Lately Miles has been telling me when he needs to go Poo. And then, once he has, he lets me know he's ready to be changed. I have a feeling in his head he is saying "Come on lady, you're slacking off here!". So I bought a couple books on Potty Training. And I ordered a DVD.
I doubt that he's ready.... I think we need to work on communication.... But just in case he is, I am going to try a casual approach for now. No pressure. And if it doesn't pan out... Meh. We'll just try again in a little bit.
The adventure begins at Zellers. As some of you know, I am very pro-Canadian. And when given the choice, I chose Zellers over the American Wal-Mart any day. Any day. So we headed to Zellers to buy a 'Potty'. (I hate the word 'Potty'.)
I decided to let Miles pick his own Potty. First he picked a Diego one. It was orange. Doesn't match my bathroom AT ALL. So I put it in the cart. And then (by the grace of god) he changed his mind to this one (below). And I didn't even have to try to change it for him :)
So we got the Potty. But there's no price on it (soooo typical of Zellers).
After trolling the store to find a scanner for 20 minutes (one is broken, one is missing, one is Out Of Service??) I find a lady who tells me to go to Customer Service. All the way at the front of the store. And there is a line-up. It takes me 30 minutes to find out our new Potty is $24.99.
I love Zellers. But here's my beef: Have you ever loved a store/restaurant/etc. so much, but the service is terrible? That's how I feel about Zellers. I love it. I want to shop Canadian & will even pay the extra 10-15% in order to do so... But NOTHING in this store is priced. There is no one to help you & it's a mess. (It's always a mess! Not just at Christmas or during a Sale!) I would say that of the items that are on a shelf... less than 40% of them have a price. And you shouldn't have to HIKE to find out what it is. At our store we rarely priced our papers (because of quantity & because we moved them so frequently), but I like to think we were always available to help you when needed...
I've heard that a 'reward system' (AKA: Bribery) works well with Potty Training. I know a friend who used M&M's so I picked up a bag of Smarties. But I don't want Miles always having Candy as a reward (in case you haven't noticed, this family has weight issues) so we get a bucket of soldiers (which coincidentally also had no price along with all of the other Toy Story Toys in the aisle, so back to Customer Service...).
So... We got the Potty. We got the Rewards. Here we go...(Please post any & all advice in the comment section. I can use all the help I can get...)
When my son "decided" he was ready for potty training we would ask him casually throught the day if he had to go. Like 30 mins after a drink, right before bed etc just to get the idea in his head. Eventually he got it.
ReplyDeleteAs for rewards we tried everything, treats, toys, stickers etc. What seemed to work for him was a couple drops of food coloring in the toilet (I know gross huh) then he would flush and say bye to the "mess". He liked the colors.
When we were teaching him to "pee like the boys do" his words not mine, i put a couple cherrios in the toilet. That seemed to work too. We also bought dollar store stickers and designated a piece of poster paper on the fridge for his stickers when cherrios and food color wouldn't work.
Every kid is different though. With my son the constant reminders seemed to really help, it is almost like he would forget that he knew how to go in the potty.
Good luck!
I agree with Erin -- every kid is different! Kase wasn't reward-motivated AT ALL. What worked great for him (and it's a bit gross) was hanging out nudie-patootie in the yard all day with the potty (shuddering now at that word) right there. If he had an accident, oh well. Usually, though, he made it to the potty in time. Anna freakin' potty-trained herself (true story), thereby proving forever that girls are smarter... ;)
ReplyDeleteIf you're going to do it, go underwear all the way! Pull-ups are essentially glorified diapers, and while they have their place...(my 4 yr old is such a heavy sleeper he doesn't wake up to go pee)..they are a waste of money. It'll confuse him even more. When you think he's ready, go buy 20 pairs of underwear, stay home for a week, and go to town. Oh, and teach him to sit....
ReplyDeleteGreat now I have the stupid do the Potty Dance song stuck in my head from that Pull-Ups commercial!
ReplyDeleteI've heard for little boys that cheerios or fruit loops in the toilet (which they have to aim and sink) is a great incentive to learn.
Best of Luck.
Josh was ready for potty training before I was. I got a lot of helpful advice form the Okotoks Health Unit nurses (who ran the toddler class). You can call them anytime with questions.
ReplyDeleteJosh was great at pee training. He was daytime pee trained at 2 1/2, poop trained at 3, and night trained at 5. Don't expect it all at once. (When we night trained we double made the bed. Including waterproof mattress cover so it was faster to change and didn't disrupt the sleep as much.)
Go into "lockdown" for a week so you can reinforce habits and catch him. It is a whole other stage to go out and know where every bathroom is in every store (which I now know). It's difficult also because they aren't on their potty, you have to be prepared with extra clothes.
Since it is warm enough let him go without pants (or even underwear), so it is fast to get the underwear down and he can feel the pee right away. We even had Josh running naked in the backyard while we were planting the garden. I had Josh pick out big boy underwear...get at least a dozen pairs. Have a spray bottle of vinegar and water (or whatever you use) ready for clean-ups.
I put Josh on the potty every 20 minutes and he could pee every time a little, then I would go 30, then 40 etc. He was very agreeable to it though. My friends just would ask their kids.
Give him lots to drink so he can go often and build that habit.
If he is trying to poop give him a step stool to push his feet on.
Rewards? I don't remember using them. We praised him and he called and told grandma. He also called and left a message at daddy's work "I pooped Daddy! I pooped on the potty!"
All kids are different and potty train at different rates, and it is okay to take a break and try again in a month if it isn't working.
Good luck!
Let me know how it goes for you. We just got the Baby Bjorn potty (ick) from Toys R Us because it had the best reviews (easy to clean, simple parts etc). So far she knows how to sit on it, but also loves taking out the little pot and dumping it (although it is still empty at this point). So that's not good.
ReplyDeleteSomething that our customers RAVE about are tinkle time stickers--you stick them in the potty and they look white until you pee on them and then a picture appears. You can see them/order them from the vendor's website, she is Calgary based.
http://www.goo-goobaby.com/Tinkle_Time_Potty_Training_Stickers_s/20.htm