7 Things Nobody Tells You About Potty or Toilet Training

1. It doesn't just require them to be ready, you need to be ready too! We lost a year due to this, and cost a year in nappies (trained at 3 instead of age 2).
2. When they have accidents their SHOES get wet too! Aaron hadn't had an accident in 3 months but due to helping a friend with a house move, he could see that I couldn't go inside to the loo with him so he didn't even ask. His canvas high tops got wet and I had a chance of clothes, but not socks and socks. He was so uncomfortable in them, we had to get an "expensive" taxi home. That was a lesson I never forgot but it never happened again.
3. Being out of nappies doesn't mean being out of nappies. NIGHT TIME is the problem! Especially if they still have milk at night. See point 7.
4. Being able to do a wee in the toilet/potty doesn't mean a poo will be anywhere near as easy! He point blank used to refuse to do a poo in a loo and we used to sometimes spend an hour in there. This took weeks not days to resolve.
5. Being out and about and needing a toilet turns out not to be a big deal - they can hold it for a short while.
6. It is not just a physical process it is just as much a mental one. Bladder control takes time, even when they do get their head around it. What I mean here is, in the early days he once did a wee 7 times in one hour. It was like he either needed to learn bladder control or just get his head around holding it. This took a few days, so I would do the training when you can stay at home for a few days, at least 3 or 4.
7. PULL UPS are too DAMN expensive!!!!! To get round this I used Lidl ones, which I think are 2.99 pounds for a pack of 18. The market leader ones are just far too dear when you are using them every night, i.e. you could spend as much as 15 or 20 pounds a month on just those.

The Trouble with Toilet Training

I don't know how many mums admit what a struggle toilet / potty training is...

For me the battle has been all mine.  It's never been about whether Aaron is ready - the worries are all my own, and have been since he was a year old and he'll be two and a half in 7 days!!!!

I visited my Great Aunt a few months ago and she could not believe he was still in nappies, informing me she had my cousin dry by 11 months... No pressure then!

Then last weekend I spent the weekend in Folkestone and my friend literally gave me homework, in the form of 3 Bs which quickly became 5.

1. Bum - get him out of nappies
2. Bottle - get him off his bottles (still on 3 a day)
3. Bed - get him out of our bed (he cosleeps with us)

He said parenting is all about getting those 3 done as quickly as possible.  But ALL 3 of them are my fault and not Aaron's :-(

Later on we made it five by adding on B for behaviour and B for ... can't remember the 5th one...

Everyone had said toilet training is easier in Summer.  I was out of work all Summer so I had the time to dedicate to it, and yet I always had an excuse.  So so so very many excuses.

NOW I have everything: the seat, the training pants, the pull ups, everything! Aaron is more than ready and has been for a long time.  So yesterday he told me about a poo BEFORE he did it, and I sat him on his mickey mouse toilet seat on the big loo, and because it was FREEZING he hopped off.  Our loo is the only room out of 6 that does not have a radiator.

So how bad did I feel then!!!!!  Knowing that this is yet another reason I should have done it in Summer like EVERYONE told me.

Today, because he remembers yesterday's experience, when I took his night time nappy off, I was going to put pull ups on, but because he associates them with the loo (the COLD loo) he would not let me and insisted I put a nappy on him.  I was GUTTED!

At nursery it is VERY warm and he is forever asking them if he can go to the toilet.  But they won't start it till I do so at home...

So I went on a forum today and admitted all of my concerns and fears, and it was so refreshing to have so many mums commenting back that they have left it as late as I have.

No doubt there were some reading who thought "you idiot get on with it, I did it a year ago" but those thinking that, stayed respectfully silent, so there was a cheerful gang of us effectively saying "it's alright mate" :-)

But it worries me, SO SO much.  It is like a weight on my shoulder.

So I think I may get a bit religious and pray on it.  I did buy a book the other day called The Power of a Praying Parent, and I have A LOT to be praying about.



It is so much on my mind, that I want to start praying about everything, to pass it over into God's hands, that when I heard G+ had started communities, the FIRST thing I did was set up a "Praying Parent" community.

The photo for the community, is one I personally took in Malta.

Feel free to join me there, if you are that way inclined.

I know it sounds so silly when some people have REAL problems, but trust me I have some of those too...

Liska xx

Ready For Toilet / Potty Training

It was never ever about Aaron being ready - it was me!  It was always about me!

Now, kicking and screaming, I am reluctantly ready.  Hey in 7 days he will be 28 months!!!!! It is - to be honest - about time too!

My Great Aunt who is normally "don't worry! Don't worry!" about most things even told me my cousin, who herself is now nearly 50, was being toilet trained at 11 months and dry by 13 months.  Eeek, so 2 generations before me, my family was more efficient brave!

So I went off to Argos on Sunday and got this:

But the seat goes UNDER your seat and it did NOT fit in ours.  So I will be needing to get a refund!

Plus I have always known I want to go straight to toilet, bypassing potty, and I knew I wanted a cushioned seat.  When I say I, I mean for Aaron, obviously ;-)

I was meant to toilet train Aaron in Summer, and because I bottled out, delayed, he is now finding the seat incredibly cold, and the above would not help.

Now the beauty of the above is that you get all 3 of those in a set for £9.99.  I should have known it was too cheap to work LOL!  I did get other bargains in Argos whilst there, which I will save for another blog post.  Don't get me wrong, all products are being put to good use, but I won't be blogging about them just yet.

Anyway, due to the seat not fitting our toilet seat, I today went to Mothercare this afternoon, where they are doing 3 for 2 and I bought these:

Please ignore the dust chalky marks on the floor where my floor polish has one funny.

They are pricey to be honest even with the 3 for 2 offer but I justified it by the fact that I nearly bought Aaron Hunter wellies for £28, whereas in Mothercare I got the wellies for £12 and he will LOVE them as he is all about Thomas (by the way why is Thomas now called Thomas & Friends? I personally can't get out of the habit of saying Thomas The Tank Engine!)

So as you can see the above toilet seat goes OVER ours instead of UNDER like the Argos one.  It is cushioned just like I wanted BUT is £16.99.  The potty and the stool are each £7.99 so it was one of them I got free.  I would have preferred if the stool was a half moon shape instead of round, but I wasn't going to walk away on that basis as I have been putting off this potty / toilet training malarchy for long enough!!!!!

I just Googled toilet training for the first time.  I had previously been too in denial to even do that.

The first thing that came up was this Huggies Pull Ups website.  The video is too brief and not at all helpful, but I am delighted by the advice that you CAN train straight through to toilet as intuitively THAT is exactly what I would like to do.

The website says:

Choosing to go straight to the toilet:

Pros:
Your toddler will already be familiar with you using the toilet
You make the transition to the toilet without the middle step of using a potty.
Easy to flush away the 'mess' rather than having to clean it out of the potty
Your toddler may feel more like a BIG KID by using the toilet like other members of the family.
Your toddler will not be so daunted about going to the toilet when out and about without their potty.
Toilet seat inserts are lightweight and portable.

Cons:
Can be daunting
Flushing can frighten some kids
Requires parental assistance to get on and off

Anyway, wish me us luck.

Liska xxx