Guys, Silas is ready to potty train. He's been showing signs for a few months, but at this point, it is glaringly obvious that it's time to potty train this boy. In fact, he's moving into the territory where the only thing keeping him from going potty is his mother.
Insert weighted sigh here.
Have you MET Silas? My iron-willed child? The boy who is not at all afraid to make a mess (who delights, actually, in escaping long enough to pee on the floor after bathtime)? Who will do ANYTHING - I do mean anything - to make his brother laugh, and pretty much could not care less about his parents' response, as long as Asher is laughing? THIS is the boy I am responsible for potty training. What are we going to do if Asher thinks pooping on the floor is funny?
Have mercy.
So. Send me your best potty training advice. I will tell you that I don't personally believe in pull-ups, and have preferred in the past to go cold turkey and deal with the messes, to make it easier for them to learn. Of course, that was with my boy who HATED making a mess on the floor, and loved to sit on the potty. Still, I think pull-ups are fancy diapers, and since they were diaper trained since the day they were born, they don't really help little kids know it's time to do something different.
With that in mind, how do I potty train a strong-willed child without creating a war of wills?
Help.
5 comments:
you have had 2 dilemmas in your most recent blog posts that i have no solutions for. =) i don't know anything about overcoming the bottle protest--my girls would never take bottles consistantly. and i abhor potty training. honestly, one of the first things I thought when I was preggo with #3 is "MAN, i have to potty train ANOTHER ONE!?!?!?!" =) so, really this shouldn't be considered advice as much as just a partner in crime who feels your pain (and at the same time is glad she's not in your shoes at this particular time) =)...but with potty training, if you can find what motivates him towards good, save it for only when he goes potty. Find what he LOVES and use it as his reward if he fufills your expectation of him and the potty (the lower the expectation, the better, I've found, considering you are BOUND to be disappointed when it comes to all things potty). overcome "evil" with "good". =) if you can make him want to PEE in the POTTY more than he wants to make messes, then maybe he'll do it. and that my friend, is all I've got...and the fact that it's not much should tell you how much i know about successfully potty training a little person. good luck!!
I didn't use pull-ups with Alexander, but with Benjamin I have loved not having to lock ourselves in the house for a week and not having to change sheets and clean puddles being pregnant. We have basically run around in underwear in the house any time we are home and I've put less stress on myself to make him get it in a week. It has been 2 weeks and we are getting there. Sunday I did find him cleaning the poop off the bathroom floor--he was so sorry he made a mess. But I've found it is easier with the second boy--he follows his brother's lead and we are going at a pace that works for us. The potty treats are still the best incentive I've found and this week it is marshmallow. Good luck. That is the worst mom job we have.
can you tell me when you figure it out please? at the rate Rory's going, she might be the first person to graduate high school in diapers..........
I am so with you on the pull ups thing but with Ryan it was a MUST! He thought it was totally cool to go on the floor even if mom had a complete meltdown. We just told him that if he kept his pull up dry all day then he would get a reward. Eventually after a couple of days we went to underwear and now we are in underwear during the day and pull ups at night. I wish you the best of luck!!!! and let me know what you decide this should be a very interesting experience :)
I agree about pull-ups. We ended up only using them at night after a few weeks when it was obvious that she wasn't going to use the potty unless she was in undies and therefore uncomfortably wet if she didn't get to the potty. We used candy bribes and a sticker chart, but I don't know if that would help a boy whose greatest reward is making his brother laugh! Good luck.
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