So I’m a little behind on the toilet training. Which is to say that both kids are still safely clad in their nappies all day and all night. Its not for a lack of trying either, especially since I’m not exactly a huge fan of the diaper-poop-cleaning business.
I’d much prefer to have them to do their stuff straight into the toilet bowl and then just press a little button to see it all disappear like magic.
I’ve read up on all the toilet training techniques and I’ve tried them all. Making Tru sit on the potty, asking him if he needs to go poop, giving him stickers to incentivize successful toilet sessions, but he hates the potty. Every time I put him on the potty, he says “all done” before his rectal muscles even have a chance to contract. So I do what every good parent does – lead by example. I once half-squatted on the potty (I wasn’t sure if it could support my weight and it would be embarrassing to break his potty during my brilliant demonstration) for a good 5 minutes showing him how it’s done and the whole time he was laughing his ass off saying “mommy funny“. So much for leading by example.
I waited for another few months and upgraded him to a training seat over the toilet bowl. This time, he was happy to sit on the training seat for a long time but for all the wrong reasons. He would alternate between yanking out the roll of toilet paper and reaching over to flush the toilet a hundred times because well, it is kind of therapeutic. See, I wouldn’t mind trading a few flushes if he actually managed to do his thing on the training seat but 10 minutes and not a drop. Yeah, trust me, I checked.
Some folks say that the only way is to bite the bullet and let them go diaper-free, which I also tried. So far, all I’ve gotten for my efforts are pee puddles on my floor. Most days, I’m glad to find the puddles because the alternative is to locate the foul-smelling dried patches of pee after 2 days. That’s possibly worse than having to clean poop off the diapers if you ask me.
Anyway, the point is, I think I’m ready to start toilet training. If not, my son will set the record for being the oldest kid clad in diapers five years from now. In other words, what I’m really trying to say is HELPPPPP!! You’re welcome to take my kid over for a week-long toilet training boot camp or if you have a secret toilet training method, let me know and I’ll do it.
Well, except sitting on the potty again. That, I’ve already done thankyouverymuch.
32 Comments
Did you let your son wear training pants?
@sunflower, No, not yet although I did try before and I ended up having to wash them like a cloth diaper.
@Daphne, But then training pants can absorb urine and you don’t need to clean the floor.
I wash plenty of them (more than 20) when I toliet train Yvette.
sunflower´s last post ..Julia Gabriel English PlayClub Term 3- Lesson 9 Stand-in
Did Tru show any signs of potty training readiness? Cos I am prob a mom tat is super relaxed about this potty training thingy…I did not train Kyle until late last year – that’s when he was almost 2 years 10 months. One of the signs is that when he starts to show discomfort with a wet diaper…Kyle did not show any of that until late last year. I only went into wild panic when it was almost time to register for pre-nursery.
Rachel´s last post ..Pho in Chinatown
@Rachel, That’s good to know Rachel, I guess Tru has another 6 months to go then.
Well, on occasions he will try to yank off the diaper but typically he goes on about his daily business even with poop in there. Aargh.
eh how old is tru? we tried potty training her but didn’t succeed. We didn’t pursue it cuz it meant a lot of mopping up to do (and throwing away a perfectly nice cardbox house). We started with the morning bit – getting her to sit on the toilet to pee/ poop and brush teeth at the same time. Diapers went back on after that.
Then suddenly she started not wanting to wear diapers, and etc (think she was a few months shy of 3 yo). So we just reminded her to tell us when she needs to go pee/ poo. Then she starting napping without a diaper and now, we are trying to sleep without a diaper. There are accidents along the way, so those waterproof (or absorbing sheets) are good to have on hand. We also move her bedtime milk to 2 to 3 hours earlier.
When he’s ready, he’ll let you know.
Lereina´s last post ..tricycle and car
@Lereina, Tru is close to 26 months. Hahah, I remember that cardbox house incident with your girl.
Interestingly, we usually clean up his morning poop and then brush teeth thereafter so I suppose there’s some sort of a routine there.
Its great to know that Truett is not THAT far behind, phew.
I’d go with Rachel about the readiness thingy. Both my kids are not toilet-trained until a pretty-embarrassing old age! Haha!
One day, he’d sure tell you he wants the potty. Don’t worry!
@Tin, Thanks, I feel a lot better after reading through the comments.
As long as they’re not still in diapers when they’re in pre-school, I guess I’m cool with it.
