If you were to tell me that my one year old would do well with going to the potty, I would have said Ju-lying. You get it? No but in all seriousness, with my youngest, technically not being my biological child, I tend to underestimate her capabilities. Not because I doubt her, but more so because I do not know her background or history when it comes to certain things. When I got wind that I would be working from home, and that my children would be home with me, I thought that I would get Taylor a potty and just start to introduce her to it. Who would have known that the would would be placed on hold due to the Coronavirus and who would have known that the Coronavirus pandemic would play a major role in preparing Taylor for big girl potty status.
Coming home with the potty.
I actually ordered Taylor’s potty from Walmart.com. After have two older daughters, I chose to stay away from the fancy potties and just went with a potty that was white and a mauve color. I remembered from my previous potty training experience that kids can truly care less who or what is on toddler toilet when they start to take in interest in the potty. Plus, the potty you have at home, is not going to be the only potty he or she uses. When the toilet arrived, I had a pep talk with myself. I told myself, that she still seems a little young to be starting to potty train. I also reminded myself that there maybe a lot of accidents. Keep in mind, prior to Taylor, My middle child is 7 and my oldest is 11. I forgot what the potty training was for a split second.
Link to the actual potty
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Fisher-Price-Custom-Comfort-Potty-Pink-with-2-Adjustable-Heights/556680140
How I knew my child was ready for the potty.
Come to think about it, I did not know how Taylor would make out using the potty. She is a super active child and cannot normally stay still for more than 4 minutes at a time. Two things that stood out for me when deciding to star the potty training process were, now maybe the best time because we do not have anywhere to go due to the Stay at Home law, and the best time to incorporate potty training is when you have little to no distractions. So, because we had both, I decided that it was a perfect time to buy the potty.
Taking the toilet out of the box, I acted and sounded so proud. I said something along the lines of ” Look Taylor, you have a potty. She walked up to it and immediately sat down with her bottoms still pulled up. I then instructed her to pull her paints down and then sit down. Taylor stood up after about 4 minutes, with my help we both looked down and noticed she had peed in the potty. I was so excited but did not want to alarm her by screaming in excitement. She was so unfazed by my reaction and the fact that she had went to bathroom, it was as if she had done it plenty of times before. Even typing this, I’m still in disbelief at how she reacted to going to the potty for the first time.
I never forced the potty on her. She would naturally love my high fives, and me telling her that she was a big girl that she would say she had to go. She would tell me sometimes back to back. Whenever she let me know that she had to go, even if she just went I sat her on the potty. That got a little tricky and time consuming. At some point, I would stop working, put her on the potty and when I would look inside, there was nothing. If you experience similar patterns and behavior, do not ignore your child. Put them on the potty anyway. This sends a sign to the child that you are taking their baby steps serious.
What I encourage you to do when potty training.
Once you start to potty train your baby, get others on board. At the moment, Taylor is between my house, her grandmother’s house and daycare. The moment she started to take an interest in going to the bathroom, I also let those individuals know. With their support, going to the bathroom in a toilet instead of a diaper or a pull-up started to become normalized for Taylor. Also, when she is at daycare, she is around other kids that are her age that are also going to the bathroom. I think the more she sees it being done, the more likely she will be to go.
What not to do when potty training.
Diapers and pull-ups can be super expensive so the sooner a child is out of them, the better. But what you do not want to do is to create a complex with a child because you are ready for them to be potty trained but they are not. As I had mentioned earlier, my initial plan was to just get Taylor familiarized with the potty. Because she naturally took a liking to it, it was important that she felt supported instead of shamed if and when she had an accident.
I also avoided comparing her to her older siblings or other children for that matter. You will soon noticed that you will begin to get unsolicited advice from people whether you ask for it or not. Do not let outside voices cause you to doubt your parenting skills or the speed in which your child is meeting their milestones.
Lastly, recognize that potty training is not an overnight thing. The more things that may open up outside of this pandemic, may create different environments for the child other than they are used to. Make sure you keep an extra change of clothes with you at all times just in case the child does have any accidents. You can also monitor his or her liquid intake and how often the child goes to the bathroom after eating and drinking. This will help you have a time pattern that you should be asking or placing your child on the toilet. Most importantly, be patient.
If you or someone you know also started to potty train your toddler during this pandemic, how is that process going? What are somethings that her you think are helpful with the process? Comment down below and let me know. I would love to hear what has worked for you and your family.
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