Adventures in Potty Training Part 1: Potty What?

Well, since this is my 4th go-round of potty training I figure I should have this one in the bag, right? 

So...last July, I decided to take the plunge with my then, almost 3 year old.  So, I gathered my supplies...

Potty..................check!

 

Training Pants.....................check!

Motivating rewards.................check! 

(Junk food goes a long way in our house.)

Toddler ready to use the potty..................check!

 

Cleaning supplies..................check!

 

Well, off we went!  I've done this before; this shouldn't be too hard!

In all actuality, I was putting it off as long as I could for one reason, and one reason only...I hate potty training!

Even though three of my five children are potty trained, I really have no idea how I did it.  Probably because I didn't do it.  It was my children who finally decided to use the potty.  Eventually they decided it was worth it.  So, how do I get my child to decide it's worth it? 

I can tell you, I've tried many things.  I've tried potty training in a day/weekend, I've tried training pants, regular underwear, waiting till they were almost 4, I've tried treats, prizes, snacks, charts, I've tried, I've tried, I've tried...

You get the point.  It's been a few months, and do you know what?  Just like all the other children, we're still cleaning up accidents...daily.

I'm tired of pee on the floor, tired of trying to keep the baby out of the pee on the floor, tired of discovering pee stained pants tucked away in a cabinet (so that's where the smell was coming from), and I'm mostly tired of the books claiming to have the secret to potty training.  I don't think there is a secret...just survival.

Back to the drawing board we go, and I'm testing out a different approach.  I value my child learning the skill of taking herself to the potty, without mommy's suggestion.  After all, if I'm constantly telling her when to go potty, who's really being trained?  However, I may have to re-adjust my philosophy. 

My new idea?  Requiring her to use the potty before designated events of the day (such as meal time.)  We already implement this for nap time, so I'm just adding in meal time.  My hope is that these events will remind her to go on her own.  But I'm not telling her to go potty, just reminding her what she needs to do before eating....right?

I'll keep you updated on how this works, but until then...potty on my friends, potty on.

Caroline

Do you make adjustments in your potty training theories, or do you stick with the same method every time?

 

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