I’ve been worrying about the same thing. Mster is 1 and a half, and if my mother is to be believed, I was potty-trained by 1. He’s insanely freaked out by the potty – screams bloody murder when I try to put him on it. Also goes berserk when sitting on toilet ( although not averse to PLUNGING ARM in toilet bowl). I’ve bought some expensive Combi potty..which he’ll now outgrow and never use. But most mummies tell me the same thing, he’ll tell you when he’s ready. Think of it this way, someday he will have a crush on a girl, realise diapers are not cool if he’s going to date her, and potty train himself. Yes, yes. This thinking helps me:D
Judith´s last post ..Not that I don’t like my life now
@Judith, I have a nagging suspicion that our parents tend to overrate themselves in terms of parenting capabilities at times.
On that same vaguely related note, Kel used to tell me that in his schooling days, the best way to overcome a crush and infatuation with a girl for him was to imagine her taking a dump on the potty.
Wow, I read the comments above and I tell you I am RELIEVED. I was all ready to come in and *blush* confess that my Jay is un-potty trained till now. All this “he will tell you when he is ready” talk sure warms my heart. Hahaha!
San´s last post ..The entry of Mr Cane
@San, Jay is just a few months older than Tru, isn’t he?
Come to think of it, we’ll save a fair bit on diapers if they get potty-trained soon.
Actually I also agree with the “they will go when ready” philosophy. I tried toilet toileting my daughter when she was 2, tried the potty trainer, bribing with stars/stickers/etc, and had a lot of hits and misses. Suddenly about two months however she announced she was done with diapers and insisted on sitting on the potty. I have to convince her to wear diapers at night!
@Chee, Really? But that means she was potty trained at 2yr, 2months, Tru is about that age.
well I guess boys develop a little slower.
Since I haven’t managed to train Chloe yet, I’m going to agree with all the mums that say “they will let you know when they are ready”.
Chloe hates the potty like Tru, she refuses to even sit on it. My take is, let him be. Once he thinks that wearing diapers is un-manly, he will let you know.
@Lazymummy, Chloe probably thinks sitting on the potty is not something a pretty girl like her should be doing!
She will always ask me to sit on the potty instead, so yah, I have done the “lead by example” thing too.
Lazymummy´s last post ..The horror of moving house – of Sylvanian Families and comic books
My son is 2.5 years old. The childcare teacher says it’s too young to toilet train him now. She say it better to start training him somewhere end of 2010. I bought the toilet seat. I mentioned it to my son that as soon as he is ready, he can use it. He says his poop poop will be flushed away. So he knows what is it for but every time when he is hiding behind the door and not allowing anyone of us to go near him. We know he is doing his ‘biz’. I only try to remind him after that that next time he wants to poop poop, he can try to use the toilet seat. I hope he will be ready to use the toilet seat soon.
@YH, yah, and from the comments so far i think a decent age should be around 3 years-old or so.
I really have my doubts 99% of kids can be potty trained at one.
@Daphne, yes, especially someone who says that her MIL trained her son to shee-shee at the basin from BIRTH and has gone diaper-free by 1 yr or so! is that a MYTH or what??!!!
i’m eager to hear if anyone has any suggestions! noey is younger than tru, but also hates the potty. he can pretty much go about his regular business with poop in his pants — even sleep if he needs to! i have fears that he’ll be the oldest child still in diapers for years to come too.
@beanbean, haha exactly! I’ll be the parent of the kid who still wears diapers in Pri 1. I will have to upgrade to adult diapers soon once he outgrows XXL.
Errrrs no help from me since I tried to toilet train the kid but all he does is try to grab his shitty bum when he was on the seat. Now, I just turn a deaf ear to my MIL who’s been pestering me to toilet train him since he was 4 months & couldn’t even sit unaided! All the best, I’m sure it’ll work out when he’s ready!
Jus´s last post ..A year and a half
@Jus, I watched this episode of Oprah where this baby was actually toilet trained at 2-3 months, which is so awesome and bizarre. Apparently there’s a technique to start training them once they are born, but I’m not about to try it.
Our parents could be right because we (most of us) wore cloth diapers and our mums (most of them) changed us day and night. I interviewed my mum on this topic because my boy has been in modern cloth diapers (full-time for 17 months) and I wanted to know how she “survived” cloth-diapering us in square nappies. My sis and I are only 1.5 years apart, so she had TWO kids in antique cloth diapers!
