Potty training... Those two words will send shivers down any well seasoned mother's back. The hair on her arms will stand at attention, as the memories vividly flash through her mind.
Because every parent has at least one story.
I was completely blindsided by my daughter. She actually potty trained herself. I wasn't prepared for her to do it, but she took the lead and I followed. I wasn't one of those parents who pushed her children into training. I don't even like that terminology -"training"- I don't like it with sleep training, crying training, or the potty training. So, I never did it. All I did to have her use the potty was, continuously talked about the potty. How you're supposed to use it, what it is for, etc. I also started changing her diaper on the bathroom floor and would dump the solid contents into the toilet so she could connect the two. But I never forced her to sit on the potty once. She would sit on it fully clothed throughout the day and read stories to her toys, that was about as much potty use she would get. However, one day at 27 months, my daughter came up to me and said she wanted to use the potty. I took her, she used it. Then, she said she wanted to wear big girl undies, she did... And never had an accident since.
So, you would think I would be eager and confident to embark on "training" child number 2... Well, I still don't have the slightest clue on how to potty "train". Nor, would I attempt to go in that direction. In fact, my two children don't even have the same attitude about it, so even if I had a clue, it probably wouldn't work anyways.
My daughter was and is always eager to learn, to maximize as much information as possible, and then take that information and apply it so she could learn even more. My son appears to be ok where he is at and isn't too eager to move into another bracket.
He is 100% ok with using diapers... And he'll tell you that too.
My son, at 27 months, will take his pants and cloth diaper off (only urinated in once) and drop it into the bin, then attempt to place another diaper on himself. While watching this, I ask him what he is doing, he replies, "pee dipe." I say, "ok, where are you supposed to pee?" He says, "potty." I then ask, "where do you pee?" He replies, "dipe." I counter with, "would you like to use the potty to pee?" He concludes with, "no!"
I'm not sure you could argue with that logic. Especially since, he apparently has the system down to a science.
I have to laugh at this situation, because he knows what he is supposed to do, but apparently isn't ready to give up the security of having his diapers. I can't fault him for that, he's only 27 months. But, I think I could more understand his not wanting to use the potty, if he didn't have all the signs of readiness (and have a complete self changing system).
Thankfully, my laid-back personality/parenting style is keeping me at bay from attempting to push him into being fully "trained" by a specific time period. My type of parenting is to allow him to be ready, when he's ready. At least cloth diapers do not cost me a dime. Until then, I will laugh at his defiant nature, keep reassuring him that the potty is a good thing, continue to guide him, oh, and help him put a new diaper back on.
No comments:
Post a Comment