The day is coming, very slowly, but I'm pretty sure it's coming when I am going to attempt to potty train.
The signs are all there. He can wake up from a night's sleep dry (occasionally), he tells me when he is going, but not before unfortunately. He takes his trousers off once he has gone, and his nappy if I don't get there first. He loves his "big boy pants". The only problem is he doesn't like sitting on the potty.
I tried putting him in just pants for a day but by the end he was so distressed when I asked him to go on the potty, I knew I was doing more harm than good so we went back to nappies.
I have read all the books, talked to other parents, bought a soft leather seat to fit inside mummy and daddy's toilet - I am ready even if he isn't. Ideally, if I could get him out of nappies before I have another little one in them, that would be great, but I won't let that be a benchmark. He is two and a half so there's still plenty of time.
But how to make the potty a pleasure rather than a pain? None of the books really address this issue which is rather frustrating. Perhaps I could use a book, or even the telly, to encourage him to sit, but I don't want to dig myself into a hole. I reckon once he has got the hang of it once or twice, he will be away but it's this initial hurdle we have to overcome.
For now, I will continue as we are, talking about the potty, explaining how things are done, and hopefully one day it will click. In the mean time, any ideas fellow mums?
I was fortunate with mine that they were ok with the potty, and although my son has had a few accidents I managed to get him back on track with plenty of praise and reward when he did use the potty.
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to tell you that I've been talking to my friends recently about potty training and a couple of them have said that their children are not even willing to sit on the potty or toilet. They are doing much the same as you, not stressing about it and just talking about it and making sure they see the potty on a regular basis, so that it becomes part of the furniture so to speak.
With my eldest son I didn't start until he was 3.
I know its easy for me to say now that all mine are dry, but it will come and pressuring a toddler tends to make them go off the idea all together!
I think you're doing the right thing, and I guess the books don't address the issue because there are no easy answers. xx
Thanks for this. Nice to hear your friends are in the same boat. Well done on getting all yours trained! x
DeleteCompletely agree. Don't push it, just keep talking about it. Have the potty around so he can see it - in the very early days, I used to have nappy off time after tea and mine would sometimes sit on it to watch the TV, he used it more as a seat but it got him used to it. The pirate pete potty book is quite good if you're looking for a book to read together, esp as pirate pete has a baby brother / sister who is wearing nappies. There's a button that your toddler can press every time pirate pete does something in the potty and then there's a cheer!
ReplyDeleteYou might find that as soon as no 2 arrives, he suddenly doesn't want to wear nappies anymore. It will differentiate him from baby and he will be the big boy. Of course, this will be the worst possible timing for you...typical!
Good tip with book and def think I will try sitting in him in front of the telly (which he loves to do surprisingly enough!). x
DeleteSecond Mummy Plum, we also had the pirate Pete's potty book which helped loads. We kept the potty on an old towel in the lounge and tried not too force it too much as that got him frustrated. It took us about 3 months of on and off trying, you know yourself if they aren't quite ready so just give it a couple of weeks and try again. Sticker charts didn't really work well for Alex but did for his friends, good luck as I know it can be very trying at times! x
ReplyDeleteWas thinking of trying sticker charts. All good tips. Can always count on fellow mums to show your support! x
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