Child on potty playing with diaper
Raising kids is one of the most satisfying jobs; however it could also turn into one the most daunting tasks. There are a few things which are very difficult to do; namely weaning, getting them hooked to solid foods, potty training etc. Of all the things I had to try for my son, how to potty train him was my biggest challenge. I tried to start his potty training right from his 23rd month and it took me all the way to the 25th month for him to start pooping in the potty. So the bottom line or the first rule of the game is “Have Patience”.
The fact that I didn’t have first hand experience in potty training made me nervous whether would I be able to teach him the right way? To avoid this confrontation with myself I kept my son in diapers the whole day. I feel that was my biggest mistake as there was no way for him to learn since he didn’t know there was another way around; of doing it in a potty. I knew I would need help on this and so I asked my sister who has 2 kids of her own. She told me to stop the diapers around the clock right away. She insisted that I keep him naked for a few hours. I did exactly that and trust me it was difficult as he used to pee in about every place he could and that made my work twice as hard. But I had to hang on. Finally after a lot of repetition and convincing I taught him to say “pee” each time he peed. In about 2 days, he started screaming “pee” after peeing. Not bad, at least he understood what peeing is. Somehow naturally he just learnt that he needs to say it before peeing and out of the blue he started telling me “momma pee” and I saw he hadn’t peed and that was a winning moment, I rushed him to the toilet and he peed in the toilet bowl. He found it amusing and started a routine. I learnt later that in such cases you can also take the child to the toilet every one hour and urge him to pee in our own way; it might take time but they do come around and then it becomes a habit.
However my son was still not potty trained. I decided that I will do this and in a way which will be fun for him. I bought him a colorful potty in a car shape. He loved cars so he was happy to have a new toy. He used to sit on the potty and try to push the potty around. But he ended up pooping in all the wrong places. I thought positive reinforcement should help so I kept a big jar of colorful M&M’s where he could see them and explained him that if he tells me he wants to poop and if he poops in the potty (I had to explain the car shaped potty wasn’t a toy) I would give him 2 M&M’s. He and I both made an attempt and within a week he started telling me when he had to poop. Off course there were times when he made mistakes and didn’t realize that he wanted to poop but then I guess we as parents should brace up for such occasions; after all it’s just a kid. But very soon those accidental mistakes stopped too and without me realizing, he moved on to our toilet bowl on his very own toilet seat.
With my son positive reinforcement worked, however there are a few other ways which you can try with your kids too and see which one works the best for you
- Showing picture books on potty training
- Making them train a drink and wet doll.
- Watching cartoon videos on potty training
- Watching a sibling pretend on a potty also can help
- Teaching them specific words when they get an urge to poop or pee
The list is long and you need to decide what works for your kid. However do not punish or force kids to do something they are not ready for. Also do not compare one kid with another. Every body has a different learning curve. Understand and teach them. They will have to learn sometime. Till then, just put up with it thinking they are the joys of parenthood.
