We are entering the new phase of toddler-hood: the dreaded potty training! Part of me is scared, thinking that it will be frustrating for us, scary for her, and stressful for all of us. But another part of me has confidence in her, that she will pick it up fairly easy and will love the independence aspect of it. I think if I sit her down and have a discussion about it and tell her NO MORE DIAPERS, she'll jump at it and never look back.
But one thing at a time; we aren't pressuring her at all. And not pressuring her is pretty easy considering that we, as parents, really aren't sure what to do. We've been talking about it for a while, but then Stephen brought up the ultimate question that we had been circling around: "where do we start?" So after some books and getting advice from a few sources and some common sense knowing Catherine as we do, I think we have a "plan":
Step one: talk with her about it and share books. Well, we've been doing this for a while. She's super interested in coming with me when I go and I tell her "soon you'll be using the potty like the big kids and grown ups do". And she smiles. Her favorite part is to flush, and then she says "bye bye" and waves at the water swirling down.
Step two: get her a potty of her very own. Done. That was on Monday. And oh was she excited! We had looked at them in the store before and talked with her about it. So when I brought out the box and told her it was just for her, she started dancing around. She could barely contain herself as I pulled it out of the box. We let her get acquainted with it, so she played with it - taking it apart and back together, putting her toys in it, and
Step three: setting up a routine, sitting on it at regular times. This we haven't done yet. I don't want to force too much on her at once. But within the next couple of days we'll be trying it out to see how receptive of the idea she is. And then in the next few weeks we'll be getting the training pants and using diapers mainly at night or for trips or things like that. And then from there... we'll see. No deadline in mind, just going from her reactions.
Stay tuned... this is exciting stuff!
2 comments:
Good Luck with that.... its a pretty funny time... girls usually train faster than boys so you have that working for you!! But always remember no kid has started kindergarten in diapers!!! Plus many ppl don't even attempt to start until they're 2.... I can't believe how fast time has gone, it seems like she was just born!!
The best thing you can do is to relax. Don't stress out over potty training and it will happen in its own time. Catherine will surprise you.
Much love,
Aunt Karen
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