and Shaylin's too with the new baby), so let her adjust to that.
ReplyDeleteThere's my two cents. :)
We've been casually training and let Eliza lead mostly. She turned 3 in April and still isn't too interested. I gave it a go "for real" one day and we just couldn't make it work. She is physically ready and capable, but she doesn't WANT to, so for the time being we'll stick it out with diapers. I figure it's not worth the pain and agony if she's not ready. You're not a bad mom. Sounds like you made a good effort. :)
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