Round 2 began yesterday with #2. Ben is potty training! I haven't been as excited to start this process for the second time primarily because, with more than one child, changing whatever is working at the time being is not an exciting thought. However, I want Ben to be fully potty trained when he starts school in the Fall (as Sam was at 2 1/2 and starting school) and we have some travel plans this summer that begin in July so potty training between traveling and starting school wasn't going to happen later in the summer. Ben has shown plenty of the signs of readiness and I got to the point that I felt like I was holding him back.
So, yesterday was the day...no more diapers (except during sleep times)! 'Day 1' for Ben went much like Sam's 'Day 1'. Many soiled clothes. I lost count, but Ben's probably came close to Sam's count of 12 (I think) on his first day. But we ended the day on a great positive note with a successful, "I need to potty...run...and making it!" It gave me hope for today. And Ben too. I could tell that it just seemed to click at that moment and he was very proud of his dry underwear. What I did identify yesterday, as I was trying to juggle Sam's schedule and get my things done while making sure Ben got to spend the day at home yesterday is this...The world can not come to a halt for a week or even days, with #2 like it did when starting potty training with #1. There are just too many things going on.
Thankfully, today has been filled with more steps in the right direction. Only one pair of wet underwear and three successful trips to the potty. One of those successes being on a big public restroom potty at Sam's swim lessons!
We're pretty much using the same techniques as we did with Sam...a potty timer set at strategic intervals and lots of praise and cheers for successful trips to the potty. I have found it quite interesting to observe Ben's level of frustration with the little potty. He's shown quite a bit of resistance with our suggestions to "sit and try" and has even thrown the potty several times. I reread my favorite potty training book, "Stress Free Potty Training" by Sara Au and Peter L. Stavinoha, Ph.D over the last couple of weeks and identified Ben as a "Goal-Directed" child but I saw quite a bit of a "Strong-Willed" child yesterday too. I think I need to read that chapter tonight.
All in all I'm feeling much better about this after just a day and half and I'm actually excited about the freedom from diapers.
GO BEN GO!
No comments:
Post a Comment