Log this post under Parenting 101. I’m letting you in on what’s going on in the Hale house, and hoping to start a discussion that will help some of my mom-friends.
In case you haven’t read my profile, lemme drop some Jennifer K. Hale basics on you. I am the mother of two young boys, ages 5 and 2.
We’ve recently started talking “potty” around the house again, preparing the 2 year old to ditch the diapers and graduate up to the Mickey Mouse & Thomas underwear.
In fact, for two days last week I started the potty training process, but after disasters both days, I quit. I think he’s still too young.
My oldest was nearly 3 before he was fully trained, so I’m not worried about my 2 year old. He’ll get there.
But when I was first thinking about potty-training my oldest, I did a lot of worrying about “how long” the process should take, “how old” was an appropriate age, and just “how to” do it.
All things considered, when I buckled down and did 4 straight days of nothing but hard-core potty time, my oldest was in dry underwear with no accidents and we never looked back.
Some friends and I were discussing the whole potty training issue over dinner the other night. (My, how girl-talk changes when the kiddos come along!) Several of us all had baby boys within a few months of each other, and one of those little guys, only 2, is completely potty trained, setting the bar pretty high for the rest of his buds. One of my friends hasn’t started the potty training process at all, so we were discussing techniques, incentives, and appropriate expectations.
Here are a few of my thoughts:
- I don’t think it’s a good idea to push potty training on a kid who’s too young.
- Letting my son “shoot” things in the toilet (like cereal) worked great for him.
- Pull-ups are a lot like diapers. Some kids don’t feel the difference and won’t treat a Pull-up any differently, so sometimes just going straight to real undies works best.
- Expecting your kid to be day-trained and night-trained at the same time isn’t a realistic expectation.
- If you really want your kid to get it, you’ve got to be willing to stay home and work on nothing but potty-training for a few days. (For working moms, this might work best over a long weekend or holiday.)
- My boys always preferred to be on the “big potty” rather than a plastic, small one, so we got one of the little seats that sits on the real toilet.
P.S. Obviously I have no idea what it’s like to train a girl. I hear they are easier and potty train earlier. If you have a daughter– lucky you. 🙂
Share with Me: How old were your kids when they were potty trained? What are your potty training secrets?
Hale and Hearty Words 