i will keep this as neutral as possible so that you don't know who's on what side but i need some advice from those who have gone before us.
on potty training caleb.
let's just be honest here and say we have put forth 0% effort so far in this endeavor because to be honest, we have just been lazy. (there were legitimate reasons at the group home, but since september, there has been nothing but lame justifications.)
but the time has come.
so here's the dilemma:
we are going to utah in about 2 weeks for almost a month to spend time with family and friends. there is a slight possibility that ben & i will be going away for one of those weekends for a little anniversary getaway & we will be asking one lucky set of family members to help out with caleb.
so we basically have 2 weeks to have caleb master the skill of using the potty like the big boy he claims he is.
side 1) wants to do this. NOW. we are all prepped and ready with candy, toys, a big can of resolve and a weekend where after tomorrow we don't have much going on. the goal is that he can be all finished (except for maybe overnight sleeping) by the time we head out of town. plus doesn't dr. phil say it can be done in one day??
side 2) is more hesitant. not because they don't feel the urgency, but is considering an 11 hour car trip with stops in (ew) truck stops, etc. then there will be possible accidents at relatives' homes, and the possibility of leaving a newly-trained bladder with some un-ready relatives for the weekend. besides, caleb is so small that he can't get up on the toilet without help & one of those little toilet cover things. so we would probably be bringing his potty training toilet with us everywhere we go.
both have legitimate arguments. the boy is 3 1/2 for pete's poss. granted, he still wears 2T and those fit loosely so he may not look the part. but he is supposed to be going into primary in january and even though i don't necessarily care, we get "looks" from others who are like, he's not potty trained yet?
he has never gone through the stage of ripping off his diaper, or even sitting down on the potty just for fun. he himself has convincing arguments as to why a lifetime of diapers would not be so bad. but are we going to take advice from a 3 year old? not likely.
so help, please!
comment away. just please don't criticize us for our slothfulness. we aren't perfect you know.
16 comments:
I would honestly test the waters. See how he reacts. He might totally surprise you and take the potty training thing by storm and never look back! If he is more resistant, hold off. At least you will have exposed him to the idea...
Good luck! This is a totally tough situation!
In my opinion I would wait until the baby is born because it will rock his world as well as travleing. Change is hard for little kids. But if he is ready give a shot for a few days and see how it goes and then decide. There is nothing concrete about it. But I would just put him straight into underwear, no pullups and just really work on going to the potty every 1/2 hour. That is what we did with both kids, but my first was potty trained in less than a week. A good indicator for knowing for sure if he is ready is if he is dry at night. Good luck. I always say potty training and getting up with kids in the night is the worse thing about parenting when they are youg :) P.S. Happy Thanksgiving and sorry for my book :)
Well, my boy has only been potty trained for a couple of months and he is almost 4. What we did was a sticker chart. That seemed to motivate him. Also every time he pooped on the potty he got a piece of train track. When he made it to the end of the chart he got a train for his track. Of course he has still been having plenty of poop accidents, but his potty skills have improved. We just use pull ups for bedtime.
Good luck.
Well I don't feed my kids peas but I will tell you this...potty train the kid! My mom potty trained my little brother Bret on a week long road trip we took to Pennsylvania. She brought the potty and dumped it at various stops like the Football Hall of Fame, Mesa Verde Indian Ruins, Four Corners, Huck Finn's house and so on. So long story short potty train him before the baby comes so you won't have to keep buying diapers. You CAN DO IT!!! Tell him Kali pees in the potty :)
We too were slothful parents and didn't push the potty training until our son was older. (We also didn't take away his botte until he was past two, I know we are bad parents). My mother was watching him for a couple of weeks and after a couple of days of changing diapers she said "No More diapers" and in a day it was done. so my advice is to take him to my mom for a day and let have at it. I don't know what she did but it worked.
My opinion is either way will be just fine. So it doesn't really matter one way or the other. Try the potty training and if it doesn't work then oh well it doesn't.
I agree with the Beazer fam. Either way works but I am no help on this matter... I am also wondering if I can send Addy to this magical mom that can potty train in a day and I don't have to worry about it... :) Is she for hire? (hee hee)
I know you are probably busy when you come here but I sure hope my house might be a stop for some christmas caroling.... you know where I live :)
I agree with Rachel, try it out, and if he runs with it, you'll be fine on the drive and at people's homes, if he's oppositional, wait 'till you get back and try in January.
So, Yes, lets get together while you're here. I'll supply the WIC milk and cheese ;)
I'm with Beez in the Treez....give it a try and if he isn't ready go back to diapers. I mean, maybe he'll be a potty prodigy...but if not then try it later. Seriously I've never known a man in his twenties who poops his pants...well...maybe I have!
DO IT!! And seriously, just ditch the dipes altogether! (Other than night time.) Go straight to unders and just take him every half hour or so. Don't even ask, "Do you need to go potty?" Without fail, (even now) my kids always told me, "no." Just say, "hey, come with me!" And go to the potty, sit, and talk about all sorts of other things, not the toilet. (Not promising this will work, but Hazel was super resistant to going to the potty, even though I KNEW that she could do it. So I would just take her. I wouldn't even talk about using the toilet and eventually, she just got so used to staying dry that she took herself. Lilie had NO problem using the potty. She took to it like a champ and never looked back. So it's kind of a case by case basis, but DO IT!) I WOULD NOT wait until bebe comes. There is seriously no reason to not do it now --- and grandmas are excellent potty trainers. If you've got a full month in Utah, why not? I MIGHT (if he's still having a hard time staying dry more than an hour or so) put him in a diaper for the ride up to Utah.
Each of my boys have been different. Bridger was my oldest by almost six months. He would always just say "i'm good mom". I had to BRIBE him to finally go in the potty. A bucket of cars was all it took. He was 100% trained in two days. We still wore pull-ups at night, because who wants to keep washing sheets? I went to the store bought hi, his "NEW undies, chocolate milk and some cars. It worked like a charm. Just remember for those potty training days, you CAN NOT leave the house. Good Luck.
Uhhh...yeah...good luck with that. I have no advice. We are lame and lazy and we wait until they are 3. :)
That reminds me, Regan is 3...I guess we wait until they are 3 1/2. hee hee
Honestly - after potty training two kids (a girl and a boy), I found that this book was awesome!! Potty Train in Three Days by Lois Kleint I didn't find it until I was potty training Chase, wish I'd found it when we potty trained Kaitlyn... anyway, it worked great! The hardest part of potty training is just sticking with it...
PS - I should add that following the process in that book - Chase never had accidents, even at nap or bedtime. Whatever method you do try, don't use pull-ups... they only hinder the potty training process...
Hey guys,
I would say to give it a go before you come up here and see what he does...if he is not ready then wait until you are back from Utah. I would really try hard to do it before the baby come because with big changes like that kids can regress to more baby-like behaviors as a coping mechanism. It is a lot to ask of a little person to adjust to a new baby and learn to potty train. Also, if he is potty trained by then don't be surprised if he starts having accidents or asking for diapers again. We used to see it all the time in the hospital when kids had surgeries etc. They revert to that more baby-like behavior because it is safe when they feel stressed and out of control. Don't feel bad either. You guys are awesome parents...and I am no expert either since Isaac still wakes up in the morning soaked through his diaper and up to his nipples and still won't drink milk from anything but a bottle! Can't wait to see you! Maybe he can come hang with us and he and Isaac can learn together!?! Al
All kids develop differently. My first was pretty easy. The sencond was VERY challenging. So with my third, I am in no hurry at all. Do it when you think he is ready, you have lots of patience, and you can be home all day!
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