The Delights of Potty Training

For every parent there comes a time, one dreaded yet looked forward to. Time to potty train!

Now, we aren’t to the point of pushing Gage yet, but encouraging him to use the potty? Most definitely.

This is one of those things I’ve had to work with both my son and my husband. Gage loves to sit on his potty. He just won’t do anything on it. However, he considers what Daddy does in the bathroom something close to magic.

Right now our tactics consist of having Gage follow Daddy to the bathroom regularly. He follows me too, but it’s just not the same, if you get my drift. Gage will sit on the potty and even look like he’s trying, but nothing happens. He’ll even wet a diaper five minutes after having sat on the potty. The thud you’re hearing is the sound of my head on the wall that time.

Gage is only 19 months right now, so it’s not exactly a major concern that he potty train quickly. Obviously I’d love it if it happened, but for right now I don’t want him to be like his sister. She used the potty a couple times at his age, then developed a deep fear of it and wouldn’t go near the potty again for a year. We’re talking the kicking and screaming kind of fear. Nope, there’s no way I’m pushing him hard just yet.

You read about all the tactics to get boys interested in using the potty. I’ve always thought the Cheerios in the bowl for aiming practice was a cute idea, but I’ll save it for when we need it. I know little boys’ aim is notoriously bad, but I’ll cope with that when the time comes.

One of the things I love about our potty seat is that it can be put up on the regular toilet. That had been key in training Ariel, and from how delighted Gage is whenever we do that, it may well prove to be the same for him. We’ll just have to wait and see.

One thing I don’t do is talk to my grandmother about potty training. In her day they trained kids much younger. From the sounds of it, it’s more the mom knowing the child’s schedule than the child necessarily being trained, as we’re talking about potty training around 6 months. I didn’t have the patience for that kind of potty training.

Is patience the way to get a child potty trained? I have absolutely no idea. However, at this age it works for me. My son is aware of the potty and is getting the idea as to what one does in it. Once he’s physically ready I hope the concept won’t be too foreign to him.

[tags]potty training,toddlers[/tags]