Moms Writing!

There are so many books and articles about the potty training issue that I don’t even know where to begin. A few months ago when I was mentally getting ready to tackle the challenge, I started my research and looked at many of them. I wish I could say something more original but, as with everything else, you really have to work out your own system that is tailored to your and your child’s personalities. I don’t believe there are universal rules out there that are going to suit everyone.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends beginning potty training sometime between the age of 18 months and 3 years when, in most cases, your child shows “the signs of readiness”, which include staying dry for at least 2 hours at a time, having regular bowel movements, being able to follow simple instructions, being uncomfortable with dirty diapers and wanting them to be changed, asking to use the potty chair, or asking to wear regular underwear. You should also be able to tell when your child is about to urinate or have a bowel movement by his facial expressions, posture or by what he says.

Well, my husband and I decided to bend the rules once again and try something different. Maya did not show any “signs of readiness” when we began our potty training process. I have to admit that we partially owe it to diaperfreebaby.org. I do recommend taking a look at their website even though I don’t really agree with a lot of what they say (it does not pass the common sense test of mine, if you know what I mean). I’ll leave that judgment up to you and your parental instincts.

But I have to be honest, in my case, we learned certain things from them and decided to implement them in our own practice. You, on the other hand, may find the whole concept exciting enough to try it out from the beginning to the end, in which case I highly recommend checking a few books out as listed on their site.

My husband and I started to potty train our Maya when she was just 10 months old! We knew this was going to be a process, would not happen overnight and we were ready for that. Maya was just big enough to reach the floor with her feet while sitting on her potty. At that time she also was able to crawl very well. We encouraged her and were very supportive every time she revealed any interest in being around her potty.

You would be surprised how much babies can understand, but don’t expect them to show you the signs of readiness to use the potty right away. We gently started to put her on the potty, first with her diaper on, later with no diaper, always explaining what and why we are doing. I honestly think she was too young to object to the whole process but we never forced anything and we were extra careful not to discourage her.
It did not take her long at all to go. When she first went and every time thereafter, we had a mini-bathroom-party. We blew bubbles, clapped our hands, jumped, you name it. Maya was thrilled! She was so happy to make us happy, it was that simple. I think she felt very comfortable because we never forced, scared or punished her, no matter what she did or did not do.

We took our time, no pressure, no rush.  Every diaper we saved mattered to us a lot, less landfill, more money in our pockets. We let her run around the house with no diaper so she could feel how comfortable she would be with no diaper on and, yes, she did have a few accidents, it is just like having a puppy Maya is almost 21 months now and she has been fully potty trained for almost 4 months now. She had the concept down pretty well when she was 12 months.   We decided to totally do away with the daytime diapers at 17 months. She uses one diaper a day now, only when she goes to sleep.

She is a very happy, self assured kid. She amazes me when she runs to the bathroom on her own or when she looks around in public places for where the potty place is. This was a wonderful experience and we are very happy she is a big girl now.
Our baby # 2 is due in just a few weeks. This naturally makes me think of all the diapers we will need to go through again and makes me think what we can change having learned from our experience with the baby # 1. I have some very good ideas about what will be different. Watch for more in Part II of this post.