OK, you all know that Jack has shown signs of readiness for potty training for awhile. I put it off a few times, first because it was Thanksgiving, then because I was sick, and finally I realized there may never be a "right" time to start, so we dove into it.
After much reading, and lots of advice, I decided to go with the naked approach. Basically, it means Jack goes completely naked from the waist down for 3 days to help him through the process. We began during the long New Year's weekend. It started out great. We had only a couple of accidents and Jack was doing very well. Stuart was shocked and couldn't believe this might only be a 3 day process. After a day and a half, however, Jack was doing so well that he realized he could stand up and pee anywhere. After him peeing in his dump truck, the storage compartment of his bike, and finally opening the back door to pee onto the patio, we realized we were too distracted with other things to give it the proper attention, so we decided to wait a week and try again.
Well, I am still struggling with this. The plus side is Jack loves that he gets more naked time. He does great when he is naked, but when he wears underpants, he pees in them, and then gets upset. He has also taken to holding it in when he has to poop, so that isn't so good either. So, we are still trying, but slowly now. He absolutely knows what to do, but I think he is just too easily distracted. (Anyone who has spent more than an hour with him knows what I mean.) Yesterday, I promised to buy him a big tractor if he stopped using diapers and instead used the potty all the time. He said "no."
I welcome any and all suggestions!
5 comments:
I love the photo - too funny!
With Mel, we had her wear only pants (absorbent ones) and we used an egg timer and went potty every 20 minutes for a couple of days and then graduated to every 40, 60, 120, etc minutes. Eventually she started to tell us and we faded the timer. If she had an accident she would cry (she hated the pee running down her legs) and she got a bath. But we tried really hard to reward her for going. It was a tough MONTH, but I am glad she is trained and that it's over! I have read at least three potty training book and they all stress having the child use the toilet independently - meaning that Jack would pull down his own pants, sit by himself and dump his urine in the toilet, flush etc etc. We didn't let Melanie do everything but her own toilet was very helpful.
Sorry for the long post.
I am finally potty training Evan this week. Things I have noticed: when I let Evan be naked (which he loves) he pees wherever. When I make him wear underwear he wants to pee in the toliet because it's not fun to pee in underwear (which he quickly learned). Just like Becca, I use a timer. I give him LOTS of liquids and make him try to go potty every 15 minutes. Every time he tries (whether he pees or not) he gets a trea. I also bought 2 bigger items. He got the first one when he pooped on the potty (which he finally did today - he was waiting until bed time when I put on his diaper and would poop then - he HATES the pooping on the potty). He will get the other item when he has dry underwear for 2 days.
I potty trained Alex when he was 2 and it was a LONG process. And he had MANY accidents. With the other boys I've waited until they were 3 and it's much smoother. With Ben and Max it took me 3 days and neither had accidents. It's been 2 days with Evan - it was rough at first (he's LOVES diapers) but today it seemed to click.
Good luck!
I meant treat, not trea. Sorry!
I agree with Sheri about waiting until they are older. I tried potty training Joe when he was 2. It was a constant struggle and he never got it. He knew what to do. He just refused to do it. Potty training is a battle of wills where the kid will always win. THEY control when they go. We finally gave up and when he was a month from being three, HE decided it was time to go on the potty. He only had 2 accidents ever and once was because we were at the park and there were no bathrooms.
Good luck.
Thanks for all the tips! I like the reward ideas and making him do more himself. I don't think we need a timer because Jack definately knows when he has to go and will go sit on his potty by himself. After reading your comments and talking to a friend, I think he might just be too easily distracted right now.
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