I’m A Push-Over And Potty Training Is Confirming It
I wrote a post last weekend about how naked potty training doesn’t work. I was wrong. Potty training while being a total pushover doesn’t work. All I have to do is change my whole personality, and I’ll have this potty training thing down.
Many of you readers gave me a ton of great advice. It mostly fell into two camps; really commit to it or maybe he’s not ready. I think I wanted to believe the latter, because I hate pushing my child. But after a few days of really committing to the process – I think he’s getting it.
I totally believe that a child may not be ready to potty train and you probably can’t force him to. In our case, my child showed an early interest in the potty, than regressed when we made a big move. He knows how to use it. He knows it’s where he’s supposed to go. But after a few months of just half-assed trying to get him to take to it, it was becoming more of a chore – one that he didn’t want to do.
Once we really committed to it – as in, didn’t give him any other options – we started seeing massive improvements. So, if any other readers are going through this right now, I wanted to share the advice that helped us the most this week.
First of all, I was making the mistake of trying to guesstimate when he needed to go, and then making him sit on the potty. Wrong. That strategy was completely wrong for us. He would just get frustrated, not pee and his little cheeks would be sore from sitting on the pot. The kid is stubborn. He can really hold it. Instead, I started paying attention to the “cues” everyone talks about; they’re not subtle. He pretty much grabs himself and starts looking really uncomfortable. That’s when I would rush him to the pot – and that’s when my push-over self was challenged the most.
He would inevitably start to whine and cry. About two minutes into this, I of course would say, Oh, he sounds like he’s in pain. Let’s take him off, to which my husband would reply, Get away from him, Maria. If you can’t stand listening to him, go somewhere. I stopped rescuing him from the potty – and he started going. He’s gone several times a day for the past 3 days. We’re not at the point where we’re ready to ditch the diapers yet, but there has actually been huge strides.
Other great advice – put an accessible potty in the living room, salty foods, and lots of fluids. The Yo Gabba Gabba underwear and Angry Birds stickers are helping, too. I’m not saying the above will work for everyone; all kids are different. I just wanted to say thanks, everyone and pass along the advice I think got us there. The biggest piece of advice – a little crying and whining isn’t the end of the world. Don’t be a sucker like me.
(photo: chippix/ Shutterstock)
