potty training woes

[ahem.]

The bravest thing I did today was cleaning the poop off the child before I cleaned it off of myself.

[TheAnswerIs42]

Ugh. I started potty training today. Don't remind me.

[ahem.]

Ugh. I started potty training today. Don't remind me.

Yes. This. Except the kid isn't mine. Her mom wants to potty train her, so I'm not supposed to put her in a diaper. And in spite of me escorting her to the bathroom several times a day, she doesn't do anything but play in there. And then she has accidents that I clean up after. But I'm not in charge of laundry, so I can't just throw stuff in the washer when things get messy or when clean clothes are running short.

Also, the mom doesn't actually want to deal with it when she gets home and she ends up putting the kid in a diaper anyway. Where is the consistency??!

So I posit that, while potty training your kids probably sucks, potty training someone else's kid sucks more.



Also, is it weird that she puts the 7mo. old and the 2 1/2 year old in the same size diapers? I guess it's working for her, but it still seems weird to me

[ahem.]

(Also, I was mostly playing around to see if I could figure out how to split a topic. Turns out I could.)

[thebigcheese]

Ugh. I started potty training today. Don't remind me.

You haven't been potty trained?!

[NerdGirl]

I was reading a few articles about potty training the other day, because my brother and sister-in-law are wanting to start potty training my nephew soon. He's only just turning two in a week, but he's started going into a corner and hiding to do his business in his diaper, then he comes over and announces "pee!" or "poop!" so they're hoping that's a sign that he might be ready and they're going to try. Anyway, there was one article I read that said that if the kid seems reluctant, get a big jar of M&M's or something and start rewarding yourself and your spouse and your older kids any time one of you goes to the bathroom and make a really huge deal out of it so the non-potty-trained one will want in on the action too. And I'm totally going to do that when I have kids, because if the kids get candy every time they pee, I want candy when I pee too!

[C is for]

We did that to get my little brother trained. It kind of backfired a little bit just because we older kids (probably mostly me) would just grab a handful of skittles whenever we felt like on top of the one we were allowed when we used the loo. But...it probably worked for my brother, as long as he never caught us sneaking. I don't remember. He's 12 now and I'm pretty sure he's trained.

[TheAnswerIs42]

Yeah, everyone has their own theories. I can tell you mine, but keep in mind I'm not done yet.

1. Trying to train too early can be bad. Kids can end up with bad memories of the whole thing, and make the next attempt very very bad. So when in doubt, wait a bit.

2. Consistency is key. Ahem, how on earth did you get stuck potty training someone else's kid? Of all the lazy. Potty training should only be done when one person has the time to help out all day for a few days. Randomly making attempts nevery helped anyone.

3. Rewards can be good, but most of the time they seem to backfire. The kid only does it for the reward, and then sometimes stops going when they stop getting a reward each time. The stuff I read said to reward them with praise - tell them what a great job they did, what a big girl they are. That way they don't do it for the candy, but to because they understand going is a good thing.

My method right now is keeping my daughter outside at our cabin with a shirt and underwear on. That way when she makes a mess I don't have to clean anything, and I have her little potty thing out here for her to run to whenever she wants to. So far so good. Last night she had four accidents- each time she would pee a teaspoon or so, realize the problem, run to the potty and go the rest. The only problem was that she was doing that every half an hour because she wasn't releasing much. This morning has been great, knock on wood. She has gone four times, and not missed yet. But still no #2.

The key for me is that she has honestly been ready since January. That was when she started going in a potty sometimes, started taking off her diaper on her own when she was poopy, etc. But now I have nothing on my schedule for the next week except potty training her. So I don't have to worry about us going anywhere half trained. And she is more than ready.

Edit: she just had one accident. Still, not bad.

[TheAnswerIs42]

I HATE POOP. Right now she is about 80% perfect on #1, and still 0% at #2, and after cleaning up two messes tonight I am just about ready to keep her in diapers the rest of her life.

I know none of you care, but I had to vent. Because I feel like screaming. And shuddering.

[ahem.]

Heh. I'm sorry. That does not sound fun.

The only thing working for me at the moment is putting the child in character-themed underwear and telling her not to poop on Dora.

[TheAnswerIs42]

Yeah, we tried that. I really thought that would mean something to her, but somehow, it doesn't. Tonight she was so excited to go swimming, and since we weren't going in water but just wading, I had her in the swimsuit. She LOVES swimsuit. And then, suddenly swimsuit was messy.

The thing that bugs me is that I can't figure out why. Sometimes she honestly makes a wet accident within a half an hour of me taking her. And she seems sad when she is messy. She doesn't try to get attention from it. The only connection I have is that she is usually great in the morning. All of her accidents are after lunchtime.

[Craig Jessop]

My little brother (not Giovanni) had a problem with #2 as well. It was simply a matter of having the right character on his underwear -- Barney. Maybe you should try to find a different person for her to poop on?

[TheAnswerIs42]

She adores Tinkerbell. So I do have her favorite character involved. But it is odd- that makes no difference. I try to act upset that she made a mess on Tink, and she just looks at me blankly. But thanks for the idea guys!

I do think part of the problem is getting distracted / not wanting to stop playing to go. I stop her and take her, and that makes it not such a welcome activity. But when I let her be independant (which is her major thing right now, undoing things I just did so she can do them herself), she doesn't always make it in time.

Oh well. Hopefully after I get some sleep, I will feel up to another day of it.

[vorpal blade]

Having had seven children I can tell you that this to shall come to pass.

[bobtheenchantedone]

Just wait until they're 11 and still occasionally pee on the bedroom floor! "I didn't have time to get to the bathroom!"