A few months ago, my mom called me and asked me when I was planning on potty training Maureen. My answer was, "Meh. I don't know. I don't really feel like it now." And when I suggested that she could potty train her on the days she babysits, she wasn't really thrilled with that idea either.
The thing was, I was totally planning on using my "Do Nothing" method that worked so well for Johnny. At 18 months, he learned how to take his diaper off and was making messes, so we bought him a toddler potty. He thought it was the coolest thing ever...until he turned two and all bets were off. I tried pretending using the potty was fun, I tried bribing him, I tried cajoling, I even made up a potty song, but nothing worked. And at some point, I decided, "This is stupid," and that I had better things to do than hang out in the bathroom all day long.
So we just quit. Left it. Said nothing. Put the toddler potty away. And right about when he turned three, while on vacation, the pee thing clicked. (And he also overheard his grandmother saying she was going to get a milkshake on the boardwalk that night and asked her, "Did you poop in the potty, Grandmom?") A few months after that, the poop thing clicked and he's been completely potty trained since then.
Maureen is an independent sort of child, and we had made some half hearted suggestions about toilet learning, but she was not only not interested, but adamantly against it. She told me once, after I changed a messy diaper and I suggested she go in the potty next time, "Ewwwww! That's yucky!" And, to be honest, I'm not all that crazy about public restrooms, so it was just easier to change her diaper.
Finally, we gave her a deadline. When she balked at the bathroom, we said, "That's okay, you don't have to go, but when you turn three, the diapers need to go away." She accepted that. We added on the pacifier that she was taking at night. She accepted that. We added the one remaining sippy cup that is for the rare occasions when I let her have a drink of milk in her bed in the mornings while the house warms up. She accepted that.
Knowing that she didn't have to do all those things NOW seemed to go over really well with her, and having a deadline gave her some time to get used to the idea. If you asked her, "Maureen, what happens when you are three?" she would respond, "No diapers. No pacifiers. No sippy cups. I'll be a BIG girl!"
And then...she met her deadline early. All on her own.
About three weeks ago, at bedtime, she announced she needed to pee in the potty. She did, then when my husband tried to put a diaper on her for bedtime, she threw it at him and hollered that diapers are for babies. She is nowhere near ready to be diaper free overnight, so instead we compromised--if she let Daddy put the diaper on, she could get rid of the pacifiers, which are also for babies. Score!
Since that day, she had abandoned the toddler potty for the regular toilet (yay!), and can go, wipe herself well, get her pants back on and wash her hands completely unassisted.
So we're two for two using the "Do Nothing" Method. And trying to figure out what to do with the changing table. The remaining sippy cup is still in the kitchen, but I think I'm going to throw it out tomorrow.
After five years and two months of changing diapers, we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. And unlike a friend who says she was a little sad when her youngest potty trained, because it meant he wasn't a baby anymore, I'm not the slightest bit sad.
The thing was, I was totally planning on using my "Do Nothing" method that worked so well for Johnny. At 18 months, he learned how to take his diaper off and was making messes, so we bought him a toddler potty. He thought it was the coolest thing ever...until he turned two and all bets were off. I tried pretending using the potty was fun, I tried bribing him, I tried cajoling, I even made up a potty song, but nothing worked. And at some point, I decided, "This is stupid," and that I had better things to do than hang out in the bathroom all day long.
So we just quit. Left it. Said nothing. Put the toddler potty away. And right about when he turned three, while on vacation, the pee thing clicked. (And he also overheard his grandmother saying she was going to get a milkshake on the boardwalk that night and asked her, "Did you poop in the potty, Grandmom?") A few months after that, the poop thing clicked and he's been completely potty trained since then.
Maureen is an independent sort of child, and we had made some half hearted suggestions about toilet learning, but she was not only not interested, but adamantly against it. She told me once, after I changed a messy diaper and I suggested she go in the potty next time, "Ewwwww! That's yucky!" And, to be honest, I'm not all that crazy about public restrooms, so it was just easier to change her diaper.
Finally, we gave her a deadline. When she balked at the bathroom, we said, "That's okay, you don't have to go, but when you turn three, the diapers need to go away." She accepted that. We added on the pacifier that she was taking at night. She accepted that. We added the one remaining sippy cup that is for the rare occasions when I let her have a drink of milk in her bed in the mornings while the house warms up. She accepted that.
Knowing that she didn't have to do all those things NOW seemed to go over really well with her, and having a deadline gave her some time to get used to the idea. If you asked her, "Maureen, what happens when you are three?" she would respond, "No diapers. No pacifiers. No sippy cups. I'll be a BIG girl!"
And then...she met her deadline early. All on her own.
About three weeks ago, at bedtime, she announced she needed to pee in the potty. She did, then when my husband tried to put a diaper on her for bedtime, she threw it at him and hollered that diapers are for babies. She is nowhere near ready to be diaper free overnight, so instead we compromised--if she let Daddy put the diaper on, she could get rid of the pacifiers, which are also for babies. Score!
Since that day, she had abandoned the toddler potty for the regular toilet (yay!), and can go, wipe herself well, get her pants back on and wash her hands completely unassisted.
So we're two for two using the "Do Nothing" Method. And trying to figure out what to do with the changing table. The remaining sippy cup is still in the kitchen, but I think I'm going to throw it out tomorrow.
After five years and two months of changing diapers, we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. And unlike a friend who says she was a little sad when her youngest potty trained, because it meant he wasn't a baby anymore, I'm not the slightest bit sad.
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