Last Saturday we began potty training and haven't looked back. We packed away our cloth diapers and pulled out the big girl underwear. We armed ourselves with apple juice (a very rare treat for Joey), M&Ms, and the book Toilet Training in Less Than a Day. We meant business.
We had been casually potty training for probably more than a year. Every once in a while, Joey would show interest in the potty and want to use it. She has known what to do on the potty, absolutely. We were advised to give her rewards. She had a sticker chart in the bathroom, but didn't show much interest. We were advised to let her run around naked. She'd figure out what to do, we were told. She loved being naked, but also loved peeing and pooping all over the house. I feel that by taking a casual approach we not only delayed potty training but caused ourselves a lot of unnecessary stress.
Since Saturday we have had a lot of "accidents" and done a lot of laundry, but Joey is very close to being completely potty-trained. We are still having at least one "accident" each day, but they are becoming rarer. Joey has only had one bed-wetting incident and has no problem pooping in the potty. We often have to prompt her to use the potty, but she is also asking to go or going on her own. We have not potty trained in "less than a day," but using the methods outlined in the book have been valuable.
I'm not going to go into detail about the method that we used since there are numerous resources available at the library, bookstore, or on the Internet. I suggest that once your child exhibits signs of readiness, choose a method, research it, and stick to it.
No comments:
Post a Comment