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Finish the Sentence Blog Hop #8

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Welcome back to Finish The Sentence Friday Blog Hop (FTSF).  We give you a sentence and you finish it (however long or short you’d like).

”Speaking from experience, I’m going to give you a little advice on…”

Next week’s sentence to finish: ”You want to know what I think of social media? I think…”

Speaking from experience, I’m going to give you a little advice today on Potty Training!! Having had two babies in under two years, I think there is probably plenty I could give advice on what to do and more specifically on what not to do. Let me rephrase this and tell you I probably made every mistake known to man with my first child and still make plenty daily, but especially with potty training.

When Emma was around 18 months old, I tried to sit her on the Elmo potty seat we had let her pick out. See Emma’s first main man, other than her daddy, was Elmo. She was obsessed and would stop everything once Elmo’s World would come on during Sesame Street.

Elmo Potty Seat Emma Picked Out!!

Elmo Potty Seat Emma Picked Out!!

One Sunday, we took her to Babies R Us and showed her the different potty seats. Emma was a late talker and was saying a few words here and there, but not enough to communicate if she had to actually use the potty seat. So what made me think I could try this with her was beyond me, but I heard so many other mothers trying with their kids before they even turned two, so of course I thought we could do this.

When we got home, I opened and assembled the potty seat. By assembled, I mean put the deflector shield on. Yep, I have a little girl, but had no idea the difference or even what this contraption did. So, I thought if they included it, it must be needed (it took me a few days to realize I was mistaken).

Lo and behold, right before bath time that night, Emma had to poop. Yes, I could see her straining and grabbed her to try to put her on the Elmo potty seat. She stiffened her back and was dead weight when I tried to do this, because she had no idea what the hell I was doing to her. Eventually she calmed down and actually sat and pooped, but after that incident, I couldn’t get her to go near the damn potty seat for weeks. I pretty much left her traumatized at how that could come out of her and then be flushed in the actual toilet.

It would stand to reason that the next time I did try to get her to poop on the potty seat, she fought me vehemently and I gave up for over a month before I even attempted to go there again with her. We went on like this until almost September, two months after she turned two years old. Finally, she tried again and peed in the potty. I thought we had a breakthrough and was all excited. I went out and bought M&M’s and pull-ups. Guess what? She would eat the M&M’s, when she used the potty, but was still wetting the pull-up, too. So frustrating and even after reading all the books was still at a lose and no closer to having her potty trained.

Also, she would drink and couldn’t even hold her bladder for 20 minutes before needing to go. Yes, I tried timed intervals like all the books said and apparently 20 minutes was too long. So, we were down to about a 10 minute window after drinking liquids, which truly didn’t give me much time.


Kevin looked online for ideas. He printed out a chart and stickers. This worked for a few days and then she lost interest. He found a potty watch online that she could wear and we could time for her. She loved the watch, but then 3-4 days later hated it.

I was truly at the end of my rope and we went through this for almost 6 months, where we would make progress and then she would backslide. We truly tried every thing we read or heard, hoping something would stick. We even tried putting underwear in her pull-up, so she could feel what it felt to be wet. She honestly didn’t seem to notice or care.

Finally, Kevin suggested that we stay in for one whole weekend and just let her wear underwear and her regular clothes. If she wet them, she would definitely feel it and that was that. I was went along, but worried about how many loads of laundry I would have to do depending on how many accidents she may have,

Well, the first day she had one accident and being that she was completely soaking wet, she cried and hated it. That night she went to bed in a pull-up, but somehow managed to stay dry the whole night. Back in underwear the next day and she managed to stay dry the whole day and the next day, too. By the third night, she told us she no longer needed pull-ups at night and she meant it. Finally after 6 months, she was pretty much potty trained, but like I said only after making every mistake I could make to get to this point.

Don’t Get Hung Up Using Pull-Ups for the Long Haul on Your Child!!

I swore with Lily that I would wait until she was ready and was in no rush with her. Most here know she pretty much did just that. She was potty trained at a little over 2 years old on her own terms. I won’t rehash that one, because you can read all about in the posts I previously wrote.

I will say this if you are potty training, the biggest thing to look out for is the readiness of your child and if he/she actually has some interest. I would also say pull-ups are a great training tool, but don’t get stuck in using pull-ups for the long haul, because many kids seem to use this as a crutch. Meaning transition to regular underwear sooner rather than later if you are seeing more successes than failure here. Along the lines of the underwear, buy character underwear that they can relate to. For instance, Lily loves Minnie Mouse and I bought her underwear with Minnie on them, this truly gave her more incentive, because she wanted to wear Minnie and not have to go back into pull-ups.

Finally good luck and god speed. Seriously, potty training isn’t always easy or happens overnight. It can be one hell of a roller coaster ride with many ups and downs, but in the end it should all work out. Just try to relax and take it one day at a time.

