Well it's not my favourite part of parenting, as a matter of fact I loath potty training. If I could send my kids away for two weeks and have them come back potty trained I would. However, for most of us it is a must to potty train our own children. After psychologically scarring my first two children, I'm on my third stab at it.
I remember a more experienced friend of mine told me way back when, that the best way to do it was to leave your child running around the house without pants or underpants on and to keep a small potty within their reach. Ummmm....yeah, I'm not raising an orangutang here, there is no way that my little princess will be running around pantless while I'm scooping up behind her.
So, when my daughter turned 2, I bought everything from potty timers, to 3 different types of training pants, to sticker charts, to treat jars to you name it, it was ridiculous. I read potty training encyclopedias, I even resorted to....hold your breath..... punishing my child for having "accidents". Yes this went on and on and on, finally I told my three and a half year old, I'm done, you know what youre supposed to do I don't want to hear about it the next time you have to go on the potty, it's your business.
This whole charade started again with my second born, until one day I woke up and said o.k. you get one pair of underpants today, after those are dirty you don't get another clean pair. This new rule meant that if he soiled himself, he went around with no pants on for the rest of the day. Guess what, a funny thing happened, he would run to the potty, unpromted by me, to pee. This continued for about 3 weeks with little to no accidents or messy clean ups, until one day he kept his pants completely dry.
We'll I'd like to think that I've learned a thing or two over the past six years, I've come to the realization that there is no sophisticated way to potty train a toddler. Third time around I'm skipping the complicated mind games that left me and my tots strung out and I'm opting for a more "natural" training solution. Leave 'em bare and they'll get there.
I remember a more experienced friend of mine told me way back when, that the best way to do it was to leave your child running around the house without pants or underpants on and to keep a small potty within their reach. Ummmm....yeah, I'm not raising an orangutang here, there is no way that my little princess will be running around pantless while I'm scooping up behind her.
So, when my daughter turned 2, I bought everything from potty timers, to 3 different types of training pants, to sticker charts, to treat jars to you name it, it was ridiculous. I read potty training encyclopedias, I even resorted to....hold your breath..... punishing my child for having "accidents". Yes this went on and on and on, finally I told my three and a half year old, I'm done, you know what youre supposed to do I don't want to hear about it the next time you have to go on the potty, it's your business.
This whole charade started again with my second born, until one day I woke up and said o.k. you get one pair of underpants today, after those are dirty you don't get another clean pair. This new rule meant that if he soiled himself, he went around with no pants on for the rest of the day. Guess what, a funny thing happened, he would run to the potty, unpromted by me, to pee. This continued for about 3 weeks with little to no accidents or messy clean ups, until one day he kept his pants completely dry.
We'll I'd like to think that I've learned a thing or two over the past six years, I've come to the realization that there is no sophisticated way to potty train a toddler. Third time around I'm skipping the complicated mind games that left me and my tots strung out and I'm opting for a more "natural" training solution. Leave 'em bare and they'll get there.
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