Poop goes on the potty{Potty Training 101}

I have Potty Training on the brain. Not only have I talked about it with three different people in the last week.  Asher is starting to do things, that remind me, The diaper days don’t last forever.

 

Sorry folks. There is no overnight miracle for potty training a child(at least not that I’ve heard of), but there are things that helped. Every child is different, as you know. And you can’t really do anything unless your child is ready. To be determined by the all-knowing mother. I am not the potty training whisper by any means, but because of the fact mother’s of boys are terrified to PT because they have heard boys are “so hard to PT” I get asked for tips quite a lot. So, I’ve decided to share some of what worked for us here.

Some signs they’re ready

• Staying dry through naptimes, or bedtime. Every child is going to differ. My oldest never wet at night after training in the day, but my second needed pull-ups at night till this week. He potty trained at 22 months. So obviously, being dry at night wasn’t a sign for him.
• Showing interest in the potty
• Telling you when they go 1 or 2.

I don’t really know a lot of signs , obviously. I more went with the fact the poop was stinky. Ha ha kidding.

What helped us potty train in the shortest amount of time is commitment, commitment, commitment. Once you decided to train, unless your child is absolute freaked out , or you feel their bladder isn’t ready because they can’t hold it at all. Don’t go back. They will be on to your game and feel they can also decided if they are or aren’t going to train. Just like getting rid of a pacifier,  I feel cold turkey is best. It may be helpful to explain diapers are for babies, and pick out some exciting new big kids undies. This can be a challenge. I know, some kids don’t give a flip. For me, it was hard to find something small enough. Since the funky character undies start in 2-3T. Tate trained in the best ever Japanese underwear. Soft, tagless, and SMALL. I might be sending in a request to a friend in Japan ASAP.

• No cheating allowed- Because you are committed to getting er done, you are only extending you PT time when you put your child in a Pull-Up for that grocery store run. Your child might quickly learn they can potty in those without you notching right away, which often times becomes a habit. When they are in a Pull-Up we aren’t typically diligent enough  to take them to potty as often. Before you know it they have wet the pull-up anndddddd……. you aren’t progressing. When they are in plain ol’ undies we are going to  take them now and now is most likey when they need to go.

 

• I set a timer every 15 –20 minutes. Or watch the time if I’m out. I take them before we leave the house and after we get where we are going. It’s a pain and maybe over kill, but when you are consistent the total time training is shorter and you can get back to real life.

 

• Catching them going at least once is key. Once you have done that you get the chance to hoot and hollar and tell them how amazing they are. This is your time to establish a reinforcement that will make it worth it for them to do it again. Don’t flake out.

 

• People often asked. Do I have to stay home for three days? You can, and it might help, but I wouldn’t recommend it. I think you are more likely to lose your patience if you haven’t seen anything but the bathroom tile for three + days. There is no guarentee they will train in that amount of days anyway so why restrict yourself and then be disapointed you missed Sally Sue’s birthday Party to sit by the toilet with your child. I’m not saying it won’t take sacrifices , but allow yourself to live, too. If you can still be consitent while out, I say go for it. Maybe spend one day or one morning to getting initiated, then live life. What's the worse that can happen? I’m sure your child won’t be the first to pee in the produce section. Don’t think I didn't carry a potty ring  hidden  in a huge tote for my child scared of public potty's. There was no way I was going to miss out on Olive Garden to sit at home.

 

• Even boys sit at first to pee. Facing them backwards also helps to keep the pee in the potty

 

•       Keep it positive. If you are stressed and “forcing it” they will feel stressed to and view potty training as stressful.

 

•     Keep books and toys around the potty(seems kind of unsanitary, I know, but it really helps to help them sit longer)

 

• This isn’t bragging this is just the facts, by following these steps(coupled with two ready and cooperative boys)  Keegan was trained in 48 hrs. at 2.5 years. And Tate took about 3 days(with occasionally accidents for weeks after) As mentioned earlier He was 22 months. I don’t know what’ll happen with our lil Asher Man. He is the baby so I really don’t wanna rush to much. But, Um poo stinks ……How weird will it be to be completely done with diapers!   Every time I answer questions and give what I consider a success story on PTing I say “I’m setting myself up for failure and that Asher will be 12 years old and still in diapers” ";-o

{Hey ma, Seriously, I could use some privacy}

Asher was just used for the model. He isn’t PTing yet.

More to come later. This is important. You might think I’m crazy, but I really think tips on what to do with that boy thing when they are PTing this is important. I didn’t have a clue with my first. And it think some tips can save you from what happened to us. Maybe I’m just  a Lune IDK. If nothing else you will laugh at my idiotic idea.

 

Now I leave you with this. The weirdest song about pooping ever. It is catchy(and little gross), you’ve been warned. Watch it HERE Maybe you will at least get a laugh while you are going through the drudgeries of PTing. My friend posted it years ago on MySpace. Oh , and prolly a good idea to not watch any other pooping videos. I don’t want to know what’s out there.

 

Hope this stuff helps. Regardless of your child’s age, I support you, and I won’t judge you even if they’re four, or twelve. Umm maybe if they’re twelve. Okay, I’ll try not to even if they’re twelve :)))