The Perils of Potty Training...
“Mummy, I just pooed,” has got to be one of the worst things to hear while you’re sitting in a restaurant. Or driving down the motorway. Or walking around the shops. Unfortunately, I’ve heard it in all of these places, and more. My daughter was a dream to potty train. My son… not so much. Let’s just say that I took to carrying spare clothes and baby wipes around with me.
We tried star charts, praise, ignoring accidents, and lengthy discussions, but what worked in the end was good ol’ bribery. Both him and his sister got a sweet if he used the potty or toilet. She quickly caught on and was practically dragging him to the
loo every 10
minutes. Admittedly, there were a fair few accidents and our house did not smell overly pleasant for a few days, particularly as we were also house- training our rescue dog at the same time (in for a penny and all that). However, he soon mastered ‘big boy stand-up wees’. Pooing, on the other hand, took longer.
My partner and I couldn’t understand what the problem was and I’ll admit we were starting to get a bit frustrated. He eventually told us that he was scared. Presumably he didn’t like the feeling of it, and he was worried he was going to fall down the loo as well. So we held his hands while he was on the toilet, sang silly songs, made him laugh and let him watch us on the loo. We talked about his fears, read children’s books about potty training and let him have fun fl ushing the loo. And soon he wasn’t scared anymore. He hasn’t had any accidents for a few weeks now. I’m sure there will still be the occasional one, but hopefully we’ve cracked it.
So if you’re struggling with potty training, hang on in there. It may seem like a tortuous process, but you’ll get there in the end. In the
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meantime, here are a few pointers that helped us:
• Wait until they’re ready. Ideally, they
should start showing an interest in the toilet, telling you when their nappy is wet and recognising when they need to go. This can be anything from 18 months to over three years old.
•
But don’t wait too long. Left to his own devices, I think my son would still be in nappies. We waited until he was almost three and half. I actually think we should have started earlier.
•
Read children’s books about potty training with your child.
• Off er them lots of praise for trying, even if they don’t manage to do anything.
• And yes, a chocolate button as a reward can make all the diff erence.
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