When I found out I was pregnant with Jaraan, one of my first thoughts was:
"Dear, Jesus, I can NOT potty train again!!"
I hate potty training. It takes forever, everyone has their "magic" formulas, and everyone has an opinion about when a child should be potty trained. So my plan with Jaraan was to just wait it out until I felt like he (and I) were ready.
But last week I was tagged in a note on Facebook (which seems so complicated...) by my lovely college friend, Karina who was sharing her experience with potty training. So, I thought:
"What the heck! I should do this."
So, here's what I did, and IT WORKED!
[DISCLAIMER: Now let me just say that I've been very disillusioned in the past by guaranteed methods that just didn't work with my kids. So don't let this experience discourage you if it goes differently for you. I just want to stir up some creativity and share about our weekend.]We had a 3-day weekend and not much to do. So, I kind of blended two approaches and here's what we came up with:
THE ESCAMILLA POTTY PICNIC:
DAY ONE: I had to work in the morning, so we didn't even start until after lunch. Our supplies consisted of:
- LOTS of movies
- LOTS of underwear
- LOTS of juice & a sippy cup
- a vinyl tablecloth (for the floor)
- a potty seat
- candy
- wipes and toilet paper
I started out by stripping Jaraan down naked and planting him on the potty seat. We watched a movie, and I kept filling his cup. Eventually he peed on the potty, and we made a HUGE deal out of it. He got candy (
not as a reward, just like the Pavlov thing), and we kept this going for a few hours. The key was that he NEVER left the tablecloth.
Then I started putting him in underwear and NOT letting him just sit on the potty. I wanted him to get the gross-factor, and he did. As soon as he started wetting, I'd plop him on the potty. If he put more in, we cheered and he got more candy. This kept up for the rest of the night. We skipped naptime, and he went to bed early. By the time he went to bed, he'd pooped and peed on the potty, and he was going to the seat by himself. I put him to bed in underwear and cut out drinks 2 hrs before bedtime.
DAY TWO: I awoke at 5:30 a.m. to Jaraan whimpering in my doorway: he'd wet the bed. It was messy, and he'd left a trail on the carpet where he'd tried to make it to the seat. I was actually glad! He was doing so well all day that I gave him a bit more freedom (I let him off of the tablecloth a few times). He didn't have ONE accident all day long. I did put a Pull-Up on him at bedtime, but he was dry the next morning.
DAY THREE: Church day....Ugh. I was dreading this day. Aaron and I both had to be at both services, so I knew this was going to be tough for Jaraan. There was NO way I was sending him in a Pull-Up. So, I sent him in underwear with plenty of extra in his bag, and I made sure Aaron explained what was going on to his teacher. Again: I picked him up after 2nd service and NO accidents!!
Then we had two parties to attend, though. It got a bit rough here. We had a poop accident, and he peed in his car seat. The circumstances were our fault, though. We didn't give him the opportunity to go. When we got home, we moved the potty seat back into the bathroom. I walked Jaraan to it, and explained that this was where he needed to come to go potty. I kept testing his knowledge all evening, having him lead me to the potty a few times. We also started a sticker chart in the bathroom, just for fun.
SO....where are we now?
MY 2-YEAR-OLD IS COMPLETELY POTTY TRAINED. I'm in utter shock.
Here's what I've learned:
- That pooping takes him longer, and he wants a bit of privacy while he's doing it. I know he has to poop when he repeatedly gets up and down from the potty. So we read books and wait.
- I take the potty seat EVERYWHERE. Going on a big toilet isn't comfortable, and he's already stretching a bit in the "comfort level area." So, I don't mind looking silly carrying around a potty chair.
- In normal life, he will get busy and not listen to his body for awhile. It's my responsibility to make him sit and try every few minutes or so. I also have to pay attention to when and how much he's drinking and eating to help decide when he probably needs to make a trip to the bathroom.
- Don't freak out about the accidents, but remind him that the gross feeling he doesn't like won't happen if he goes on the potty.
And here are the elements I see as keys to our success:
- We hadn't tried yet. It was nice to have a fresh start.
- We blended a few strategies to find what worked for us.
- Staying on the tablecloth was ESSENTIAL. I didn't want to chase him around cleaning pee and poop out of the carpet all day, and the tablecloth gave him that wet, yucky feeling right away. It also gave some stability to the training environment, and the potty chair was nearby so he didn't have to run when he got that feeling. I can't emphasize this set-up enough.
- We started with focusing on the basic concept and then moved on to the more complicated elements (communication, running to the bathroom, etc.). We also made it simple: the whole weekend was about learning to go potty and NOTHING else.
- We were willing to let it get messy. 'nuff said.
- We didn't really talk about the "rewards," we just gave them. So, he learned that going potty on the potty seat is "sweet." :)
Here's my last comment, and I'll be done with potty training forever...sort of. :) Don't be lazy. Don't react to the pressure of that older woman at Walmart saying, "
My baby was potty trained when she was 12-months old!!" But don't go the other way, either, and just figure you'll get around to it eventually. Honestly, I would have. I'm so glad I didn't!
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