Saturday, February 25, 2012

Another Potty Post!

I haven't updated on the potty training adventure in a while. I have been so busy with classes, reviews and giveaways, and just life in general!






I think it's safe to say Merasia is fully day trained. She is usually in undies when we are home, and occasionally when we are out and about, and I don't remember the last time she had an accident in undies. She has been POOPING on the potty almost every day! I say almost because there have been a couple of days that she didn't poop at all, so it wasn't in the potty and it wasn't in her undies! :-) Sometimes she gets in these terrible temper tantrum moods (usually when she wakes from her nap), and I can't do ANYTHING with her. She slams her bedroom door in my face, then screams and cries for me. When try to go in, she won't let me or slams the door again and then screams and cries. It's a never ending cycle so I have to just let her be until she calms down. Sometimes when she does this, she has a pee accident because she is in a wretched mood. But that's rare! I am so excited that she is finally pooping on the potty! I know she when she is about to, because she says she has to, so she sits on the potty for a few minutes, then gets up ad goes back to playing, but will say she has to poop a little while late and sit back on the potty. She may do this once or twice, or she will do it 5 or 6 times, like yesterday. But, I know when she stars this, that a poop is on it's way, and when it is finally time, she does it on the potty. :-) I firmly believe that the addition of these Potty Tots potty kits we recently received for a blog review (look for that SOON!!) helped her start pooping on the potty as well. We read the book, learned about her potty chart, and watched the potty DVD that came with the kit, and right after that is when she started pooping on the potty.

Connor is doing well too. He doesn't poop on the potty every time like Merasia, but he pees most of the time on the potty and has pooped a few times as well. He is easily distracted though and needs lots of reminders to use the potty, more so then his sister. So sometimes he has a little more accidents then his sister, but he still goes and is well on his way to being fully trained too.



I truly believe the thing that has worked the best is not pushing them. We let THEM decide. And we didn't rule out diapers completely. So many parents start the potty training journey and go right to undies, and swear off diapers completely, before they even know how their child will react to potty training. This only backfires, in my opinion. If a child is not ready, why put yourself or them through the constant accidents and not wanting to be in undies or use the potty? You can't be against going back to diapers if the need arises, and you can't be against using diapers on certain occasions, such as on public outings. We have used diapers on outings to the grocery stores or long car rides or other errands, during our potty training journey. There is a time and a place for hard core potty training and accidents, and it's not out in public. At this age, children know more then we parents think they know or give them credit for, and they do get embarrassed just like we would if we had a potty accident in public. Not to mention, running 3 kids (in my case!) from one end of a huge grocery store to the other in a mad dash to make it to the potty in time is just not my cup of tea, and not easy. Public pottying is for fully trained children, who don't use the potty as a way of getting out of doing things they don't like (such as napping, or boring grocery shopping or errands.) We did try the undies in public thing a few times. Sometimes they were great, and had no accidents, and other times....not so much. Most times, Connor and Merasia said they had to sue the potty, I dashed them all the way there, and....nothing. This, and the fact that the twins are in daycare two days a week meant that I had to stay open to diapers. But that wasn't a problem for me. They wear diapers to daycare, and still use the potty. If they are in diapers and we are in public, they still ask to go potty, and usually always actually go when we take them. When they are better at it, as Merasia is now, she will wear undies no matter where we go.

We also couldn't be against diapers for night time. I have enough work to do every day as it is, that washing sheets and clothes every single morning from bed wetting accidents (especially when we have to pay for our laundry), is not okay with me.  Even if the twins refused to wear diapers, we would still make them on the occasions I mentioned above. WE are the bosses, NOT the children. If we let the children be in control, where would that get us? That would be a HUGE mistake to let them be in control of these parental decisions. 

And besides....some children go backwards in potty training progress when they are used to being in undies and then are back in diapers, but that's not the case for Connor and Merasia. They still ask to go potty when in a diaper, and as I mentioned above, usually always do use it when we take them. It's simply a precautionary measure for public outings.



With that said, the bottom line for us has been not pushing them if they weren't ready for pottying, and not being against diapers. GO with the flow and with your child's signs of readiness, and you will be done buying diapers in no time!


3 comments:

April G said...

I'm glad potty training is going so well for you! My 3.5 year old has now been daytime potty trained for almost six months, and he stays dry most nights too. We also took the "don't push" approach. He will not poop on the potty though. He asks for a diaper. We finally tried the no diaper whatsoever approach, but then he just pooped in his underwear and everyone was upset about it (because we felt so bad). So we're just biding our time now, and his bribes are all lined up on a shelf where he can see them and know they're there if he just poops on the pot!

Unknown said...

Totally agree about using diapers when in public!

Nice pics but I couldn't figgure out if that was a diaper or panties in the last pic

micha464 said...

Отличное ваши фотографии ваших деток.