Sunday, September 1, 2013

We're potty training... apparently.

This post talks about poop. So, you know, read at your own risk.

First things first: Lucas is eighteen and (and a half) months old. If you're thinking, "Umm... it is way too early to potty train," I agree. So here's the story.

There was this completely fantastic, abnormally cheap used bookstore that opened in my town about two years ago. I shopped there pretty frequently and bought an obscene number of books, but apparently some people in my town weren't carrying their book-buying weight, so the bookstore closed two weeks ago. (Excuse me, I need a moment to mourn the loss.)

Anyway, they had a going-out-of-business sale where everything was 50% off, and of course I went... twice. I bought Lucas some Melissa & Doug toys for the next two Christmases (no, seriously. They were a really good price) and a ton of books. Since I didn't know when (if ever) I'd find books that cheap again, I planned way ahead, book-buying-wise. I got Lucas a book for Valentine's Day, some books I'll give him at Christmas, and a book about using the potty.

Please ignore the food on the floor. I have a toddler.

I had no plans to potty train anytime soon, of course, but I figured it would be good to have on hand. It's written for kids, but there are also tips for parents on each page. One of the tips suggested introducing your child to the potty at around 18 months by just having him sit on the potty fully clothed every now and again. Dan and I had already gotten Lucas a potty (because it was really cheap at Ikea. We like cheap.), so I figured it would be an interesting way to kill some time every once in a while. (Any mom with a toddler can tell you that 75% of the day is spent looking for ways to keep said toddler occupied. The other 25% is spent looking for lost sippy cups.)

On Thursday, I sat him on his potty with his clothes on a few times, he thought it was kind of amusing, and there were fifteen less minutes I had to fill. Friday after his nap, I decided that I might as well just sit him on his potty without his diaper on since I had to change it anyway, and he pooped in the potty. Obviously it was just lucky timing, but I made a big deal about it while he stared at me like maybe I'd gone insane. A few hours later, he was finishing his dinner in his high chair when he suddenly started asking to go to the potty. I put him on his potty, and he pooped! (On the downside, I took him off the potty a little too soon, and as I was rinsing it out he started frantically saying "More! More!" and then pooped on the floor. Oops.) I was amazed, but also SO not ready to potty train, because I seriously thought I had at least another year before I had to think about it. (Actually, I have no idea when it's normal to start potty training. I'm not ready to think about it. I actually googled "when should you start potty training" and found forums with a lot of parents "yelling" at each other. Way to not overreact, people.) But then yesterday after dinner, he asked to go to the potty again, and he pooped and peed in the potty. (I seriously started to type "went number one and number two," but then I realized that the "not saying poop" ship had already sailed.)

So... I'm potty training my 18 month old? Or more accurately, he's potty training himself. This motherhood thing is confusing. And weird... because I just typed an entire post about poop. Weigh in if you have any awesome advice for me, but please don't shout at each other. Because that's just stupid.




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9 comments:

  1. I say go for it!! I had one of mine potty trained at 18 months and another one potty trained herself with the help of her big sisters at 15 months. Of course nap time and bed time they wore diapers for quite a while still!

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    1. 15 months?? Wow!! Could you maybe send your daughters over to help me potty train Lucas?? :)

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  2. If he's asking for it, do it! Owen was all potty-trained before his 2nd birthday and that was because he started asking for it. So, we decided to give it a try and it went pretty well. He is in the minority, though, as most of his friends his age aren't potty-trained yet. All kids are different.

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    1. Nice! Way to go, Owen! I feel like the nice thing about potty training earlier is that maybe(?) it will be less of a control issue than if they're older and know it's something they "have" to do? I don't really know that, though...

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  3. It's all about when they're interested and happy to do it. Some go before 2, some go later...I'm going to HAVE to start working on it soon because my 18 month old just hit size 6 diapers, but her sister wasn't interested until she was almost 3 no matter WHAT we did. Go with it if he's doing it, as with all major mile markers, they'll just do what they're going to do, as long as they're potty trained, walking, talking, and using silverware (at least most of the time) by oh, say, age 4 then you're doing okay.

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    1. Oh man, Lucas is in size 5 diapers, and I can't even find size 6 of the Pampers he wears. I don't know if they make them! I hadn't thought of the whole "too big for diapers" thing until you said that. I guess it's good Lucas got started early! Good luck potty training your daughter!

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    2. You might be interested in these links, now that he's started showing interest:
      http://www.thenaturalmommy.com/2009/07/31/potty-training-in-a-day/

      http://www.themoesfamilyintexas.blogspot.com/search/label/Potty%20Training

      Once my older daughter finally WANTED to do it (we tried for months and months around 2 to get her interested, but she just didn't care at all about the potty and was actually very afraid of the flush as a little one), she went essentially overnight from diapers to big girl undies. Then I read these "Potty Train in a Day!" articles and they're full of helpful advice even if you drag it out a bit.

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    3. Thanks for the links! I'll definitely check them out!

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  4. you've already heard what i was going to say (do it whenever he's ready/interested." like a million times, so i'll just say, "Woohoo! Go Lucas!"

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