It starts.
I make a computer "potty chart." Too bad we don't have a printer. Oh well, I find clip art stars. Buddha seems excited, but only wants one star if he pees on the toilet, not one star for each time. So be it. Whatever motivates you. Here we go!
He starts out half birthday suit, half t-shirt. Strike one. I'm getting wet knees as I try to determine the actual circumference of his urinary "accident" on our carpet.
Taking a deep breath.
He's still semi-desnudo. I'm talking to my brother in Iraq when I hear a little voice, "Mommy, I pooped." Strike two. My heart jumps and my blood simmers. Poop?! Bye bye, Unkey Dino. Relief. It's just another pee trail.
Still breathing...barely.
He's wearing underwear now. He's in quiet time. I emphatically impressed it upon him to call out to me when he needed to pee pee so he could go on the toilet. I hear the door open. No sound. I walk toward the door, hoping for the best, but dreading the worst. He clings to the door handle and looks up at me innocently with pee dripping down his legs. "Mommy, I peed." You sure did. Strike three. I remove the soaked underwear. I find a hidden jewel. Lucky me.
Buddha is on the toilet. I'm cleaning up the flood. Two books later and the water is still crystal clear. Time to get off the toilet. "Buddha," I ask him, "do you want to be a big boy and wear underwear? Big boys pee in the toilet." Silence. He inquires, "Do little boys wear diapers?" Yes. "Do you want to be a big boy or a little boy?"
Three carpet pools later, with nine wet rags, a soaked pair of underwear, and my skyrocketing blood pressure as "excuses," Buddha emerges from his bedroom wearing trusty old Pampers...still my little boy. I surrender. Enough is enough. Have you ever tried this?
14 comments:
No... and I'n not looking forward to it! I watched my best friend potty train her daughter last summer and it was a struggle. But best of luck Liz! You can do it! :)
When I pottytrained Ems last spring, a friend told me to buy some plasic pants that go over the underwear. She still felt when whe peed, but I didn't have any messes to clean up. She hated the feeling of wet undies so much that we were done in just a few weeks. The stickers helped too. Hang in there.
Liz, we are in the same boat. I have been trying with Parker. He is so excited to sit on the toilet but hasn't gone once. He is on the "tommorow plan" as I call it. He always says, "dont worry Mom, I will go tommorrow."
Yo Liz. Not like I am an expert or anything, but this is what I did for Zack. I spent about two days straight letting him wear underwear, except during naps and at night. I took him to sit on the toilet every 45 minutes all day. (we skipped the potty chair, it totally grossed me out to have to clean that thing.) We had lots of accidents but I just cleaned them up and when he would pee in the toilet I would get so excited and praise him. We had a sticker chart, he loooooved putting the sticker on and I also gave treats (smarties). I am all about bribing in this department. He got the peeing down pretty good after a few days, there were still occasional accidents, but that is just how it goes. Each kid goes at his own pace and is ready when he is ready. I also bought Zack underwear that he chose, he loved Buzz LIghtyear and didn't want to get pee on him. Ou major problem was when he would go "number 2" in the toilet. What totally worked for me was I bought (once again all about the bribing!) a toy he really really wanted. In his case it was a Thomas the Train set with tracks and all. I bought it and told him he could have when he could go a week going poopoo on the potty and kept it up in a closet and when he would get on the toilet I would get the box out and let him look at it while he sat on the toilet. He loved it! It took us about two weeks to get it down and then he was so proud of himself when he got it! Hang in there, different things work for different kids. I have to say though, I am not really looking forward to doing it at least two more times!
Yeah, we started when Claire was a little over two years old, and it took over a year before she was
potty trained' and even now we still have accidents!!!! So I am really not the person to ask. Here is what I learned- kids learn when they are ready, stay consistent- once you start, just keep plowing through, and for us, bribing worked. For Claire it was princess polly pockets. It is frustrating as all get out, but I bet Soren will pick up on it quick- just don't give up.
That's funny Liz. We actually cracked down on Crystal for the first time today about potty training. Scott just put the post on our blog telling our story, complete with video clip. At least you're not alone!
I say if he poops he has to wear it all day long. You put a gas mask on.
Let's hear it for being a granny, no potty training to do, well at least until I'm 90 and need to wear diapers myself.
ooohhhh potty training!!! i really think that potty training braelyn was one of the hardest and most stressful things i have EVER done. everyone gives u advice, and nuthin works! it took me three seperate attempts, months apart to get her to go. she was just extremly stubborn! i finally "homebounded" myself for a week and basically lived in the kitchen(tile floor!) good luck!
Sorry I can't help much. Parker pretty much potty trained himself. But from watching Evelyn try to potty train Kai, and my nephew trying to learn, I think it doesn't do much good until they are really ready for it. Good luck. I hope that he can catch on sooner rather than later!
Hey Liz,
I am definitely not at the potty training stage yet, thanks goodness. Right now we're trying to get sleeping down...but I do remember seeing a Dr. Phil show with parents struggling like you and he was able to get their kids potty trained in a day. Here is the link. Don't know if it will work, but I'm sure you're up for trying anything...
www.drphil.com/articles/article/264/
Hey thanks for the link, Ryan! Those sound like good tips, except for the fact that Dan isn't so keen on Soren playing with dolls. :) Just kidding. I liked all the advice and some of it was even new.
I've given up for now. We'll try again in a couple of months. I just think he's not ready. I hear boys take much longer than girls normally, so that's comforting.
I know he'll be potty-trained eventually, so I'm not too eager to create a power struggle over it now.
It seems like it is the time of year to be potty training. It is funny because it is one of my new years resolutions to get Parker using the toilet. He will go sit on it anytime but going is another thing. We did have one success this week! He was so proud of himself. We give him M&Ms when he goes.
Ooops, I realized that the comment I posted showed up as Ryan, but it was actually Kristen. Do you really think Ryan would watch Dr. Phil? Haha. Anyway, just thought I'd clarify. Good luck in the future with potty training and be sure to let us know what worked.
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