My daughter and I began down the treacherous road of potty training nearly a year ago. Hindsight, I was a FOOL for pushing and starting as early as I did. She was about 18 months when we started and I was convinced that she was ready. But as we began each time it went like this: we tried for two days, I would get frustrated, she was clueless, I would be more frustrated and then I would give up. I did this several times over the past year. I began to push harder and harder the older she became. But it all boiled down to her not understanding why. Why was mommy so frustrated? Why can't I go in my diaper? And I had to start asking myself... why am I pushing so hard? I think every mom wants her child to be above average... including me. I finally let go about a month ago and Tah-Dah...she is potty trained. It was a piece of cake once she was
completely ready. Don't get me wrong we had our fair share of accidents. But here are a few tips that helped us succeed:
1. Get Naked: Let your child run around completely naked for at least four days.
2. No Outings: We didn't leave our house at all during the week. For anything. If you go out, you will probably put your child back in a diaper or pull-up and that is confusing for child.
3. Set a Timer: I set the kitchen timer the first couple days for every twenty minutes and we would only sit for a little bit, but she had to sit each time. This was only for a couple days!
4. Know what you are going to call "pee and poop" before you start: It was confusing for us because I started calling the toilet "the potty" and her pee-pee "potty" So I would say "Do you have to go potty on the potty?"How confusing is that!?!
5. Make a chart: there are four specific things I would do with this chart
a. Make it accessible: tape it up on the wall in the bathroom next to your child's potty.
b. Use stickers: stickers help your child be involved in the tracking process. Instant gratification. You go pee-pee on the potty and you get to put and sticker on your chart!
c. Have pictures of the items they are earning right on their chart: this way your child can see exactly what they are striving for.
d. Make the prize with in reach: I made my daughter's chart have 13 stickers to the first prize, 26 to the second and 39 to the third. A Dora book, then a My little pony, then a pink bike.
These guidelines I figured out as I went, but she really responded to the structure and routine of it all. She was excited about potty training and all the "jobs" she got to do! She finally understood how "big girls" do it and WHY. Our potty chart is finally full of stickers and Stina is getting her bike tomorrow!!
