1. Potty training isn't going exactly as I'd hoped, but it hasn't been a waste of our time either. Saturday was our day to introduce Garrett to the idea and concept of the potty, which would then be followed by as many days as it took of intense training. The method we were following has a lot of positive things going for it, but it is not without its flaws. Garrett found it challenging to perform, so to speak, under the pressure. He spent most of the day sipping his favorite drinks and sitting on the potty, and throughout the day he had some successes. Unfortunately they were largely overshadowed by the accidents that were inevitable once he stood up, after he'd been sitting for extended amounts of time on the potty while holding all that fluid in. After a long, mostly horrible day, we put him back in a diaper and rethought our potty training tactics.
While physiologically he is capable of being trained, he is proving to be resistant to change. I should have expected as much going in, seeing as he is my son. At any rate, because we made a lot of progress on Saturday that we don't want to be lost, we are not dropping the training altogether. We are, however, slowing it down. Two or three times every day we give Garrett "potty time." We try to time it so that he'll have some success (and when he does, we praise and reward like it's going out of style), but our main goal right now is to get him more comfortable with the whole potty idea. Once he is we'll take things up a notch, and perhaps give our initial method a second try.
2. Speech therapy, on the other hand, is going great. His therapist's name is Elina. She is young, energetic, and Garrett loves her. He is constantly talking about "Nina" and the fun toys, puzzles, books, and activities she brings with her to each session. So far he has had four half-hour sessions. The first two he played shy and whispered the entire time. To help him speak in a normal voice, I now leave the room when Lina is here. But I'm still able to listen to them talk together from the back rooms of the apartment. He behaves well and does what she asks him to and even after only a few days he has already made some progress. This week they've been reading the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? and it absolutely tickles me to hear him "reading" it along with her -- something that he's never done when I read with him.
3. This is not so much a follow up as it is a going up. Caleb is starting to pull himself up onto things. Yesterday he tackled the stoop (pausing occasionally to see what cement tastes like).
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8 comments:
My daughter is very adaptable and potty training only took two days with minimal effort. My son, on the other hand, we've been training for about six months now. He is mostly dry, but has accidents because he is stubborn and refuses to go potty when we remind him to, or when his body tells him to. It's so hard! Every kid has a different personality and I think it is wise to tailor the method to fit the kid. Before I became a parent I didn't realize how hard potty training was for most kids.
Oh, the joys of the potty. Have you heard about these professional places you can take your kid to have them trained for you in a week or so of daycare? The one I read about was called, I kid you not, "Booty Camp!" And it cost like $1500 bucks, but hey, your money back if it didn't work!
Hang in there. I think for most kids the slow and steady approach is more the name of the game.
Just today I was thinking to myself that potty training just might kill me - and Kate's being relatively good about it! It's so hard to help someone learn how to deal with their own little bodies and learn what they're really feeling.
It's also hard to get anything done (I'm just talking simple meals, too - nothing fancy like cleaning or anything) with a little one who's demanding you accompany her to the potty every 5 minutes to sit there for 15.
Is Caleb sporting a mo-hawk or simply a windblown hairstyle? Either way, he's very handsome venturing up those steps! I'm so glad speech therapy is going well with Garrett and good luck with the continual potty training.
Caleb is really moving! Holy cow! I love his tennis shoes. I think little kid shoes are totally adorable.
My sister has mentioned a method she used with her son: She brought the little potty out in front of the TV. She laid down lots of towels around it. Then she sat him down in front of his favorite show. He was able to forget about the idea of trying to go potty, so the pressure was off (this was one of his issues). He relaxed and went potty....and was able to see that it wasn't a big deal.
Kinda strange; but it worked!
However, I'm sure there's not a "one-size-fits-all" for potty training. And like I know much about the subject anyway....
it's hard when they understand, but still don't do it!
congrats on the successes and good luck on the progression!
Really interesting to read about your experience of potty training. We were thinking about just ‘going for it’ in a couple of week’s time, but maybe a slower introduction would be better? Not really looking forward to the whole process, we will defiantly have to have some kind of reward, star chat type thing.
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