Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Frustration!!!

You know how when you have your first child and everyone warns you about how tough it's going to be . . . . sleep deprivation, fatigue, etc. Why is it that no one warns you about how hard it will be to potty train that little critter???? I can honestly say right now that I would choose 3 hours of sleep a night for 4 months over potty training. Everything I read says at the very begining that you need to be SUPER patient. What about those of us (speaking of myself) who are not capable of such a thing? ;0) About 2 months back I decided to go for the glory and put Easton straight into underwear. After an entire day of cleaning up messes I was done with that plan. It didn't bother him to be wet or make a mess in his underwear. Lately we have just been trying to get him to sit on the potty every so often. He usually participates in this willingly but will NEVER go on the potty. No matter how long we sit there or how many books we read, he will wait until 5 minutes after he gets off the potty to go. This drives me crazy!!!!!! He will not say when he has to go, or even admit it after the fact. We have a potty chart, we have a treat jar, we even told him we could go to Chuck E. Cheese (which he LOVES) when he went on the potty . . . . . nothing is working. Easton is a smart kid and he has to have some sort of clue but ?????? So I am in desperate need of some potty training advice from all of you "seasoned" potty trainers out there. I don't want to have a 3 year old in diapers! 4 months to go . . . .

16 comments:

Phill, Allie, and kids said...

You know what I say?... Don't waste your time until they are ready. Because most kids WON'T do it until THEY are ready. Carson showed absolutely ZERO interest in potty training and like 3 weeks before his 3rd birthday he totally out of the blue wouldn't let me put a diaper on him. He wanted his big boy underwear and from that second on he had maybe 2 accidents. It was a breeze. When it is the kids idea, they will do alot better speaking from my experience!

Lisa said...

I agree with the above comment- until they are ready (which can be anywhere from 18 months to FOUR YEARS OLD) don't waste your time. Brian is doing pretty well finally (with the occasional lapse) but he is 3 1/2! One good thing- supposedly girls are much easier/faster on average. I'm hoping that is true.

TheStaheliFamily said...

I don't know if you know who I am, but I'm KayDee's friend from Enterprise. I feel your pain. My little guy is 28 months and also has no interest. He is just like Easton when it comes to potty training. Its even more frusturating because I have all my family around telling me I need to get him potty trained.

Frank, Heidi and Family said...

With Jackson I read this book called "Potty Training in less than a day" or something like that. It worked wonderfully. My used it on 3 out of 4 kids and it worked with her. You should get it and read the theory and everything behind it. However, it does say it won't work if your child is extremely stubborn- which Gavin is. So after two attempts with that method with Gavin and said forget it. And I waited until he was interested. It was just around his 3 year old b-day he decided he wanted to be in his cool underwear. It was so easy. It was done. Every now and then he still has an accident when he is playing and doesn't want to stop, or in the middle of the night (he is such a sound sleeper). For the third I will try the book that I have then if that doesn't work I'll wait.

Frank, Heidi and Family said...

Sorry about all the errors in that last email. I was trying to type way too fast. FYI-It was my mom who had the book first.

Ryan and Kristie said...

Sorry...no advice here. The girls trained themselves, but I have a feeling that Jaxon is going to be a completely different story! So I am going to save these lovely tips from your other friends. : ) Hope all is well aside from potty training. Love you!

The Mom said...

Why don't you want a 3 year old in diapers? My boys were each 3 1/2 before they were potty trained. We kept the potty in the bathroom, but until then, they just weren't interested. But one day, they decided to use it and in 2 days, they were trained. No accidents, no diapers at night, nothing. Completely trained. Piece of cake.

Kira did the same thing, only she was 2 1/2, but again, she decided that she was ready.

We did struggle with pooping. That is a much scarier thing for kids. We ended up having to use Children's laxatives to help them out because they got constipated. But still no accidents!

So I say back off and just give him time. Keep the potty in there and just wait. He will get there!

