Day 2 of Toilet Training
I was waiting for a sign. Isaac simply had to announce the fact that he was going to poop before actually doing it. Steve and I decided this was the last sign of readiness, and that once it happened, we'd potty train Isaac. Sure enough, the day before yesterday, he announced his poop. Yesterday morning, he repeated the feat. So, as we had just run out of diapers, we thought the timing couldn't be better. We bought him some pullups and underwear, put his training potty in the living room, and had a talk with him.
Squatting to be at eye-level with him, I motioned to his training potty and said, "Isaac, from now on, you're to put all your pee pee and poo poo in this little potty." I took off his pants and diapers, and let him loose to glory in his nakedness.
The previous signs of readiness had all been met:
-He shows an intense interest in the toilet everytime we use it. If we're sitting on the toilet, he comes and sits in our lap. When his daddy pees in the toilet, he wants to pee in it too.
-He can pull his pants on and off, including his diaper.
-He holds his pee for a couple of hours at a time before letting it out.
-He wakes up dry from naps.
Because infant potty training is becoming more common, and because early potty training (12-18 months) is the norm in so many countries like China, I know there's no such thing as potty training too early. But, there is such a thing as potty training too late, of basically missing the window of opportunity created by your child's interest in the toilet and imitating Mommy or Daddy. In those cases, you wind up with three year olds who aren't potty trained, five year olds still wearing pull-ups, and the like.
Nevertheless, despite my "wisdom" in such matters, I must confess I wasn't really looking forward to the amount of work it would be to potty train Isaac. Isaac doesn't yet seem to understand peeing and pooping in his little potty, as thus far he's only peed in the big potty with Daddy. I suppose that if this is still a problem in about a week, I'll just permanently convert our guest toilet into Isaac's toilet by putting the stool under it and the toddler seat on it. But for now, I'm hoping he'll get used to doing his business in his own toilet, since it would seem to be so much faster and easier for him. Yesterday, he peed on the carpet at least 6 times and pooped on it once. Each time, I'd tell him his pee or poop don't belong on the carpet (or the chair, or his legs), take him to his training potty, and tell him that next time he should put his poop or pee in the potty. He did pee in his potty twice. So far today, he's peed in his potty twice, peed on a chair once, and pooped on the carpet once. I'm sure he would have had more "accidents" if we'd been at home, letting him run around naked.
But instead, I went to the Social Security office to replace a lost SS Card. The wait was about an hour and a half, and Isaac drank lots of water while we were waiting. He peed into his pull-up until it was quite saturated. In general, I don't like the idea of pull-ups or "training pants" as they're called. I fear they might prolong the length of time it takes to potty train a kid, especially for night-time sleep. Nevertheless, they come in handy. They're way less absorbant than diapers, so kids feel really wet when they pee in them. They pull up and down like underwear, so kids can get used to the idea of pulling underwear off and on to go potty. And they keep mommies and daddies free from potty-training worries when out in public. So, I'm thankful for them, although I hope their use is short lived. I imagine it will take two to three weeks before Isaac's fully potty-trained, and another two to three weeks before he's able to prevent the occasional accident caused by not getting his pants off in time or that sort of thing.
Yay! Steve just finished building shelves at the top of our garage stairs. He's wanted to do that as long as we've lived here, as a way to bring yet one more level of order and peace to his life. I'm so happy and proud for him.
Squatting to be at eye-level with him, I motioned to his training potty and said, "Isaac, from now on, you're to put all your pee pee and poo poo in this little potty." I took off his pants and diapers, and let him loose to glory in his nakedness.
The previous signs of readiness had all been met:
-He shows an intense interest in the toilet everytime we use it. If we're sitting on the toilet, he comes and sits in our lap. When his daddy pees in the toilet, he wants to pee in it too.
-He can pull his pants on and off, including his diaper.
-He holds his pee for a couple of hours at a time before letting it out.
-He wakes up dry from naps.
Because infant potty training is becoming more common, and because early potty training (12-18 months) is the norm in so many countries like China, I know there's no such thing as potty training too early. But, there is such a thing as potty training too late, of basically missing the window of opportunity created by your child's interest in the toilet and imitating Mommy or Daddy. In those cases, you wind up with three year olds who aren't potty trained, five year olds still wearing pull-ups, and the like.
Nevertheless, despite my "wisdom" in such matters, I must confess I wasn't really looking forward to the amount of work it would be to potty train Isaac. Isaac doesn't yet seem to understand peeing and pooping in his little potty, as thus far he's only peed in the big potty with Daddy. I suppose that if this is still a problem in about a week, I'll just permanently convert our guest toilet into Isaac's toilet by putting the stool under it and the toddler seat on it. But for now, I'm hoping he'll get used to doing his business in his own toilet, since it would seem to be so much faster and easier for him. Yesterday, he peed on the carpet at least 6 times and pooped on it once. Each time, I'd tell him his pee or poop don't belong on the carpet (or the chair, or his legs), take him to his training potty, and tell him that next time he should put his poop or pee in the potty. He did pee in his potty twice. So far today, he's peed in his potty twice, peed on a chair once, and pooped on the carpet once. I'm sure he would have had more "accidents" if we'd been at home, letting him run around naked.
But instead, I went to the Social Security office to replace a lost SS Card. The wait was about an hour and a half, and Isaac drank lots of water while we were waiting. He peed into his pull-up until it was quite saturated. In general, I don't like the idea of pull-ups or "training pants" as they're called. I fear they might prolong the length of time it takes to potty train a kid, especially for night-time sleep. Nevertheless, they come in handy. They're way less absorbant than diapers, so kids feel really wet when they pee in them. They pull up and down like underwear, so kids can get used to the idea of pulling underwear off and on to go potty. And they keep mommies and daddies free from potty-training worries when out in public. So, I'm thankful for them, although I hope their use is short lived. I imagine it will take two to three weeks before Isaac's fully potty-trained, and another two to three weeks before he's able to prevent the occasional accident caused by not getting his pants off in time or that sort of thing.
Yay! Steve just finished building shelves at the top of our garage stairs. He's wanted to do that as long as we've lived here, as a way to bring yet one more level of order and peace to his life. I'm so happy and proud for him.