Potty Training Woes

Let's face it, one of the joys (or pains) about raising a child, is being responsible to teach them the basics. Like, how to feed yourself, how to put your clothes on, and how to pee in the toilet. It's been almost three months since Micro first began preschool, and one of the requirements of this particular preschool program was for the child to be potty-trained. Yes, we could have sent Micro to a preschool where they would aid, or rather, take care of the potty-training for us. But you see, those preschools cost an arm and your first born. Since we were on a wait list for this preschool, my approach to potty-training was inconsistent. I heard it's harder to potty-train boys and that most boys begin to show an interest right around the age of 3. To each your own, but I'll share you with how potty-training has been for us.

You see, I did not follow a specific program nor truly dedicate enough time to teaching Micro how to go pee-pee in the toilet. I've heard numerous stories and received lots of free advice about the best way, the "proper" way to do potty-training. It was overwhelming,and I just did what I felt might work for us. Mr. Fliz and I agreed to start some "training" soon after Micro turned 3. In the weeks leading up to my "intent" on starting the training, I had Micro follow his friends, cousins, Daddy, and I, into the bathroom to see how we do our business. Yeah, exposure. Monkey see, monkey do. Follow it up with positive reinforcement. Sounds easy, right? Micro didn't flinch. He could've cared less what those kids were doing in the bathroom. So I waited another week or so, til he showed more interest. But I didn't give up.

I talked to our pediatrician who suggested to start monitoring his intake of foods/liquids and encourage him to try and go every 15 minutes or so to start. She also suggested waiting til Micro could stay dry for longer than a few hours to show he could hold his bowel movements. Once I saw these little signs I felt ready to begin training. I turned to the trusted method of bribery. I promised him we'd get the cool "Cars 2" pull-ups and did the reward chart. That, actually worked. We went through a few reward charts, bought him some "great job" toys, and praised the nugget when he did it right. Surprisingly, there were no accidents to clean up on my unforgiving white carpet. Most occurred in the bathroom. Though he still has a hard time doing #2 in the potty, he has managed to stay dry through the night, wet his bed only twice, and just recently, peed standing up. That last part is in many thanks to my sister and J dawg. To this day, he hasn't had any accidents at preschool either, but I'm sure this won't last. 

I was not overbearing towards the potty-training, but in hindsight, if Mr. Fliz and I did commit to a week or a few days of hard-core potty-training, Micro might have learned faster and better. Either way, our casual, though a bit inconsistent, approach worked for us. 

There's no real advice I can give to other parents trying to conquer the potty-training woes. In fact, we're still working on Micro wearing undies ALL the time (this may be part of my commitment/inconsistent problem), not just 87% of the time, doing the dirtiest of his business in the potty ALL the time, not just some of the time. All I can say, is hang in there. As is with everything in life, this too shall pass. Your kid WILL learn to go to the bathroom properly. He/she will master this. I would just do your best to wait and see when your child has shown some interest to make the training easier on you. 

A few weeks ago, I bought another pack of CARS 2 undies, a size bigger than the ones he's wearing now, and currently, I promised him he could wear those after he does his #2's in the potty 3 times in a row. We have not opened the pack. Nowhere close.