Friday, January 04, 2008

I know, but it is driving me nuts!

Probably the biggest hurdle in parenting thus far has been potty training. What is it about potty training that just drives parents nuts. Perhaps it is the hassle of cleaning up messes that previously had been at least contained. Cleaning up a dirty diaper is a lot easier than cleaning the carpet. Other things take babies time to learn too like walking and talking, but the process is a whole lot cleaner than potty training.

Vivian will be two in March, and she is interested in the potty already. I am happy about that. She has yet to go on it, but she seems to know what it is for. She tells me when she has gone in her diaper, when she has a diaper on. She doesn't want to keep her diapers on. I must put her diaper back on twenty times a day. She takes it off, sits on the potty, does nothing, and then wants to run around the house bare bottomed. I've used the three days naked method before, and it does work, but I've always used it in the summer. Ya know, when it is warm outside, and any accidents can happen in the grass.

I know this running around with cute baby cheeks showing to the world is a step toward potty training, but I'll tell you it is driving me nuts!

9 comments:

  1. I feel your pain. Mary Margaret is FINALLY trained. We managed it at Thanksgiving (she'll be 4 next week). William, who was 2 in October, voluntarily pees on the potty several times a day, now that Mary Margaret is doing it, but only when it occurs to him, so he still needs a diaper. (I too was going to wait until summer.) And like Vivian, he will not keep them on. I'm forever finding him naked. He's also fond of putting a completely clean unused diaper in the trash. Or the cat pan.

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  2. By the way, have you heard anything from Kentucky Hollers lately? She hasn't posted since Thanksgiving. I know she is a lot busier than I am (I don't have a farm), but you still find time to blog. I hope she hasn't been ill.

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  3. You may not like it, but I say strike while the iron is hot. She may not be interested in the spring. She's ready and willing now. :)

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  4. I depise potty training. I love being a mom and enjoy my children, but HATED potty training with a passion!

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  5. this is so funny. i just started potty training isaiah today and i realized why i've waited this long. i must have been sub consciously remembering how much of a pain it was when caelyn was potty training. i want to say forget it already and it's only been half a day!! but i know i'll be thankful to only have one in diapers when the baby comes.

    kellie

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  6. Your method sounds similar to what I did with the boys.
    I gated off the kitchen and found myself stuff to clean for a few days. (Don't read into the fact that I scrubbed the kitchen for a whole day and a half)
    I gave them as MUCH as they wanted to drink and whatever they wanted to drink (within reason) and kept the potty there in the kitchen. If mistakes happened it wasn't too horrible to clean up.
    We also used a peeing baby doll which was harder to find than you'd think! We ended up getting a junky one at Dollar General.
    The boys made the baby pee in the potty and they picked up on peeing in the potty too.
    A little more than 24 hours later we didn't use one more diaper! The boys were already waking up dry and not in a baby bed so we didn't even use them at night.

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  7. I am SO GLAD I'm past that stage!! Matthew was easy- Steven wasn't. Steven's big thing now is... well, interesting. He thinks that if he goes without holding "it" he doesn't have to wash his hands. Makes for a daily clean-up job!

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  8. Someday this chapter will be for you, like me, a "distant memory." :-) I remember potty training, but I don't recall it being traumatic at all, esp. with the second kid. I sent him to the bathroom with his father or brother and he copied what he saw. I do remember #1Son being very helpful and anxious to teach his little brother what to do. And keeping Cheerios in there for them to aim at. :-)

    Thanks so much for participating in this week's Carnival of Family Life hosted at Pajama Mommy Community! Be sure to drop by and check out some of the other wonderful entries this week!

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  9. We are in a similar situation with our little lass who is just over 2. She will run around bare bottomed until I say something about going to the potty then she wants her diaper back on. We use cloth so she doesn't throw them away, thankfully but I have found them hidden in odd places like her toy box.

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