I just wanted to give an update on our progress, or lack there of in the toileting department. As you may recall, we started with potty training our youngest back in february, and then went full steam ahead in July. We have been putting him in training underpants while awake since July 1st.
The point is for him to feel when he wets and desire to change right away, and eventually want to avoid wetting all together by using the potty. So far, it has been DIFFICULT! I know we are not supposed to compare our children, so I am not saying that he is more difficult, but I have had a much more difficult time with toileting this time.
He is wet almost all the time. There are times that he pees in his underpants, so I take him to the potty, he sits there and pees a little bit, we put new underpants on and walk out of the bathroom, and he pees AGAIN! I think, or at least I am telling myself, that this is his learning process. The only reason he could possibly be going three times in a matter of minutes is because he is practicing his control over urinating. He realizes that he is going and stops himself - good, then he sits on the potty and begins to go again - good, then he stops himself and we put clean underpants on and he finishes the job - not good! I am hoping that this new found control will eventually turn into an ability to choose to go on the potty and not in his underpants, I will keep telling myself that it will anyway.
Another clue that he is learning from the process is that he says uh-oh and grabs his penis when he starts to go. Unfortunately, he almost always does this right after I put on his diaper for nap or bed. Diapers, even cloth are designed to pull the wet feeling away from the body right away. This is good when your baby is an infant, but not so good for toilet training. For that reason I am researching training pants that are more absorbant, enough for him to be able to sleep comfortably in them, but will still allow him to feel wet when he starts to go. I will let you know what I discover as I go through this process.
I am once again reminded that each child is different, and requires a different path to get to the same end point. I am going to stick it out, continue with the training process, and do it as positively as possible. I just can't promise that I will enjoy the job!
From my time in the classroom, I can tell you that I've found boys take longer to "get it" than girls do (I'm generalizing, ok, but for the most-part this was true). I'm not sure why that is, but perhaps this will help you in the process. They just seemed not to be as aware as girls (could it be anatomical differences?).
ReplyDeleteAt any rate, I love your positive outlook and how you're trying to understand the process from his perspective. Hang in there... :)
Pilar, I have definitely heard that boys take longer than girls. I have almost been told out right not to bother starting so early with him. I am not sure why, but I guess we will see how long it takes over all. I am determined to prove that boys too can be trained early in comparison with the current average. I know it is the best thing for him and the environment, so we will persevere!
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