Encouragement/advice to other moms....

truckngrl

I run an in-home childcare and have taught in toddler/preschool age for 15+ years.  I have seen kids take days, months (even years) to potty train.  The one major thing I have learned is that each child is different and it just takes time, patience, and CONSISTENCY!!  Of the kids I have potty trained all have been different.  The method that works for each of them is different and even the same method may need tweaking!!  I have found that going from diapers to underwear all day works best for MOST kids (the 3 day method for those over 2 years) and some need the encouragement of rewards (candy, sticker, chart, etc) on top of that. Others just needed to be taken every hour and set on the potty.  So after yrs of doing potty training I am very relaxed about the whole process!

I thought I had it all figured out till my daughter came along....well she was the challenge to me!!  I reread all the potty books and just kept saying, once she gets it, she will get it!!  We really never worked "hard" at potty training, just a casual reminder, put underwear on, talked about being a "big girl", reading books about using the potty etc.  After a couple of limited success months, I decided to really try something more.  She is 28 months old and able to speak in complete sentences, put together simple puzzles, pull on/off pants, climb about anything, and tell me when she was wet/poopy.  The 3 day approach came first, wear only undies, praising when she succeeded (which was rare), and giving a candy reward when we went!  But no real success, so I asked around.  The advice i got was to quit using diapers altogether.  I wasn't quite ready to do this so I worked with her for  a couple more weeks using the 3 day method.  When I finally decided that she should be able to get this (since she was holding urine/poop until I put a diaper on her), I finally resorted to trying the "How to Potty Train in Less than a Day" approach.  It involves using a drink and wet baby doll to show your child how it's done and to train your child by having the child "train" the doll.  We really did not use it to it's fullest, just followed the general "rules".  I decided that day to have her go without a diaper all day and then followed that over night....Well, success!!  She pottied in the potty at 930pm when I woke her, right after waking up (even tho she wet the bed a little just before) and then again 30 minutes later!!! All were followed with lots of praise and a piece of candy to celebrate!!  (I use flavored tootsie rolls and peanut butter chips used for baking.)

So I encourage all the moms out there working with their LO to just keep trying until that "something" clicks in your child.  Don't stress about it!!......   It will be worth it!!  (and remember, no 6 year old is still in diapers, unless there is a real problem!!!)