Potty Training pt 3

Eli makes the creepiest looking lego trains

just look at that abomination!

About three weeks ago I made a real effort to potty train, albeit a short one. It was unfruitful but maybe not completely. I wish I knew what to do and what to say to make all of this click to them, so far I'm just experimenting with ideas and advice from others.

I would love to know how parents of other countries (mostly non western cultures) manage to potty train the majority of their kids by the time they are 2 yrs old! Maybe it's something that is deeply embedded in their culture or that they start potty training from birth since they can't afford diapers, who knows? I'm certain I'm not going to crack their code anytime soon and if I could it's probably too late since we are going on 2 and a half! I wish I didn't have to subscribe to the American notions of 'ready-ness' that I don't totally believe in but alas what am I to do, we are what we are and I have no other advice to turn to. So with that said, the boys were and are not showing any signs of 'ready-ness' like hiding when pooping or frequent dry diapers. In fact lately if I smell a poop they run in the opposite direction at the mention of a diaper change, why?! It can't feel good to have poop all over your bum!

So here is what we did, a few days before I prepped them about the upcoming potty training, we read a book about the matter and I explained what would happen soon. When the day came, I put them in big boy undies and leg warmers to keep them warm and took them to the bathroom every 20 min. At first it was easy since it was still a novelty to them, but after a handful of times I had to get creative to get them to sit down for more than 5 seconds. I would read them short books or sing itsy bitsy spider. We did this all morning until nap time around 2/3pm, and boy was it exhausting! I still intended on continuing post nap but there was complete mutiny! They were not having any more of it so I decided to call it quits then and there. I wrote down every time anyone peed whether in the potty or in their undies. I found out that they are very inconsistent they do not pee in regular intervals. Caleb and Thomas both went once in the potty and thankfully there was no poop to contend with. So if I had to guess it was probably a coincidence that two of them peed in the potty and not from any of my efforts. They still got lots of praise and a sticker of their choice as a reward for peeing in the potty. I guess it wasn't enough of a motivation to get them to do it again or maybe they are just not "ready" yet.

Since the attempt, the boys seem to be more, how shall I put it, educated on what goes on in the bathroom. They also now, for some reason, stand up when they are going to pee during bath time, which lets me know they are becoming more aware of when they need to go. I have not a clue how pooping in the potty plays out but I won't worry about it for now, at least not until we get some success with going number one in the pot. I may not know what I'm doing but I do know this should not be a struggle, maybe hard work from me but not a power struggle between me and my child(ren).

One thing I have heard more than once is parents claiming that the kids they potty trained at 3 years old said it was done in like 2-3 days, no accidents at all, not even at night, DONE! While the ones that potty trained at age two had accidents at frequent intervals. Hmmm? A bit reassuring if my boys turn out to be late potty trainers but I'd still rather take the occasional accident, ha! Anyways, we'll try again in a couple of months and I'll keep looking for signs of "ready-ness!"