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| Packed to go to the park: spare undies, extra shorts & potty. |
I've been dreaming of the day for months. Well, years really. We started preparing for it ages ago: reading articles, buying special equipment & books. Now it's finally here: Sprout is using the toilet by himself & (when we're at home) not peeing or pooping in his pants. But we're not quite there yet & I could use some advice...
I remember almost three years ago, learning about elimination communication back when Sprout was a newborn & thinking it would be a great idea to never really use diapers in the first place, but we had enough on our plates to worry about trying to get breastfeeding to work for months, so EC fell by the wayside. Also: I wanted to leave the house & have a life. EC seemed to work best for homebodies & I'm not really that.
We did occasionally hold him on the toilet to get him used to the idea & got a hold of three little potties that we kept around the house, just in case he might want to pee in one. He'd sometimes come into the bathroom with us & sit down on it. Occasionally he'd even leave something behind.
I made a good attempt at training him in January, before he started full-time daycare when I went back to school. There was minimal progress--he just wasn't ready. So we waved the white flag & retreated. Six months later, now that he's finished daycare, Sprout seems much more ready for toilet training. His bowel movements (see, I warned you I'd talk about poop!) are now down from three a day to just once. He's been waking up dry in the mornings most days of the week too. He's perfectly capable of using the little toilet seat & pulling his clothes up & down.
After a couple of weeks of gradually increasing the time he spends in underwear rather than disposable training pants, it seems like he's pretty much good when we're at home or even other people's homes (as long as he has a similar little toilet seat or potty to use there). The two days I've tried him in underpants while at the Family Centre haven't been as successful. If he's playing & distracted, he just pees his pants unless I'm constantly vigilant for signs he needs to go. At least if we're outdoors, that's not so bad, but leaving a puddle of pee on the floor of a cafe?
So here's where I ask for advice from you who've been there done this. I don't know if he just needs more practice at going to more indoor public places like the Family Centre or cafes or if I should wait & keep using pull-ups when we're out at places like that. I'm hesitant to go back, because when he's wearing the pull-ups, even at home, he won't use the toilet because he knows he doesn't have to.
Any suggestions for me? How did toilet training go for you? Was it a lengthy process? Did you use incentives with your child(ren)?
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Main advice: ditch the pull ups and just go for it 100% of the time! Seriously, it sounds crazy and messy but it works. After a few embarrassing accidents (and you are embarrassed not your child!). Cafes, play places etc. have all dealt with puddles and really, pee is clean, right? It may be a long time before perfection is reached, in fact my daughter peed her pants once during kindergarten this year!! And she wasn't the only one!! Good luck:)
ReplyDeleteWe used diapers for outings for about a month, but we tend to stay home a lot more than you do, so it was really only dropping off and picking up Jonah. What about setting your phone on a timer, and just taking him to the toilet every hour or 2 hours (if he has great bladder control) when you are out? Then he will be less likely to pee in his pants.
ReplyDeleteThe girls never really used daytime pullups, just at night time because they weren't dry at night by the time they were dry in the day.
Does he get upset when he pees his pants? That might help avoid future accidents. It might be a few months before this works, but these days, if I can get everyone to pee before we go out, we're usually good for 2-3 hours before anyone gets the urge, so I can reduce the amount of trips I need to take to public washrooms. Otherwise, it always seems everyone wants to go at different times, but in public places, I need to take all 3 with me, so we spend all day in the toilet. :/