Potty Training. Diaper free?

Potty training is one of the more frustrating aspects of parenting young children. We cannot wait for the time when we no longer have to change diapers. Many of us start too soon, in the hopes our child will be fully trained before he or she turns two. We often rush them because another child is on the way, or we are worried he or she will still be in diapers when school starts. This is a serious concern in Ontario with Junior Kindergarden, and some children starting school at three years old.

You might be one of those lucky parents who never had to deal with accidents, and kids refusing to poop or pee on the toilet. Some kids are extremely easy to potty train, and ready for underwear much earlier than other children. Sometimes the kids are ready before the parents are.

We have no control over our child's bodily functions, and actions. When your daughter or son decides it is time to be a "big kid" that is when he or she is ready. It is like walking, eating, and sleeping. They don't have control over much in their lives, but what they can control drives us parents nutty.

Not ten days ago I was ready to throw in the towel with regards to my son's progress. I was thinking back two years, to the summer when my daughter stopped wearing diapers. One day, she had three accidents on the floor. I put her back in diapers, and waited a few more weeks. When I tried again, she peed on her potty every time she needed to go, and within a month, we were out of diapers. A couple of weeks later, she was dry through the night as well.

We started training my son in the summer. He was a little slower on the uptake. I also did not pressure him as much as I pressured his sister, initially. I knew he would be ready when he decided he was ready. I had not seated him on the potty regularly prior to this summer. My daughter used to love to read books while sitting there for half an hour. My son would sit for three seconds, then get up, having done nothing.

We eventually got to the point, mid summer, where he was trained if he was naked. This does not work well if you want to leave the house. Outside of the home, he was still wearing diapers, and he would usually pee if he had diapers on. Eventually, we managed to get him to not pee in his underwear, in the house. I started getting braver, and, by the time school started, I would take him to playgroups in underwear (and pants, of course).

For the most part, it would work, but we would have a few accidents, usually at home. He was lasting longer, and longer without peeing, but we were still ending up with wet or dirty clothes. He continued to wear a diaper for his naps. (Another difference between my children. My daughter gave up naps at two and a half, but my son still needs naps at three.)

My frustrations culminated when I tried to go shopping in town, diaperless. The poor guy peed and pooped in his underwear while we were in a store. I should have taken him to the washroom instead of asking if he needed to go, because the answer is always no. I had a change of clothes for him, and put him in a diaper for the rest of the afternoon, while we continued shopping.

Then, he had two more accidents on the couch. The first was because he was watching tv, and didn't want to miss his show. The second one was ten seconds after I told him to go to the washroom, and pee. In my head, I thought, maybe he is not ready. Maybe we should go back to diapers full time, and we can try again in a few weeks, like I did with my daughter.

The next day, though, I tried one more day in underwear. And, we did not have any accidents. I gave him a star for an accident free day. Diapers at night, but another accident free day, another star. Prior to this, he had been getting stars, and tatoos for every potty usage. It was getting ridiculous, with him peeing or sitting on the potty every 30 minutes, and whenever he wanted a prize. This new method seemed to be working.

Eventually, he didn't want to wear diapers at night. I told him, he would have to wake up dry for me to let him sleep in underwear. The first night, he woke us up at 1:40am to pee. I began dreading having to wake up in the middle of the night again, but the next night, when he was in underwear, he slept through. He was dry when he woke, and peed in the morning.

We decided if he could earn seven stars for accident free days, he would get a big prize. We went to the store, and picked out a Lego, and a Winnie the Pooh toy. He made it six days straight without an accident, and even had five dry nights. The accident day was when we travelled to see my parents, and he refused to pee in the public toilets. I didn't want to say anything about our success earlier because there is always the jinx that happens when you talk about good behaviour.

We already have a few mini accidents while at my parents, but all in all we seem to be doing well. I feel I can talk about the progress without fear of regression. So, just when I was ready to give up, my son decided he was ready to give up diapers. I think we might be done with diapers. Know anyone who would like to buy a bunch of cloth diapers? They served us well these past five years.

Bye bye diapers!

 

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