I've been meaning to update this site for some time but my real job has been kicking my ass. That, and I've resurrected my old (personal) blog so I haven't had much time for anything else and if I spent anymore time on the computer, my husband would divorce me and my child would be motherless.
Lately, I've been thinking about combining the two sites because it's becoming too much work to maintain both sites. I'm a little weary though, because my original intent for Dreamy Babies was to keep the content on here focused to baby-specific articles and information and I'm not sure if readers would want to read about the goings-on in my life other than baby-related posts. Then I see other sites that have baby and personal information and it makes them seem more... real; more approachable because they've been in my shoes before. So perhaps in the coming weeks, you may see more personal information making its way onto this site... I need some more time to think about this.
In other news, I'm proud to say that WE DID IT! Kayla is now fully potty trained and I wanted to share our story with my readers. I'll be honest and say that it was easier than I thought it would be.
About two weeks ago, I put Kayla in underwear. I decided that I was going to take the plunge and do away with the pull-ups that we've been using for about 2 months. My daycare provider also agreed that Kayla was ready and the prolonged use of pull-ups was making her lazy about going to the toilet. By that, I mean Kayla was pretty excited to use the toilet at first and would often tell us that she wanted to go but after a month or so of being in pull-ups, I guess she realized that she didn't have to stop what she was doing and go to the washroom because she could still go in her pull-up. That's when the toilet battles began and so I decided it was time. Here's what I did:
- The morning we started, I explained to her that she was not going to wear pull-ups anymore but big-girl underwear instead, just like Mommy. I pulled down my pants and showed her my underwear and then I let her choose which princess underwear she wanted to wear. I reminded her that because she was now in underwear, she couldn't go pee/poo in them because they weren't the same as pull-ups.
- Starting that morning, I monitored her fluid intake and took her to the toilet every 1-1.5hrs. I always took her to the toilet before sitting down for a meal, before going out, before nap and before bedtime.
- I would ask her on a regular basis if she had to go pee or poo and I would remind her as well to tell me if she had to go
- If she had an accident, I never made a big deal about it. I would tell her that's ok, we all have accidents. It feels yucky, right? (to which she would reply "yes"). Next time, please tell me if you have to go pee or poo. Then I would hug and kiss her.
The first day she didn't have any accidents. The second day, she had many accidents (about 5-6) but that was my fault because I would ask her if she had to go rather than just take her to the bathroom. Even though we went through a ton of pants, underwear and socks, I never scolded her or made a big deal about it; I would repeat that it was ok, to tell me next time and I would hug and kiss her. To be honest, I felt sorry for her because she had such a guilty look on her face everytime she peed her pants.
On the third day and the rest of the week, she didn't have any accidents. This is because I was very consistent in taking her to the toilet, even if she told me she didn't have to go. I think the problem was that she didn't want to stop playing with whatever toy she had in her hand so I would simply tell her to take it with us. Even if she sat on the toilet and didn't go, she still got lots of praises.
Addressing the no-pooping issue
Like many kids who begin potty training, Kayla had trouble pooping in the toilet. When she was in diapers/pull-ups, she would poop at least once per day; sometimes twice per day. When I put her in underwears, she was going maybe once every 2 or 3 days! I was worried that she would get constipated but my careprovider told me that as long as she eats well (lots of fruits and vegetables which she does 3 times per day) then she would be fine.
I didn't stress about it nor did I pressure her because I figured that her body would need to eliminate sometime so I continued to bring Kayla to the toilet and reassured her that it was ok to poop if she needed to. Sometimes she would whine and even cry; sometimes she just refused and wanted to get off the toilet asap. Either way, she still got lots of praises, hugs and kisses on and off the toilet.
Some things I learned:
- when Kayla gets distracted on the toilet, she won't go. This meant I had to creatively remove whatever was in her hands by saying something like: oh, let me take this and get you something different - it's way better
- she prefers to be alone to poop. I will tell her that I'll be just around the corner and I give her her privacy
- If she feels pressured in anyway, she won't go at all
I think the main thing that made this whole process easier than anticipated was the fact that I didn't rush her, I didn't get frustrated and I didn't stress over it. I think it made it easier for her too because instead of getting upset or frustrated if she didn't go or had an accident, I cleaned her up with a "it's not a big deal" attitude and the hugs/praises/kisses showed her that I wasn't upset or disappointed.
How long did it take? just over one week. My baby is a big girl now. Wah!