Now tell me, in the comments, about something you could give all a bit of advice on. Or write a post and link it up! And be sure to share my story with all your FB and Twitter friends. We’ll also be featuring some of our favorites on Twitter with the Hashtag #FTSF and our Facebook pages too, so make sure to follow. Don’t forget to grab a button and put it somewhere people will see. We are hoping to keep this hop going strong and continue this for a long time to come!

Finish the Sentence Friday

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About Janine

Janine is a published author of the books, The Mother of All Meltdowns and Only Trollops Shave Above the Knee. She has been featured on The Huffington Post, Mamapedia, Today Parenting Team and SheKnows. She also runs her own graphic design company at J9 Designs.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. erintheirishmama says

    I despise potty training. Boys is so different from girls but I ended up doing the same thing with Sean. Ben was easy (except for #2) but Sean when he was finally ready has been doing great. Working on the overnight part now!!!

    • Janine Huldie says

      Well happy to know I am in good company. And either way (boys or girls), it is still a miserable, but necessary chore/evil. I am thanking god that for the most part that is behind me now and if I never have to go through that again it will be too soon!!

  3. Joan Veronica Robert says

    Hi Janine! You know, I thought I would get very bored reading all these Mommy-Blogs I seem to meet everywhere, but that hasn't happened, I've found them very interesting, probably because you all write so well! So please continue to provide such really good posts! See you!

    • Janine Huldie says

      Thanks so very much Joan and I honestly appreciate hearing that I am not boring those who don't have children. I try to write what I know, as well as from an entertaining standpoint. Thanks again as always for being so kind and for also linking up with us, too!! 🙂

  5. WhenCrazyMeetsExhaus says

    I totally agree: don't rush the potty training! My kid wasn't quite ready and he was 3. My "Mom World" that's, like, totally unacceptable! We waited him out and when he was ready, there was no turning back. It was like something switched in his brain. I think parents should wait for that switch rather than trying to flick it themselves 🙂

    • Janine Huldie says

      So true Stephanie and I hate how many make it like there is a magic age or number, but in reality it is really about when the child themselves is ready. Thanks for sharing and couldn't agree with you more on this one!! 🙂

  7. Stephanie Sprenger says

    I had to laugh at the pooping/back stiffening story. I can SO relate! And as for Elmo, we just broke out the Elmo goes potty video! God help me! That part where they yell out all their favorite euphemisms for going to the bathroom is awful! Wee-wee! Pee-pee! I need to urinate! Good grief. Sophie is showing signs of readiness right now, at only 16 months, and I was so NOT ready to be doing this potty thing already. It is a lot of work. 🙁

    • Janine Huldie says

      Stephanie, I think yet again I can relate here, because Lily was pretty much ready at around 18 months and I so was not. I put it off, but ultimately she out herself on before she was even 2 years old and now the rest is history!!

  8. More Than Mommies says

    I waited and waited with my youngest daughter. We introduced the potty over a year ago when she turned two…but I never focused on potty training. A few weeks ago she said she wanted to do it and She hasn't had an accident in about a week! We are good to go I think! 🙂 We still have overnight to work on!

    • Janine Huldie says

      Oh that is awesome and I think it does sound like she was ready and is so good to go. I really would never have done my younger before two years old if she herself pretty much didn't show us her own interest, but like I said I think it so has to be on their own terms and we they are ready. And again sounds like your youngest is indeed ready 🙂

  9. Christina (Tina) Mor says

    It's true that the child has to be emotionally ready. What makes it frustrating is when a child is ready and almost fully potty trained, only to regress because a new baby is born in the family and the bigger child wants attention like the baby is getting or some other reason. I agree that pull-ups get confused with diapers for little ones and so I didn't use pull-ups with my third or fourth child. (I saved some money that way too.) I also used the motivator of allowing the child to choose underwear that makes her feel grown up and special. Also, rewarding with stickers as you mentioned. I used a plastic rim that fit around the toilet and helped to keep the little one from falling through instead of a potty. (The potty is gross, because it has to be cleaned.) With Amanda I didn't have that plastic rim and a few times she slipped in a bit and got frightened by that. Thankfully, she was relatively easy to potty train.

    Thanks for visiting and linking on Amanda's Books and More!

    • Janine Huldie says

      Thanks Christina for sharing and totally agree about the child be emotionally ready and sounds like you had a ton of practice, too 🙂 That said, I remembered thinking how am I going to do this, but thankfully I survived and so too did my kids 🙂

  11. Ruchira says

    Janine, you took me back to my old days when I used to carry my kid's portable potty everywhere…disgusting right!

    Then we also trained him over a long weekend…and it worked…voila!

    I guess all great minds think alike 🙂
    Voted for ya!

