Potty training is a messy business. No fun. Not any fun is had at all... by anyone. And I've read all of those helpful how-tos on training your child in JUST ONE DAY! Doesn't work for me. Nope. That doesn't mean it hasn't worked for many super moms out there, just that I couldn't get it to work for me. And here is why... I'm not a super mom. I'm more along the lines of your average regular-old-do-my-best-from-day-to-day kind of mom. I need something that works for me. Not super mom.
To be clear, this is not a how-to. In fact, I don't even have much in the way of advice. I only have a few tidbits that I've noticed in my personal trials of keeping the pee in the porcelain throne, as opposed to in pants, on floors, and anywhere else unpleasant you can imagine.
First and foremost... It doesn't matter how old your child is. Doesn't matter. Throw all the age nonsense right out the window right now. It's either going to make you feel behind, or make your child feel inadequate. Not a recipe for the win column. Every child is different. I repeat... every child is different.
I know it's not a new concept, but I surprise myself constantly that I still compare how my kids are doing, with some other kid. They're not the same kid. They are different, so they are supposed to be doing things differently. It's my new momma mantra.
Second thing you've already heard a thousand times. They won't be ready, til they're ready. You can compare lists of what you're child is accomplishing all you like, but the hard truth is this... no one will know you're child is ready better than you. You can jump start it all you like, but until your kid is ready, you're just going to end up with a lot of pee in unpleasant places.
I've known kids to be ready as soon as they can walk, and some that wait until they're nearly ready for Kindergarten. Either way, you will know. You will feel it in your bones. Something about your child just suddenly screams 'it's potty time!'
Third and possibly the most important... don't miss your window. Kids have a funny way of being ready for things before we're ready for them to be. Punkin Pie started potty training herself when I was in my first trimester with The Bean. Ha! No way was pregnant momma climbing up those stairs every fifteen minutes in hopes of preventing another accident. So I put it off a bit.
Unfortunately, this is when I learned another useful tidbit. If your child is ready for the next step and you don't follow through... you're actually teaching them not to do it. Something in their little bodies says, 'Hey! It's time for you to learn this new skill!' and we as parents say, 'Ummm... maybe not yet. Don't listen to your instincts, just keep doing what you're doing.' So they squash it down and ignore what their bodies are suggesting. Pretty soon, they are no longer interested in learning that particular new skill. And you've gone from gee-I-really-don't-feel-like-doing-this to I-still-don't-want-to-do-this-and-neither-do-they. Whoops!
The Bean is now a potty trainee. I've cleaned up a lot of pee in the last few weeks. And washed a lot of stinky laundry. But on the bright side, last night she climbed out of the bath and went potty. By herself! Score one for the win column!
Here's hoping my piles of stinky laundry become a little less stinky!
To be clear, this is not a how-to. In fact, I don't even have much in the way of advice. I only have a few tidbits that I've noticed in my personal trials of keeping the pee in the porcelain throne, as opposed to in pants, on floors, and anywhere else unpleasant you can imagine.
First and foremost... It doesn't matter how old your child is. Doesn't matter. Throw all the age nonsense right out the window right now. It's either going to make you feel behind, or make your child feel inadequate. Not a recipe for the win column. Every child is different. I repeat... every child is different.
I know it's not a new concept, but I surprise myself constantly that I still compare how my kids are doing, with some other kid. They're not the same kid. They are different, so they are supposed to be doing things differently. It's my new momma mantra.
Second thing you've already heard a thousand times. They won't be ready, til they're ready. You can compare lists of what you're child is accomplishing all you like, but the hard truth is this... no one will know you're child is ready better than you. You can jump start it all you like, but until your kid is ready, you're just going to end up with a lot of pee in unpleasant places.
I've known kids to be ready as soon as they can walk, and some that wait until they're nearly ready for Kindergarten. Either way, you will know. You will feel it in your bones. Something about your child just suddenly screams 'it's potty time!'
Third and possibly the most important... don't miss your window. Kids have a funny way of being ready for things before we're ready for them to be. Punkin Pie started potty training herself when I was in my first trimester with The Bean. Ha! No way was pregnant momma climbing up those stairs every fifteen minutes in hopes of preventing another accident. So I put it off a bit.
Unfortunately, this is when I learned another useful tidbit. If your child is ready for the next step and you don't follow through... you're actually teaching them not to do it. Something in their little bodies says, 'Hey! It's time for you to learn this new skill!' and we as parents say, 'Ummm... maybe not yet. Don't listen to your instincts, just keep doing what you're doing.' So they squash it down and ignore what their bodies are suggesting. Pretty soon, they are no longer interested in learning that particular new skill. And you've gone from gee-I-really-don't-feel-like-doing-this to I-still-don't-want-to-do-this-and-neither-do-they. Whoops!
The Bean is now a potty trainee. I've cleaned up a lot of pee in the last few weeks. And washed a lot of stinky laundry. But on the bright side, last night she climbed out of the bath and went potty. By herself! Score one for the win column!
Here's hoping my piles of stinky laundry become a little less stinky!