Tuesday, 12 August 2008

• Potty Training Success!

  by Mama Butterfly

  I think it's safe to say that it's official. My 2 1/2 year-old son is potty trained! I suppose he has been for a few weeks, but I was waiting for that dreaded "regression" that so many people have told me about. I thought I'd share my strategy, in case it helps anyone else!

  I have to start out by saying that I absolutely dreaded this task. I had heard horror stories and had been privy to some of them in my own extended family. I had heard that boys are harder to train than girls, and are more prone to bed wetting, etc. From the day I found out I was pregnant, I always thought of potty training as the crown of motherhood, and if you can teach a child to go on the potty, you can do anything! Thankfully, I will say up front that it wasn't nearly as bad or difficult as I thought it would be. 

  We introduced the potty when he was very young. We had a little potty sitting in the bathroom since he was less than a year old, and he was able to sit on it whenever he wanted. We would always sit him on it before bath time, so it wasn't a new thing when we really "dug our heals in." We waited until a week when we didn't have any plans and wouldn't have to leave the house very often. On Monday morning, he woke up, and I told him that his diapers were all gone, so he would have to start using the potty when he had to go. I don't know if he totally grasped what I was saying, but he seemed to get the general idea. I laid towels down on our couch, and left him naked on the bottom half all day (much to his excitement - what is it with males and being naked?). I reminded him to sit on the potty about every 20 minutes or so, and kept really pushing the liquids so that he would have lots of practice. Every time he successfully went, he was able to choose a piece of candy. We used small items so that he didn't have a sugar overload  (i.e. M&M's, Smarties, mini-tootsie rolls, etc). The first day he only had 3 accidents, and the second and third days he only had 2. After the first 4 days or so, he started wearing underwear when we were home and pull-ups when we were out. It also became to be so normal that he just naturally stopped asking for the candy - we didn't offer it and would honor it if he asked, but eventually he just forgot about it. Even if he wouldn't have, I would not have had an issue with just telling him that we weren't going to get candy any more. Once it became habit, I don't think he would have regressed. The only regression we experienced was in the "poopy" arena. About 2 weeks after he was trained, he randomly started going in his underwear. We just let him go naked again and that solved it in about 1 day, because he realized if he didn't have any where to go, he had to go on the potty.

  To sum it up, we found that rewarding the potty training worked well. We tend to be a little more on the strict/discipline side of things, but positive reinforcement seemed to work so much better in this arena. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought, and although I know all kids are different, and this is only my first, I was proud of how quickly he picked it up. It's been almost 2 months now and he hasn't had any accidents in about a month. He doesn't wear a pull-up at night and I'm so proud of him! I thought I'd summarize some of the main things that we found helpful:

  • Positive reinforcement seemed to be really key
  • Introduce the potty early, so it becomes something normal. I think a lot of kids balk because it seems so foreign.
  • Boys (and kids in general) tend to be visual. Allowing him to be naked made him quickly see when he had an accident. It also made him more aware of himself and how his body works.
  • We realized that part of the "poopy" regression was due to him not wanting to take the time away from playing to go. We did end up disciplining him a few times for not going to the potty, because we realized it was a choice he was making, not a true accident. It's helpful to realize the difference!
  • He really wanted to be like Daddy. I've heard that boys tend to be potty trained faster when there daddies are involved because it's helpful for them to be able to relate. It's a good excuse to have Dad be a help, if it's an option!
  • Be patient and realize that they're learning something new! If your child doesn't pick it up right away, give it a rest and try again a few weeks later (this successful attempt was attempt #2 - we had tried about 2 months prior, and we all ended up frustrated, but another month or so really made a difference for him).

  Good luck!

  What age did you start potty training your child? What potty training tips worked for you?

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