Friday, October 23, 2009

Potty Progress Report

***warning: drawn out post ahead, feel free to skip***

After four days of Potty Boot Camp, two of which were hard core, I have learned a lot about the topic, Christopher and myself. First of all, I wish I could have realized that I didn't have to take the "all or nothing" approach. We were on the right track earlier, I just should have added potty time more often to our routine. But nooOOOooo, I am stubborn as they come. I thought if I was diligent enough, Christopher would potty train quick, cause he's so brilliant and all (tongue in cheek). What I ended up with was lots of pee wiping instead. I was so nervous leaving him alone with just training pants on. It was exhausting following him around all day. For two days. Two sunny, beautiful days. At first I thought he wasn't physiologically ready, because he went so often. But later I realized it just correlates with drinking large amounts of fluid. He can stay dry 2-3 hours at time otherwise. The good new is, by having him wear the cotton pants, I know exactly when he goes, and so does he. Every time he would stop and say "poo-poo" (for some reason he calls both actions "poo-poo", another valuable piece of info I learned.) He understood the entire process: he'd pull down his pants, sits FOREVER on the potty, sometimes go sometimes not, put his wet pants in the hamper and get out fresh ones. The biggest problem was his brain couldn't get the message to the bladder fast enough. I kept waiting for him to announce the need before he went. By Wednesday's end, I was so confused about the path I should take with this endeavor. So Thursday morning I decided to back it off a bit; have patience. My new approach is this: potty him in the morning, around meals, before and after naps and outings, and before bedtime. As often as I can tolerate, he'll wear the training pants, to help him and me stay aware of his bodily functions. For outings it will be diapers.

Today we had a big event. He announced "poo-poo". I found him dry so I helped him to potty. While I dressed in my room, I overheard him saying "yay, yay" very calmly. I came out to find him carrying a bowl of pee very carefully to the toilet to dump it. He was so independent about it, the way he congratulated himself, taking the pot to the toilet without me and flushing. I was ecstatic! He got it! He felt the urge, responded and went! And cleaned up to boot! This was just what I needed for my spirits. I know it'll be a long road ahead, but at least I know we are getting through. We actually are having alot of fun with the process, and he and I have somehow gotten closer through this. Lesson learned: don't rush things, slow down and enjoy all the milestones, even the tasking ones.

2 comments:

Laura said...

Oh, sweet little Christopher, you make me smile so big with your cleaning up after yourself!!! Big smooches to you on your pottying adventure! :)

Abby said...

Very impressive! Both Christopher's ability at this young age and Mommy's patience lol!