...about the latest potty-training advances over here chez Javelot.
The last time I reported from the trenches on this one was back in the summer, when she was going bare-tushed in service of the Grand Potty Goal. She was doing great, when there were no bothersome encumbrances like training pants or diapers or shorts or anything to get in the way. We moved the potty into the living room, to keep disruptions to a minimum, and it worked beautifully. She felt the urge, she went to the potty. The floor did not get peed on, much. Life was good.
Then daycare started again. And not only were her diaper parts re-diapered, but the potty was a LOOOOOOOONG walk down the hall, requiring a teacher escort, and all these thrilling friends surrounded her, distracting Z. so that she no longer noticed her once-compelling urinary urges. During the day, progress went in a backwards direction. Back home on the Rhyming Ranch, the Grand Potty Goal got lost in the shuffle of various Smaller and Trivialer Competing Goals that really should not have obscured the Grand Potty Goal, but they did. So things gradually began to slide at home, too.
A couple of weeks ago, I realized that the child who had been fairly cheerful about the potty in September was once again resisting the potty fiercely. Sticker charts, which had been working beautifully in the summer, had lapsed into disuse. We had only the barest remnant of a potty schedule, and we were presenting that remnant to Z. as a suggestion ("Do you feel like you need to go to the potty?") rather than as a given ("It's potty time now!"). The message everyone was giving her was that using the potty was not that important. And meanwhile, we've had to order the next size up in training pants. And her diapers are getting smaller on her--no way do I want to buy the next size up of them.
We've gotten back on message. It's sort of exhausting. But every time we slip, we pay.
In all of this, we do have one clear area of success, however. Possibly even victory. Contrary to conventional wisdom on the subject, Z. appears to be committed to pooping on the potty. And as a launderer of cloth diapers, I am a heck of a lot happier that way.
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4 comments:
I hope you don't take this the wrong way -- I'm not making a value judgment on the relative worth of children and animals.
My 13.5yo dog, Sleek, has a leaky bladder. She falls asleep and wakes up in a soggy spot. I have pads to deal with it, but it's still a pain to be doing laundry every couple of days just to wash pads.
I spend a lot of time out in the backyard saying things like, "Go potty." "Stop, squat, and pee, honey." "Hurry up, I'm freezing!" I also ask her sister Fluff to demo for her because Sleek usually remembers why she's out there given an immediate example that needs to be topped.
When it comes to dinnertable conversation, I'm not sure which group is worse: parents of young children or dog breeders/owners/show-ers. Both groups can get pretty graphic about things neighboring tables think are inappropriate dinner conversation!
Good luck with Z!
Oh, yeah--if a kid's gonna do only one thing on the potty, poop is the way to go. Excellent priorities, Z!
I do have a small fund of incontinent terrier stories from my childhood. But I'll stick to children in the present case. All you can do is stay on-message and, yes, it is sooo exhausting. We've been through the process twice now - once before he broke his leg and again after. The main focus of our star chart, though, is to do with getting up nicely and going to bed on time and we really need to get back on-message ourselves...
On a completely different note, Google/Blogger seem to have changed commenting options - either
Yay for the potty pooper. Sorry, couldn't resist.
May things improve soon for you in all other potty-related areas. Diaper-free is an awesome feeling.
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