Over Christmas we decided it was time to *attempt* to potty train T1. He is a very different kettle of fish to his brother. He lives life in a whirlwind, and barely has time to stop to eat, let alone wee into a potty.
It turns out he just wasn’t ready. Not stickers, nor sweets, nor chocolates could tempt him to remember to use the potty, and if we tried to remind him to sit on it he would turn from a cute, excitable toddler into an angry little monster. Two minutes after refusing to go on the potty or toilet, because he wasn’t “ready”, he’d have an accident and then more tears as he didn’t like being wet.
One day over the holidays I stayed home with T1, while husband took T2 and E out to visit their grandparents for the day. It was fantastic having time together (when the screaming had finally stopped because he was jealous of where his brother was going without him). He managed the whole day with only one accident and I thought we’d finally cracked it. Then his brother came home and the distractions started up again, meaning so did the accidents.
I was looking forward to being rich by only having to buy nappies for E, but alas I’m not going to force him. I know that one day he will just get it, and in the meantime I’m not going to spend my busy days cleaning up accidents.
Back in early Autumn, the lovely people at Dry Like Me sent me a couple of boxes of their potty training liners (a bit like panty liners that absorb little accidents) to try and a couple of their fab sticker charts. I’m sure that soon they will stop gathering dust and we’ll be able to use them. I know one day it will all click into place. I just hope that it’s before he turns 18.
In T1’s own angry tone: we’re just “NOT READY YET!”
Once my kids were interested in the potty concept — around 2 to 2 1/2 — we let them run around naked before bathtime and encouraged them to use the potty. Then I let them go sans pants at home for extended periods of time (they did really well remembering to go as long as they didn’t have any clothes on). After they mastered naked-potty use, we worked our way up to clothes (first just underwear, then eventually pants). This method was extremely painless — very few accidents or setbacks.