Angie said...

I don't envy you at all! It took Brooklyn 4 months to be trained and she still wears diapers at night (I need to be brave enough to challenge that next). You will feel so proud when it's done though...it's a big accomplishment for a mother.
With Brooklyn I tried many different approachs and she still had accidents. It's very frustrating. I wish I had a great suggestion, but maybe you want to follow everyone else's advice and just wait. If they can get trained in 2-4 days or whatever, I would have waited. I had no idea what I was doing!

Site Administrators said...

This bite Jess, seriously. I think I read the same book that the person above it talking about. I used it with Vince and started potty training the day he turned two, which wasn't smart, but I didn't want two kids in diapers, sooooo, this book basically says to leave them naked for three days, with no undies on. I left a t-shirt on him. He peed from top to bottom of my house those first two days. I was close to a nervous breakdown. The third day he finally peed AND pooped on the toilet. Then the fourth day I let him wear underwear and he still had a couple of accidents, but he seemed to have the hang of it. The problem is that you have to literally stay home for 4-5 days and NOT LEAVE. That was hard, but it seemed to work. We did lots of bribes too. Archie, man, he did it all on his own, he just said he didn't want diapers anymore and just never had an accident. I wish I could take some credit for him, but I can't.
GOOD LUCK, he'll get the hang of it!!
Miss ya!

Erin said...

Nothing is worse...is it?!! I had such a hard time with Ellie that I am DREADING potty training Addison. I keep putting it off. I tried Ellie at 2 and it was a nightmare so I waited until she was 2 1/2 and it took about a week. I do think they have to be ready themselves (whenever that is!) Wish I had some amazing advice to give you. I'll be asking for the same help in a few weeks! :(

Frank, Heidi and Family said...

I don't think Jeriah Threfall read the same book, because I did not leave my kids naked for three days. Perhaps there are several out there, but the one I had was with a Dr. Fox I think.

Tiffany said...

I agree with so many of the above comments. The kid has to be ready! I am sort of in the same boat. I had Noah almost completely potty trained by the time he was Cutler's age. And I haven't even started with Cutler. I'm dreading it. We've tried a few times, but he's just not interested. So my advice, wait until he's ready. Otherwise it will take forever, and you'll be cleaning up a lot of pee and poop!

Maren & Danny said...

Wow-that all sounds so familiar! I had the exact experience with Owen about a month ago. He is absolutely not interested-he wil stand or sit there for a sec then says 'can't do it mom' & away he goes to play with his trains. I also went straight to underwear (I kinda think pullups are a waste of money-just my opinion) & he didn't care if he was wet or poppy either! UGH! So frustrating! I think I agree with everyone above-they gotta be ready & before that it is a lost cause...:0(

Jason and Tawni said...

Jess - I don't know if you remember me but we met back in July when you were here visiting your family in Utah. I'm friends with KayDee and my mother in law is Glenda Wilson.
Anyways, I wanted to tell you how hilarious your post about potty training was. It made me laugh outloud and at the same time, dread what is to come. Good luck with the whole thing. I am NOT looking forward to that stage at all. Also, I wanted to give you access to our blog and link yours to ours so that we can stay in touch. Send me an email at jasonandtawni@gmail.com and I will send you an invitation.
Your family is darling and Mia is super cute, congratulations!

Frei Family said...

Jess! Hayley was trained by two! Don't you just love to hear stuff like that. Super mom. Then came the boys! It was a completly different story. They were hard. By the time we got to Haden we didn't even try. We knew that he would figure it out on his own. He did at about three. Hunter was about three and half and he started changing his own diapers!! He would not go on the potty(stubborness). So just relax. Now I know that for the Frei family that is hard. I think once Easton sees that you are not trying so hard he will just start going by himself.

Tia said...

You'll have to let me know how it goes when Easton decides he's 'ready', because I've only potty trained 2 girls, this will be my first time with a boy!