So if you are like me you are dreading potty training, and just the thought of shit stained carpets and soaked pants is sending you into a spin ?
People advising to take a 2 weeks of work just to deal with shit and wee all day, no thank-you i say.
I had so much advice thrown at me from family members, friends and randoms that i didn't know what i was doing. This is some of the wonderful things people suggested:
Hold them on the potty, i mean really it was like holding a slippery drunk fish. This was fail 1.
Sit them with the I pad on the toilet, apart from the obvious sanitary issues with this, my little one just saw it as some extra screen time. This was fail 2.
Just leave her in pants till she is bursting and then she will go. This was by far the worst she held it for 11 hours and then was so upset and stressed she did it all over the floor. fail 3.
At this point i was so stressed i put her back into nappies, family members would say well my little one was dry at 15 months (this i very much doubt not fully anyway). And in no way is this helpful, if people say this just ignore them you don't need those thought in you mind only positive ones.
A few months later i discovered a group of mums who had done Child Led Potty Training so i did a little research and when i read into this more lots of things affect the process of potty training.
Lots of development changes need to take place within the toddlers mind and body and to be working together so that they can take to potty training more easily. Now i am not gonna sit here and say it was a breeze because some organisation beforehand is needed. And i am by no means an expert but i have been through it and there is light even if it is soaked in wee.
We need to see out little ones as tiny humans with emotions and a development track all of their own. If someone says that their child does this or that, just remember their child is not yours or in your situation. Children learn in their on way in their own time.
Through child led potty training with my own tiny human we worked up-to things slowly, she led they way in wanting to do the toilet (she ignored all the potty's and just went on the toilet). We had talked about it and made it normal and interesting, everyone goes to the toilet but we seem to not talk about it making it a closed subject for many children.
What makes it even scarier for children is that most have never seen a poo, think about it. They do it in the nappy cleaned off never to be seen again.
Normalising the process of the toilet makes this so much easier, there are lots if books that focus on what happens when you go to the toilet.
These are great for sequence learning , one of the cognitive learning patterns they need for potty training.
If they can follow a sequence they will now what comes next with potty training so once they feel the urge they know the next step is sit on the potty. Until they have the sequence learning down they will find it hard to get to the next step.
So do they know they ending of books, or what comes next when a certain program comes on ? This is one of the signs that the cognitive side is ready.
But there is lots of things that need to fall into place to make this process much easier. So my advice is wait till they are ready in all three areas:
Physically
Emotionally
Cognitively
There will always be some children who just take to the potty and never look back but this child is not your child don't compare.
If you think this sounds like you and your child. Then Child Led Potty Training may help you and your little one. You can join our Positive Potty Training Workshop, a very informative sessions with real life advice for all situation from someone who had been through all the shit and piss you can imagine.
They are available to book online now www.calmbabies.co.uk
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