MUM I HAD A WEE WEE (Toilet Training/Potties in General)

Member Name: STACEY0526

Product:	Toilet Training/Potties in General
Date:	12/05/09 (164 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: NO MORE NAPPIES

Disadvantages: ACCIDENTS

I am just in the process of potty training my little man and have so far found this site very useful. I have heard many horror stories about the dreaded potty training stage so I decided to read a number of reviews written here before starting in hope that I could prepare myself the best I could and in turn I hoped that this would make the experience less stressful on the little one. The truth is yes the reviews written by others are great they give you some great tips which showed me that if one method failed there were many different approaches/ methods I could try in order to succeed. The main advise I found came from reading other peoples experiences, this really made me think a lot about how and when to start the whole potty training process (this was my main concern is he ready?/ am I ready? /am I pushing too hard etc??) I got some real invaluable advice which I am truly thankful for but nothing can fully prepare you for your time as each child is very different.

My little man has just turned two last month and the usual worries that surround potty training were whizzing around in my head, Is he ready? Is he behind? Am I missing the signs that he is ready? Am I misinterpreting the signs and rushing him? I am now sure that everyone has these doubts when they first start potty training but at the time I really felt like I was the only one and being a mum I thought that I should instinctively know these things and feeling bad that I was slightly confused.

I have friends with children a lot older than my little one that are still walking around in nappies with no sign that the parents are going to start potty training anytime soon and this is fine every parent knows there child better than anyone else but potty training was something that I had thought long and hard about knowing that every child is different.
I logged onto many websites about potty training advice, I also as mentioned before read a lot of reviews on here and found that every article/review said exactly the same thing "each child is different and you will know when they are ready but do not force them" This is very easy to say when you have been through it but for someone like me that hadn't I was very conscious that I was missing the signs or making things worse by pushing him to hard and each time I read this statement I felt like pulling my hair out but now that I have started potty training the little one I can happily confirm that you do not need to panic you will know when the little one is ready and even more so you will know when they are not.

Working shifts with fixed holidays and knowing that potty training would take time I was very conscious that I needed to start potty training in my 10 days off otherwise another chance would not come round for a while, I was sure as much as I could be that the little one was ready and I felt that a lot of the signs were there so having made sure that I had not planned to do anything with my holiday I would have 10 days completely devoted to my little man as I knew we could crack it.
I had left the potty downstairs for a long while before I started to potty train I thought that if the little one had chance to familiarise himself with this strange object even if he didn't know what to do with it the familiarisation may make using it a lot less daunting. I have always let my little boy come into the toilet with me I do not see anything wrong with this and believe that children learn best by copying and would really help when the time did come to potty training.


So my 10 days finally arrived the first thing I did was take the little man shopping where we chose his own pants and a travel potty together (would recommend letting the little one choose his or her own potty, my mum and dad had already been out and bought ours so we couldn't do this we choose a travel potty as the one he had was very impractical to carry around and looking back now he does use the one he choose a lot more) we paid for these and headed home.
Once we got back home I took his trousers and nappy off and let him run around naked I had made sure that the house was very warm so that he would be comfortable and here we went. We had a couple of accidents on that first day so without a fuss I cleaned them up and in a very happy light hearted way just said to him oh dear never mind just a little accident maybe we can try the potty next time. And he smiled and went on playing. I firstly tried reminding him every 15 minutes about going on the potty but as this was to no great avail I tried putting him on the potty a couple of times but he would not sit on it he wouldn't even go near it screaming if you tried to even show him the potty so instead of forcing him I tried a couple of times over a couple of days but he wasn't having any of it so I thought ok maybe he isn't ready I will leave him for a bit and retry again at a later date when he seems a bit more ready. So attempt one didn't go too well but it also didn't knock his confidence or put any pressure on him that may hinder the next attempt when ever that would be. So better luck next time.

"That would be my biggest tip do not push if your child isn't ready leave them for a while pushing will only cause more stress to the child and lot more work for yourself"

That night I placed the potty in my room so that he could get used to it but it wasn't invading his secure space (his bedroom) and he wasn't under any pressure to use it. He then took it into his bedroom where it has since stayed where he used it as a seat not the intended use but much progress had been made considering he wouldn't even go near it a couple of days ago, on the third day of it being there he ran in shouting mummy, mummy wee, wee with a huge grin on his face, having taken his own nappy off I calmly with a smile on my face held his hand as he showed me to his bedroom expecting to see wee on the floor I was so surprised to see that he had weed in his potty. Looking at his chuffed little face I got so excited clapping jumping around and telling him in a very excited voice what a good boy he was how he was such a clever boy, such a big boy and any other words of praise I could give him I then said in an equally excited voice come on lets go tell daddy what a big boy you are and with that he got exactly the same response from his dad.

After this point he started asking to use our toilet which I had no problem with what ever made him feel more comfortable would make the process easier and each time he was praised in exactly the same way as the first time and this is how everyone that he told has praised him. I find that praise works really well in encouraging him to do this and continue good behaviour in all aspects of his life. After holding him on the toilet for a couple of days I went out and bought a Kandoo toilet seat and step, he still had a potty in his room and we still had a potty downstairs but he just seemed to prefer the toilet he was doing really well and I couldn't believe how easy it had been but then he went through a lazy stage where he didn't want to do it any more this went on for a while so I introduced more rewards so he was treated with more than just praise. We have a sticker chart that he puts his own stickers on (this works really well he seems to enjoy getting stickers) we also count how many stickers he has and how many more he needs to get to complete the chart, I also use crafts as he loves glitter and glue we have a mummy and son hour doing crafts if he is a big boy while mummy is at work. I tend to use sweets very occasionally as we don't really let him have them (chocolate sends him into a complete monster) I have let him pick his own fruit at the super market, he gets to water the flowers in the garden and I also found that he really enjoyed flushing the chain, washing his hands and brushing his teeth so he introduced this as praise by asking to flush the chain and wash his hands each time he has been to the toilet and then he knew that in the morning and at night he got to brush his teeth but I would say use anything as a reward that your child responds to and alternate them so that he or she doesn't get to board.

At the minute we are doing really well managing no accidents throughout the day without his trousers on as of yet we have not managed to keep him dry with his trousers on so fingers crossed we will get there soon


STACEYS TOP 10 TIPS

1. Make sure that when you start potty training you sent aside time that is just for your child
2. do not let yourself get stressed especially when your child has an accident (they will defiantly have a few)
3. do not force your child if they are not ready leave it a while until they are
4. You may not fell like it now but you will know when your child is ready even more so you will know when they are not
5. Use a variety of different rewards as one form can loose its appeal
6. Familiarize your child with the potty, toilet before you start to potty train
7. allow your child to go to the toilet with you if they want - a child learns better by copying
8. let your child choose their own pants and potty so they fell involved from the start
9. ask every 15 minutes if they need a wee wee, then increase to 30/45 and 60 all children need a reminder when they are interested in something else they are not used to having to hold it until they get to a toilet
10. Give plenty of praise

Summary: WE ALL HAVE TO DO IT