I saw my hubby’s photos and confirmed that they were potty-trained at about 1 year old because they were wearing underwear, not even cloth diapers!
I started pre-potty-training my boy at 7 months old — sit on potty before bath. Blur babies are easy to mould.
At 8 months old, he started peeing in potty. I let him sit on the potty at every diaper change.
At 9 months old, he poo-ed in potty. Since then, once I see his face straining to poo, I strip his diaper off and put him on the potty. No negotiation. Ha!
At 15 months old, he could tell me before poo-ing, so considered potty-trained for poo.
Recently at 17 months old, he started telling me before pee-ing and wakes up with significantly drier diapers.
I believe being in cloth diapers (feel tge wetness) and early pre-potty-training helped. Guiding the child towards potty-training success is similar to helping him to learn crawling, walking, etc.
In fact, you could start your girl on pre-potty-training now. Just let her sit in the potty without diaper to get used to it. Tru could get peer pressure and want to progress too.
And I read your post on cloth diapers leaking. Have you solved that? Modern cloth diapers should not leak and are easy to clean. Our bulletproof night cloth diaper last 12 hours; every piece washed by machine. Look forward to your reply. :)
MieVee @ MummysReviews.com´s last post ..Vee Turns 17 Months Old
@MieVee @ MummysReviews.com, wow, you’re probably one of the rare success stories. I tried putting Tru on the potty every morning and between diaper changes and if I was even successful with making him sit there, I would have to attend to Kirsten, fix breakfast, pack stuff, get myself ready and come back to find him running around the house with his bare bottom and pee puddles everywhere. And our mornings are typically crazy enough without having to contend with more craziness.
Maybe if I had a dedicated clone to toilet train him all day, I’d have more success but watching two kids alone, the toilet training battle is very far down my list.
And I haven’t gone back to cloth diapers because after that experience, I think some battles are better left un-fought. I may try another brand of cloth diapers for my next kid but I probably won’t go back to Bumwear again. My stress level shot up very high back then.
@Daphne, I should have read all the comments before I commented.
Hehe, I am the same as MieVee. I started to train Yvette at 13mths, and 14 mths for night training.
Although I will like to tell you, you should train your daughter now but I know it is very tough for you train both kids alone. (Think of the cleaning up can kill you and the frustration build up.)
But girls gently is faster. Yvette is toilet trained by 2.
Good luck!
sunflower´s last post ..Julia Gabriel English PlayClub Term 3- Lesson 9 Stand-in
Hi,
Great to know so many mummies are on the same page as I. Meaning my 30 months old is not fully toilet trained and I am not worry at all. I am very relax about this and I know one day, he will be ready. I would rather spend more time playing with him then to force him sitting on the potty/toilet seat.
Having said that, he is partly trained. His teacher at the childcare thinks he is ready for toilet training when he was at 28 months, as he can speak well and follow instruction well. So they started to let him go diaperless after lunch and after nap (cos he sure poops after lunch!) until we fetch him in the evening. And we do that during weekends when we are at home. So far so good. But he doesn’t tell us he wants to pee yet, we/his teacher have to bring him to toilet every 30 min or so. We agreed that we should take this very slowly, so we are not pushing him. After 2 months, he is still about at this stage, though he understands the toilet training better, he knows how to pull down and up his pants, he knows how to hold his pee a little longer, he knows how to balance on the toillet seat, etc. And he still hasn’t complained about putting on a diaper, we have no problem to put on one for him, day and night. The process is moving on, albeit (very) slow, but we are happy about it.
With my girl though, as she is being cared for by a nanny, who uses cloth diapers almost whole day long and put my girl on potty on certain timing for pooing etc, she told me she is confident before my girl turns 18 months, she will be toilet trained fully! Let’s see how it goes, another 6 more months to prove this.
@Kam, exactly! I figured it was way too stressful having to fight with him about the potty, which would make it worse for everyone involved. But it’s kind of embarrassing cos most of the other kids in Tru’s school are toilet trained and he’s still wearing diapers. Maybe I’ll start intensive training during his 1-week break when daddy is around so we can split the duties.
Zoe turns 4 in November and she still wears diapers for pooping and sleeping. Tru’ll get there!
@Jean, Yay! I guess as long as they don’t show up at Primary School with diapers, great success?
Although I would rather not, cost-wise, I think I spend almost a hundred quid on diapers every month.