Potty Learning Happens – Eventually

When I became a mom, I had no idea about the amount of judgments that people make about moms every day. It does not matter whether the judgment comes from another mom who does things differently than you do or from your parents, or even from random people at the grocery store – it does not feel very good. Even worse, people make judgments about things over which you have no real control, like when your child becomes potty trained. Since every child is different, every child potty trains in his or her own time. This is such a simple … Continue reading →

Toddler Diaper Rash

One of the challenges that toddlers and their parents navigate as they grow is potty learning. A couple of months ago, Dylan decided that it was his time to graduate to big boy underwear. He did great for a few weeks, even on a six hour long car ride to Maine. For some reason, he then decided to abandon his undies and go back to diapers. When Dylan changed direction and went back to wearing diapers it confused me, so I did a little research on potty learning and regression. I learned that sometimes, toddlers will master using the potty, … Continue reading →

Keep Calm And Potty On

After a few weeks of relatively smooth sailing as far as potty learning is concerned, Dylan has started to regress. I think that this started some time yesterday, and there were quite a few accidents today. As tempting as it was to tell him that little boys who treat their underwear like diapers will wear diapers, I resisted. Instead, I decided that I would do some research on potty learning regression. The first thing that I learned about regression is that it is quite common. That does not take the frustration away, but it reassures me that this is not … Continue reading →

Potty Learning On The Go

Tomorrow, the boys and I are headed out of town for the weekend. We are going to Maine to stay at my husband’s parents’ cottage, which just happens to be located less than an hour from the town where my favorite fair is being held this weekend. The trip would take about six hours, if we drove non stop. I have no idea how long it will actually take us, nor do I have any expectations of getting there at a certain time. You see, this trip could take a while because Dylan is on an important journey of his … Continue reading →

The Potty Learning Journey Continues

Today, Dylan took another step in the direction of declaring his independence from diapers. The way that we are approaching potty learning with Dylan is to let him lead the way. Yesterday I casually mentioned to him that we would be going shopping for clothes soon. He asked me if he could get real underwear. I told him that since he was doing well with learning to use the potty, we could get some underwear because we do not go shopping that often and we would want to have the underwear close by for when he was ready to use … Continue reading →

Oh No! Diaper Rash!

I always knew that the road from diapers to the potty might be a little rough, but I did not expect anything like this. We have switched from disposable diapers to disposable training pants, and have been using disposable training pants for a couple of months now. Dylan has been getting better and better about using the potty, and now most of the messy stuff makes it into the potty. On the liquid side of things, he’s getting about fifty percent in the potty and the other fifty percent in the training pants. One morning about a week and a … Continue reading →

Potty Progress

If there is one thing that parents of toddlers should know about potty training, it is that each child will follow his or her own unique path to potty independence. There are many ways to approach potty training, and each method works well for some children. The question of when to begin potty training is as big of a decision as the method that you will use. At my house, we are employing a laid back, no pressure approach to using the potty. We bought Dylan a potty when he was about two years old. He was curious about it, … Continue reading →

Potty Time? Not Right Now

One of the big experiences that parents of toddlers encounter is potty training. This evening, I realized that Dylan really has not started potty training at all. He wants to wear training pants, but he does not want to stop playing outside or whatever else he is doing to let me know that he has to use the potty. He does not even tell me when he needs to be changed. It is probably a good thing that he has not started potty training, though, because I have not yet educated myself about how to do it. I want to … Continue reading →

Finally Potty Training, Part 2

Read my previous blog to find out how our day was supposed to go. Here is how our day went. Jessie got up at 8:30 and we ate breakfast and watched TV. Jessie went with me when I put my contacts on and she informed me that she wanted to potty train. How did she know? I told her she was in luck and that’s what we would be doing today. At 9:00 we went to change clothes. I got out all her panties and Jessie told me she wanted to wear Hello Kitty. I laid out all five pairs … Continue reading →

Finally Potty Training, Part 1

Today’s the day. I’m so tired of diapers on the toddler. Today is the day that we are going to actively and aggressively potty train. Jessie’s been showing signs of readiness. I am optimistic that we could be in diapers only at night after today. I am so ready for today. I have our day planned. We’re going to be casual and hang out in our jammies watching cartoons. At 9:00 we’ll change clothes and put on big girl panties instead of diapers. The plan is to drink a lot. I was supposed to get a special drink she doesn’t … Continue reading →