I am told not to stress about it; that eventually he will get it. It will just *CLICK* one day.
I have introduced my son to the potty. He seems genuinely interested in the potty. He likes to flush the potty. He likes to sit on the potty and read stories. He loves to pee pee in the potty and get M&M’s and Curious George stickers. He enjoys the excitement and celebration of going potty in the potty. You would think that potty training would be a breeze… It is not.
All of this is well and dandy when we use the timer, but he still doesn’t understand having to go in the potty when his body tells him he needs to go.
He can pee each and every time I put him on his potty seat, even if it is just a little bit. But if he needs to pee and the timer has not gone off he will pee in his big boy underwear right where he stands and continue to play as if nothing has happened. Apparently having to be wet and uncomfortable is not a very good deterrent.
I have stepped in little pee puddles. This is not a pleasant experience; in fact it is really gross. We go and get a towel and clean up the pee puddle together and talk about pee pee going in the potty. I can see it going in one ear and out the other! He just wants to clean up the mess and continue to play. AAAhhhh!
Don’t even get me started on pooping! He has not pooped once in the potty! I swear he waits until nap time or bed time to poop, just so that he can do so in the comfort of his diaper and the privacy of his room. He refuses to poop in the potty. When asked if he needs to go poo poo in the potty I get an adamant NO!
Part of me wishes he would poop in his big boy underwear. I think that if he poops in his big boy underwear and feels how yucky it is he will want to poop in the potty. I think that after he poops in the potty and sees how easy it is to clean up he will want to be potty trained.
Part of me wonders if pooping in the potty is my hypothetical cure to potty training. As if once he sees how easy pooping and peeing in the potty can be *poof* he will magically be potty trained! I know in the real world it will not happen like that; but here in Laura-land I can still hold out hope. Can’t I?
In conclusion, Cold Turkey Potty Training was both a success and a failure. Although my child is NOT potty trained yet, he does request to go pee pee in the potty for treats every once in a while. He will sit on the potty and go pee in the potty. He knows what the potty is and how to use it. On the flip side, he does NOT know when to use the potty if there is no timer telling him when to go. He refuses to poop in the potty. Potty training has not *CLICKED* yet.
We will be using diapers again, at least for a little while. I think we will wait until my son can better understand his body and be able to tell mommy or daddy when he needs to go. We will definitely be revisiting potty training again, hopefully soon. I personally believe that when you are too big for the changing table you are too big for diapers. Unfortunately, no one sent my children the memo, oh wait was that my job? Oops.
Potty training? Feel free to let me know how it is going for you. Have potty trained children successfully? Please leave a comment letting me know how you did it! Failed at potty training? Me too! Leave some comment love with sympathy stories; I would love to hear all about it.
