Hey Guys!
So
for almost a month I have been potty training Kayden. I decided to
discuss the whole process with all of you, and hopefully share some of
my insight.
How to know when they are ready
Kayden
started verbalizing a lot more. Everytime I changed his diaper I would
say whether he peed or took a poo. This help familiarize him with the
differences between the two. We were also going through less wet
diapers. It would be lunchtime and I often wouldn't have changed it
unless he took a poo. This meant his bladder was growing and he was able
to hold his pee for longer which was great. Kayden would also tell me
when he peed. He would grab the front his diaper and wouldn't like how
it felt. I knew it was time to get things started.
What you need
Pull ups and diapers (30$ for size 2T-3T and you get 74 in a box)
Potty seat ( We got ours online for about $14)
Wipes for the toilet (when you child poo's, they work great for toilets because they wont clog them) $3
Underwear (pack of 4 for $10)
Treat/reward
What I did
We
started on a weekend because his dad was home and was able to help out.
At first Kayden freaked out whenever we put him on the toilet. He
didn't understand what was happening, but we continued to reassure him.
We started using pull ups unless we were going out or Kayden was
napping. We refer to them as underwear, and started saying that we don't
pee/poo in them. The weekend was hard, he didn't actually pee in the
toilet until atleast 3 days later. I was frustrated as well. The first
week we put him on the toilet every 20 minutes, then 30 minutes the next
week and so on. This allowed for a natural increase in the amount of
time in between bathroom visits and he hasn't noticed that he needs to
hold for a longer amount. Some people use stickers then give their child
a reward after they get a certain amount. We chose to give kayden a
small treat. Right now we are using skittles, 1 skittles when he pee's and 2
when he poo's. It has worked wonders for us. He is so motivated to use
the toilet and runs to the bathroom when I tell him it's time to pee. It
is true what you hear, you need to cheer loudly an make it seem like
they did the greatest thing ever. Now I've toned it down it down quite a
bit, I still cheer when Kayden does go to the bathroom but now he knows
that he's done a good job so he does a thumbs up and he gets excited
himself. The great thing is on the weekend his dad's home so his dad
makes a really big deal out of it because he's not here during the
weekdays to celebrate those moments so there's still a lot of excitement
for Kayden.
Review on products
The
first brand of training pants we bought was pampers and I will tell you
I do not care for their version of it at all. One of the biggest things
we did not like was we had trouble knowing which was the front and
which was the back. On the box there was no clear distinction of how to
put them on, I actually had to google it myself. I then found out the
pattern that does need to remain at the front because that will fade
once your child has soiled the diaper. Another thing I did not care for
was the sides of the training pants. One of the things that Parents will
find when they are potty trained their child is the ease of opening the
sides if they do happen to make a mistake and go to the bathroom in a
training pants. Kayden is amazing at peeing in the toilet, the one thing
that I am trying to get him comfortable with is pooping in the toilet.
He has expressed to me that he is scared, I don't know exactly what he
is scared of but that is something I am working with him on. As a result
he does still poop in his training pants and I did find when opening
the side you really have to pull on them and you really do see a clear
distinction between training pants and diapers and it is so difficult to
open up the side you almost yanking it. And once you have opened up the
sides you cannot close it back up it's basically opened it and then you
gotta throw it out so that part was not a plus in my box.
I
personally do not have a preference when it comes to diapers. I bought
Huggies because it was on sale and it was something that I was able to
easily find in my local Walmart. I was under the impression before
purchasing Huggies that the pampers style was the style of training
pants everywhere. I was so relieved to find out that Huggies was a
million times better then pampers. One of the major pluses was a clear
distinction with the front and the back of the training pants. Huggies
clearly stated back on the training pants are there was no confusion.
The pattern for the front of the training pants was bigger and it was
more clear when it comes to your child to soiling the training pants.
there was a picture within a circle and it was so much easier and
quicker to read whether not the child has soiled the training pants then
peppers. Also the sides of the training pants were quite similar to a
diaper. If I would compare it to anything I would probably say it's
almost like a Velcro and the great thing about it was if you did open it
as a diaper you could quite easily close it back up and you would feel
confident that it was still secure on your child.
Because
we live in an apartment buying something for kayden to train on was
difficult. Experts say it's important for toddlers to only use the potty
in the bathroom so they associate going to the bathroom with that room.
Also, once you take the toilet out of the room, and place it in the
kitchen, bedroom, hallway etc for instance it can become a toy. We
decided to get the seats that fit on top of the toilet. It helped save
on space and Kayden loves it. There are two handles on the side for
kayden to hold onto, and we can tuck it away nicely when he is not using
it. With a tiny bathroom it such been such a relief that it doesn't
clutter up the space.
My thoughts
Potty
training is exhausting. You are constantly getting up and sometimes
chasing after your toddler because they think it's a game. Sometimes you
think they are never going to catch on, and yes, I have a few days
where kayden rarely pees in the toilet and I feel like I'm back
peddling. You honestly need to take it one day at a time and im just
focusing on Kayden staying dry in the daytime. I don't want to overwhelm
anyone. I keep it short and sweet on the toilet. I don't force him to
sit if he's fussing because it's counterproductive. He knows there's an
incentive if he goes and that's enough.
