Friday, January 20, 2012

Potty Training Adventure

As soon as 2012 hit, I had so many customers ordering cloth training pants.  It made sense with the rush of The Holidays over and I was encouraged that so many people are warming up to the idea of using cloth trainers as opposed to scratchy disposable training underwear.  I've even had parents drop by the shop to purchase cloth trainers and they didn't use cloth diapers on their child.  That's REALLY encouraging!

So I decided to jump on this bandwagon.  After all, my daughter is just over 2 years old and she's expressed an interest in the potty.   It's also a great opportunity for me to take stock out of my showroom and try it out so I can tell you first-hand how it worked for me.

One thing that I realized right away is you have to commit yourself to helping your child through this huge milestone.  You can't expect to run errands all day, every day and then wonder why little one won't sit on the potty or won't tell you that he needs to go.  My daughter has done a great job so far.  First thing in the morning, we go to the bathroom (I don't ask her if she needs to go--I just take her) and I strip her diaper off and sit her on the toilet.  Success!  Every morning this week she's tinkled into the potty.  I do the same thing after nap time.  It's the in-between time that's been the most challenging.

I think the most success I've had with the in-between times is to allow her to run around with either no diaper or with a pair of training pants on.  The training pants I've used are easy for her to pull on and off and she will feel wetness when she goes pee-pee.  The training pants also prevent a puddle on the floor.  I have to say, the "full-freedom" thing really helps her take notice when she has to go.  Yes, we've had a few accidents on the floor but they're easy to clean up.

So, day 4 into potty training and we've had some major successes.  She goes on the potty every morning.  She goes on the potty after every nap.  What's more, she actually told my husband during her bath yesterday evening that she had to go pee-pee and he pulled her out and sat her on the potty.  Success!  This evening, she ran up to me and said "mommy M go poo-poo on potty!" so I snatched her up, ran upstairs and threw her on the potty.  Sure enough she peed right away and minutes later, pooped.

I've had some moms suggest setting a timer for every 30 minutes and explain that when the buzzer sounds, that it's potty time.  I've had other moms reward no accidents/successful pee-pees in potty with a toy or a sticker.  I think those are great ideas but you need to know your child and what he/she will respond to.

Okay so some of the items I'm using and really like (and so does my daughter)
Antsy Pants
Super Undies Underwear
Snap EZ AIO Training Pants
Blueberry Trainers

I can't wait to try the new GroVia trainers but my daughter is still a bit small for them.

I'll keep updating you on how it's going.  And if you're in the same boat or maybe you want to be in this boat, let's chat in the comments!  Just remember--it does take patience and persistence!

4 comments:

  1. Which trainer are you using for around the house during the day?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm using pretty much everything--the simple pull on pants from Blueberry work well but, you do have to watch for when little one may poop because it can get messy if there's poop in the underwear. Actually, all the underwear listed above I'm using around the house because a diaper still goes on when we leave the house.

      Delete
  2. I lost my job in Oct. We started potty training in Dec. I started watching a 2yr old boy the first of this month to help make ends meet. My daughter does great when he is not around, but will not sit on the potty when he is. I'm so frustrated. I don't know how to encourage her, without calling him 'baby' names for still Wearing diapers....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Beth how does she respond to positive reinforcement like a sticker or a new coloring book? You could go to the dollar store and pick up a bunch of treats that would offer some positive reinforcement (or bribery as some may call it :-)

      Delete