    • Janine Huldie says

      Ruchira, I still carry that insert for Lily and yes it is truly gross. So cannot wait to not have to bring that out with me. Good for you on the long weekend training success and thank you as always for the votes and kindness, too!! 🙂

  12. Janine Huldie says

    Kate, it is so hard sometimes to keep up with it and am thankful that I had Kevin as backup especially on the weekends, but will say this I hate and loathe taking them to public bathrooms if and when we go out. That truly is the worst part to me. And being that I have girls this pretty much falls directly on me!! So on that part, I can truly relate to why pull-ups can be so much easier and less of a hassle.

  13. Meredith says

    Janine, I will take any and all advice! Potty training has been hell for us. Thanks for your openness and detail about what worked for you–this is the kind of advice that is helpful!

    • Janine Huldie says

      My pleasure to try and help Meredith. Trust me I would have appreciated any and all advice on this when I was first potty training Emma as you can see from this passage. So if anything I went through and shared can help, I am just so happy, because I have been there and done that and know how not fun this one truly is!!

  16. Josie Bisett says

    I went for the cold turkey approach with boy#1. I gated off all carpeted area, pulled up the rugs, put potties around the cabin and let him run around nekkid! I stayed home a lot – and we had LOTS of poop catastrophes (ah, good times!), but he was out of diapers by 2. We went through a pee rebellion phase later, where he peed if I put him in time out, or if he was mad with me, he'd go hide in his room and pee (his younger brother was doing that this week too.. I'm dying to blog about it). He still won't pull his own pants up today (he's 3 and half now). Potty training is definitely a process! I wrote a tongue in cheek blog a few weeks back called "How to Potty Train your two year old!" cos we're in the process with boy number 2 now. He's definitely keen, and while I don't want to rush him – man it's expensive with two in diapers at the same time!!!

    • Janine Huldie says

      Josie, you said a mouthful and I it is truly expensive to have two in diapers. We did that with the girls here for a time and my wallet now has thanked us for having no more in diapers. As for the pee/poop issues, just last night Emma was having tummy troubles and we were awoken in the middle of the night. She was in the bathroom for almost an hour all said and told. Needless to say I am a tired momma today, but I guess I should be happy that it was in the toilet and not anywhere else!! She is definitely trained, but we still have an accident here and there with Lily. So, i can relate to the cleanups, believe me!!

  18. Kera says

    I love that you posted about potty training advice, because I really need it! This is my first time and I'm a bit nervous. Although Sofia is advanced for her age in most things, she is horrible at sleeping at not that good at eating either. I just hope potty training doesn't fall into that group! She'll be 18 months in April, and I want to get her a potty around that time. Let her explore it and try to explain to her what it is used for. She always is fascinated by me when I go to the bathroom, so maybe she'll be interested. She also sometimes tells me that she needs a new diaper and runs back to her room, so she's understanding that. I'd LOVE to have her close to being trained by the time #2 comes along, we'll see!!

    • Janine Huldie says

      Happy to help in this area if I can!! The fact that she is telling you she needs a new diaper is definitely a good step. I hear you on wanting her to be trained before #2 arrives. My only advice is just don't be surprised for the unexpected. Potty training has a way of surprising us all as parents. Also, potty training regression sometimes I heard can occur when another baby is brought into the equation. I never had this happen, because my kids are too close in age for that, but I did hear that from other parents with kids a bit spread more apart. I truly hope though that Sophia is an easy going child with potty training and that it will be quick. Believe me I wouldn't want anyone to suffer on this one, especially you my friend 🙂 🙂

  19. Kristi Campbell says

    I love that you put the potty guard on the seat not realizing it was for boys at first! So cute. We've been potty training for a while now and I hate it. Hate it, hate it. My son is delayed and so we waited until we thought he was really ready. He is usually okay with peeing in there, but poop? Oh no. He's not having it. We've tried everything and are back to just letting him poop in a diaper. It's better for all of us for a while, I think!
    Thanks for hosting the link up. I'll have to try some of your potty training tips!

    • Janine Huldie says

      Kristi, I seriously had no clue and everything with my first was very much a learning curve for me. I also have a pretty good sense of humor and can totally bust on myself for stuff just like this. I feel better to laugh than cry. That said, I have heard with many kids pooping on the toilet is an issue and they seem to get scared. I even had a little boy when I taught pre-school camp a few years before I had my own kids, who had this same issue and his mom pretty much told me if I could get him to use the toilet for pooping there would be a big tip in it for me. PS..No big tip, because I never completely cracked that one!! But I will say with Emma, who was definitely scared at first that continuing to try with her and not give up was what got us through. Now again not saying that will work for all kids, but it did for her. Bottom line though I am so not a fan of potty training either and just so happy to pretty much have it behind us now!!

  22. Melanie Chisnall says

    Lol! Janine, I swear, when I have kids one day I'm just coming to your blog and hitting search whenever I need to know something. You've got it all covered here! I know lots of moms struggle with potty training and I have a few friends expecting little ones in the next few months, so this is great! 🙂

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