So, I am resolved to start Connor on this next chapter of his life (which certainly needs to be done BEFORE he becomes the next Bill Gates, allowing his parents to live the lifestyle they SHOULD be accustomed to - I think the world tends to frown on billionaire mogul types who pee their pants, just guessing) . Yet I am at a loss as to how to start....so I am going to ask the experts - you. I need your potty training tips....you don't have to post them if you don't want, but find another way to get them to me - I am clueless! And just for the record, I have tried the Cheerio trick and it didn't work (without a lot of detail, I will just say, he ate 'em). As always, thanks - some of my favorite moms read my blog and your help is always so appreciated!
An early attempt...someday he will KILL me for this
5 comments:
Just let him go naked all the time. He'll eventually figure it out or you'll eventually have to buy new carpet.
Hey, if he's a billionaire, people won't care if he pees his pants. In fact, maybe it would become the new trend. Besides that, maybe that's how he'll make his billions - developing a new product for such things.
I stand by the way I did Cayden. Didn't bother with Chris because I was too lazy and he wasn't going to daycare. Daycare was a real lifesaver because they went along with it and it gave me a break. It's hard freakin' work.
We were at the end of our pack of diapers. I didn't want to waste any more money on dump fillers. I bought him some underwear. I told him that we were all out of diapers. Very theatrical. Showed him the empty bag. Oh no! What are we going to do? I can't buy anymore. This is horrible! Magically appear underwear! The answer to all our problems!!! Since we don't have diapers, from now on you you get to wear big boy underwear. You can't pee in them like diapers because they are SO awesome! After all, they're the answer to our no diaper problem!
That's the easy part.
From then on, we did the basic dog house training. I sat him on the toilet every 30 minutes (if he pees more frequent you'd have to take him more frequent). I would sit there with him until he peed. This could be 1 minute. This could be an hour (yes, I sat with him by the toilet for an hour a couple times). We read books. We sing songs. We play patty cake. We do whatever we can. Oh, I guess this is where I mention that we just trained him to sit on the toilet to begin with. As he got older he started standing. Chris still sits. I don't care. I suppose that is where the Cheerio trick comes in handy. I always thought it was to teach them to aim. Eventually he goes potty. You cheer like he's just done the most awesome thing in the whole world. You yell and scream and cheer and jump up and down, hug him. You may want to let him sit there another minute in case he needs to go number 2 (you'll know his pattern of when he should go 2).
So, you keep taking him every 30 minutes every single day. Yeah, you'd be surprised how short 30 minutes really is! It feels like you're living in the bathroom. But, after a week or so, you move it to every 45 minutes. Then an hour. Of course there will be an accident or two. In that case, you lessen the time between potty breaks again. After a couple weeks he knew what the feeling was like and knew what to do. It took 3 weeks total and he never had another accident.
Oh, a caveat. This is DAYTIME potty training. Night is a whole nother ballgame. You can't really "teach" that. Since I'd already told him I couldn't buy anymore diapers, I bought pull-ups. Not for the typical reason buy them (they don't work for that), but so they wouldn't be diapers - so no way to go back. We called them his "nighttime undies."
Like I said, didn't do this with Chris. It took about a year to potty train him from start to no more accidents.
Here is where the REAL FUN begins!!!! Nothing and I repeat NOTHING is more frustrating! I would take him to the store to buy "big boys" and let him pick out his skivvies. I am sure that he will choose "movie cars" or Thomas, but hey.... Then let him know that "Movie cars" (or Thomas) doesn't like to be peed on. - It only kind of works to be honest. THen comes the habit of taking him potty every 30 minutes. However, I would not push him into this if he is not interested. All kids go through a time when they are interested in using the toilet. If you push it, you will suffer. Wait until he is really wanting to use the toilet. Also, bribes work!!!!! (you will need coke and chocolate to get through this fun time!)
OK, Marcy's way is good. I could add:
I started when Zack was 2 years old. We would try for a few days and when both of us became frustrated to tears, we would stop! Then I would try the next month. We did this for about 5 months. Frustration is counterproductive! I warn you: do not force the issue!
Also, I bought a cool spiderman gumball machine. When he went on the potty, he got a penny, which he could spend buying M&M's from the machine. Interestingly enough, the month that the training took, he didn't even want the penny's or candy. He was happy to go potty just for the sake of it. As soon as he was day trained, he was also night trained. I attribute that to good luck and blessings, not because I have any skills.
I did not use pull ups. But I don't think they are bad. Good luck! And remember: if you're frustrated, he WILL not do it! Also: underwear are CHEAP! If he poops them, throw them away! Yuck!
First of all, I wish you luck. I hate potty training more than any other stage kids go through. I think mainly because you have no control over it, you can't make them go, and it can take so long to master for the kid.
I found what worked best for Addelyn, (being 3 when she finally decided to do it on her own. We had been trying since around 2 years old) was set the timer on your oven or somewhere it is loud. I would set it for every 15 minutes at first. When it went off, we would run to the potty. Of course, making it a race, or fun, just anything to get her excited. Get everyone at home involved with the excitement. We would then wait. Sometimes she went and sometimes she didn't. Reset the timer and do it all over again. This not only helped remind her, but also me because I hated watching the clock all day (it does go my so fast). After she did this for a few days, and was going potty, we increased the time to 30 minutes than 45 minutes up to 1 hour. After she was doing them regularly, when the timer went off when I was cooking she thought it was potty time. It just depends on how long Connor can wait.
If Addelyn went potty, we "bribed" her with candy (suckers, smarties, gummies anything we had). She thought just because she sat on the potty she got a treat. This was true at first, but once she started going on the potty, we only rewarded her when she went.
If Connor is not use to sitting on the potty (Dallan was taught sitting, but a friends son was taught standing) I put them on it when their bath water was running. Water running can do wonderful things.
Oh, we used a potty chair just for them. Also my attitude made a big difference. If I got mad at her, she could tell and refused to sit on the potty, but if I was excited for her, she was more likely to cooperate.
There are setbacks and it does take time. Being patient is all you can do. He has to decide he wants to do it.
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