7.22.2011

the potty report

How many months has it been now?


I stopped counting…ohhhhhh…about a gazillion wet undies ago.  Smile


But for the sake of those following Trevy’s potty success (and otherwise) with interest because they’re on the fence about giving it a go (haha…get it…) with a Special little one of their own.  I figured I should try and post every now and then about how things are working out.


The Report




If I consistently take him to the potty once per hour he will only have one or two pee-pee accidents a day.  The biggest issue is…really who can possibly do a potty run every single hour for the rest of their life?  When we’re lazy he tinkles in his pants.  It may or may not have brewed a fight or two if one parent is lazier than the other.  Winking smile   I think we’re on the same page now though. 


He does not communicate in any way, shape, or form when he has to use the potty. 


He also does not communicate in any way, shape, or form when he has already used the potty in his pants!  Wet (or stinky) doesn’t seem to bother him in the slightest.   


I do remind him a million-gazillion times a day to keep his undies dry.  And tell mommy when you have to go potty


I do try (sometimes I’m just not in a patient frame of mind) to change his poopsies in the bathroom.  So we can chat about where poopy belongs and doesn’t belong while watching it swirl away.  Also, I learned the key to cleaning a poo standing up is - WIPES!  I was trying to clean him up with TP.  Duh!  And having him lean over the lid.  Closed of course.   


Speaking of the lid.  We had to Trevy proof it.  Because he loved the sound it made when slammed.  It was a perpetual fight to get him to leave the thing alone and put his pants back on! 


summer 2011 082

Yes, the cushie cover makes it look like we’re of the elderly persuasion.  But hey.  At least Trevy now rubs the soft new blue lid carpet rather than persistently slamming it in my ear!  


We are using Pull-ups mostly.  We go through between 2-4 a day.  Plus a diaper at nap & night time. 


When I have the umph I will put undies on first.  Then a Pull-up over that.  There really doesn’t seem to be a difference in accident counts when I forgo the undies.  But it makes me feel like I’m putting in more effort when I use them. 


He loves being praised for a good job!


He also loves being rewarded with a squirt of lotion for production.  Smile  I’m super mean and put it on his weak hand thus forcing him to use it.  It took me a couple times to get smart that if I squirted it into Lefty (his strong side) he would just rub it onto his right arm.  But if I squirt it into Righty he’ll rub his hands together and then lotion up both arms. 


He can now successfully scooch his bum onto the potty by himself.  However, he still needs a lot of help (both physically and verbal cueing-ly) with the pulling down & up of clothing. 


He has poo-ed on the potty twice!  But mostly he likes to hide in the school room.  And if you should happen to catch him in the act he’ll shout “NO!” emphatically.  I consider this progress!  Winking smile 


All in all…we’re making slow and steady progress.  I’ve chilled out quite a bit about it from those first few weeks.  If I’m honest…I was kinda crazy hyper aggressive let’s get this potty thing down mommy for a bit there.  It was a lil’ bit stressful!  Which may or may not have contributed to some of those fights I mentioned before.  Now, I keep telling myself “he’ll get it when he gets it”.  Gosh,  I sure hope I’m right.   In the meantime though…I’m very thankful that our insurance is covering the Pull-Ups!     


…danielle

7 comments:

The Lundgrens said...

Great update!!! Considering I have one typical almost-3-yr-old and one not so typical almost-3-yr-old and NEITHER of them are potty trained <> this was a good post to read. I'm super high strung about changing wet pants. I loathe it. Or stinky pants for that matter. So, in the interest of not leaving my kids scarred for life from me screaming me at them about using the potty, I've pretty much decided on waiting until THEY are ready. Not when my mother-in-law thinks they're ready :) or some random stranger or Daddy....but when THEY are ready. :) Sounds like you have some good progress going on!! Good work!

Anonymous said...

Wonder if you can find some kind of chart like Chore Pad or something to give Trevy stars or something for using the potty?

legomaster said...

Okay...first, the toilet seat cover cracks me up...but what a great solution!! The banging would have drove me bonkers too.
Second....it's fantastic that you're even attempting it with as much diligence as you have....it's often so hard for "regular kids" (whatever those are?!). My nephew was not dry through the night until well into his 6th yr. And another little friend of ours is 8 and still has accidents. So, all in all Trevy is doing awesome!
Do you set a timer for yourself to take him to the bathroom? I think I would need a timer otherwise it would always be too late!
And WUHOO on the insurance coverage for pull ups!! There's gotta be a little reprieve somewhere!

Anonymous said...

Excellent progress, Danielle! And Trevy has done well, too! ;)

My only suggestion at this point is...fewer words. Don't even talk about it about it - just do the same routine everyday.

(Oh, and I will be asking a question of you in my next post - later today, hopefully.)

Barbara

Danielle said...

You guys all made me smile.

Guess Trevy's mommy loves being praised too! ;)

...danielle

ps. B...I'll be watching for your post

Anonymous said...

WE went through a similar phase. Since you are already giving praise for doing 'it' in the potty, maybe you should also add a disincentive for doing it in the pants....(like maybe prolonging the cleaning process and maybe making him wait a few minutes silently before he can go off and play after cleaning! :))

KC's Warrior Mama said...

I appreciated reading this. We are at a crossroads with KC right now because it is completely capable of being trained, he just refuses to do it. He knows when he is going, and IF he is in the mood, he can pee in the toilet with very little error. But if he doesn't want to, he will pee in his underpants/on the floor/wherever, just to show us he is in control :)As far as BM's, he controls that well too because he likes to go at home so he holds it until we get there. But he doesn't like to do it in the toilet, so its only happened a few times. I am very low key about it in terms of how I talk to him. I don't pressure him to do it, but if he tries to kick me while I am changing him, then I firmly remind him that he can make a choice to use the toilet so he won't have to be changed. We use reinforcments, such as M&M's. Lots of praise, cool underwear, etc. I'm sure he will be trained eventually, but in the mean time we still go through LOTS of diapers and pull ups, which the insurance covers as well. (Thank God)

Karen