Hey guys! Let’s talk about potty training your toddler. Okay, my daughter has really been potty training a few months now, technically. I started her at 12 months when I noticed she would poop and then march right over to me pulling at the diaper. Now if you’re thinking it’s early, that’s true. But I don’t believe a child should still be wearing diapers if they’re talking to me. If the child can talk, he/she should be able to tell me they’ve pooped and if they’re able to do that, then they can say when they’re about to. In the Caribbean, Jamaica at least, kids go to school as early as two years old. Most schools won’t accept a child not potty trained. So I thought I would share the steps I’m taking to potty train as a first time, mom.
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Step 1
So around her first birthday, Boobles and I started telling her “Poo poo!” whenever she pooped and told her we were taking her to change her diaper. The point was allowing her time to make the connections between poop, the words ‘poo poo’ and changing the diaper. She caught on pretty quickly, within a week or two, she would squeal ‘Poo Poo?’ while getting her diaper changed.
Step 2
At fourteen months, I broke out the actual potty. (Jamaicans generally say Chimmy). If you’re like most Jamaicans, one was included in the bath set laden with products purchased before birth in preparation for the baby. So she’s literally had it before she was born.
The first day, I put her on the potty around the time she poops in the morning after her bottle and spent the better part of about 45 minutes repeating the words ‘Potty‘ and ‘Poo Poo’. Nothing happened. She sat interested watching me and listening to me. Eventually fascination with her vagina set in and we concluded our first lesson.
The second day, I did the same thing. Give her the bottle and when she finished, took her into the bathroom to use the potty. I sat down and started the mantra of “Go Poo Poo, Shivy! Go Poo Poo!”
She did her business in less than five minutes. Once she did, I praised her, made a big deal about her going. Clapping and saying “Wooo! Awesome! Good Job!” At the time she was really into high fives so we high fived as she grinned and watched my reaction to her “Pooping on the potty.”.
I’d been prepared that it was just beginner’s luck, but not so. She would sit down, relax with whatever I gave her to play with, do her business and get up. Eventually, I learned that if she didn’t poop after five to ten minutes of sitting down, she had no plans to for the entire morning.
Step 3
Her bowel movements are not as scheduled. She’ll even skip a day and go several times the next day. So I have no way to anticipate when she might Poop. So far, if she stoops and says “Poo Poo” and I rush her to the toilet, she cancels the main event for a few hours.
This is where we are currently. She started stooping and saying “Poo Poo” before she poops. I’ve bought one of the baby toilet seats for her. And I’ve put her on a couple of times without success. The reason is two-fold. She’s older and eating more regular food than baby food.
The second thing is, even though I’ve been let her see me use the toilet, she hasn’t quite made the connection yet.
We’re working on it though. She’s only seventeen months old and I’m not pressuring her. If she continues this way, we’ll be successful in at least getting her to tell me when she wants to poop as her vocabulary improves.
Way to go, Sio! šŖ
UPDATE:
Potty Training Update; She regressed
Much later, my daughter regressed on her progress. After reading, I found out that’s common when potty training kids are moved from the floor potty to the seat too quickly.
So there I was, too far away from my mom and a child who was no longer progressing. I was going through panties every few minutes and puddles so often, my toddle would peel them off and get the mop herself. I was this close to shipping her off to my mother-in-love to let her handle it, to be honest.
I decided to give it one last go. Another mom who was potty training at this same time gave me a piece of advice that I foils to be absolutely golden.
When she messes the panties, don’t change her right away. Let her keep it for about ten to fifteen minutes. Tell her why you aren’t changing her.
On the first try, when she came to me to change her wet panties, I didn’t right away. I explained and she looked at me with a confused but later ‘ooooh’ kind of expression. I did the same thing with her poop. Later that same day, this kid walked straight up to me and said she needed to pee. About five minutes after we had just set her down to pee and she had. I figured she wouldn’t and was just repeating me, but took her nonetheless. Boy was I shocked when she actually peed. I did the whole create an excitement, jumping up and down and praising her routine.
That seemed an odd thing as a parent who always changed my kid’s diaper as soon as it needed to be. But, I thought the logic made sense and therefore deserved a try.
She literally has been potty trained from that moment on, a little after she turned 2, she has been potty trained! Within a few months, the nighttime diaper also went! We’d let use the potty before bed, and wake up about midnight to go again. Sometimes she did, sometimes she didn’t. Eventually, when she did have to go in the middle of the night, she would wake up and let us know.
Boy, was I glad to saunter past that diaper isle! I still do like a boss. A mom boss!
I hope you found this blogpost helpful! Good luck on our own journey potty training!
Xo, Shandean
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