tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-472399563141922488.post356685443832260512..comments2023-11-13T14:13:15.889-05:00Comments on Babyfingers: Potty training: What did NOT workJennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02154415218933660079noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-472399563141922488.post-92073341377075842262009-10-22T22:48:43.419-04:002009-10-22T22:48:43.419-04:00Next time he has a rash try using Dr Hess Udder Oi...Next time he has a rash try using Dr Hess Udder Ointment found at www.udderointment.com. It works fantastic on dry skin, eczema, diaper rash, cracked heels, chafing and more...It's seriously awesome. I have used it for years on my own kids and myself. Register on their website and they will send you a coupon code for 20%off your order.<br />http://www.udderointment.compolly tribehttp://www.udderointment.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-472399563141922488.post-74584989263662580532009-10-17T18:39:42.036-04:002009-10-17T18:39:42.036-04:00Jenny, I love your post. It's all true in my e...Jenny, I love your post. It's all true in my experience as well. Candy rewards are difficult to disengage for a child who loves sweets, underwear Saturdays with my 18 month-old set us back perhaps as much as five months by stressing her out, and the part about the huge corps that sell disposable training pants fleecing America? All you have to do is go back forty years to find a generation of kids who potty trained WELL before age two using cloth diapers and parental guidance.<br /><br />Not all toddlers will use the potty willingly before three and a half, but endless disposables are not the only option. A switch to pull-up cloth diapers like Antsy Pants™ (my own design) can work well for even new walkers, not to mention already potty trained kids who still can't stay dry through the night.<br /><br />Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts about what didn't work. I wish your post had been around a year and a half ago when I was learning about potty training.Reneehttp://getantsy.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-472399563141922488.post-7644452593905218742009-10-17T15:11:23.088-04:002009-10-17T15:11:23.088-04:00I agree that rewards and punishments for pottying ...I agree that rewards and punishments for pottying don't feel right to me, either. I remember my parents trying both with my little brother, and as I gained some perspective on it, it just felt all wrong to bribe or punish for elimination.<br /><br />We did part-time EC with Mikko, by which I mean we were kinda lazy about it and backed up with cloth diapers, but he had lots of experience being on the potty from birth or thereabouts. He was staying dry all the time just before he turned 2, so we went ahead and switched to training pants (cloth) instead of dipes. Just looking at the ages kids used to potty train at (2-ish or before) and looking at them now (up to 4), obviously kids <i>can</i> potty train earlier, no matter what doctors (endorsed by diaper companies) say. But as MaryAnne said, of course, waiting might work better for certain kids and make it less contentious.<br /><br />Ok, things that didn't work for us in terms of making the big transition from EC to potty trained: Any sort of meltdown scolding, which I'm sad to say I instinctively reacted with on a few occasions when I'd specifically tried to get him to pee on the potty and he subsequently went on the floor instead. Like with your watermelon story, that just made me feel bad and him upset, and staying calm and cleaning it up worked much better. Another thing was being too freaked out about the thought of accidents that we pressured him to try too often. As he got better at holding it in for long periods, our reminders became like nagging and just annoyed him. Now we save them for when we get up, when we're going out, when we've come home, and when we're going to bed. It ends up being about 3-4 times a day, and that seems to work well for him.<br /><br />Beyond that, patience did work. In our case, patience has been waiting for him to develop the language skills to tell us he needs to pee rather than still doing an EC-like thing where we offer potty opportunities. He's just now starting to alert us himself. Another is that he likes to change up <i>where</i> he pees, and we let him: different potties, the big toilet, the bathtub! I figure there's no reason to fight it, and eventually he'll pee like the rest of us. He still has issues peeing in public, because public restrooms scare him (the echoing sounds, maybe?) — he starts crying as soon as he enters one and won't go in there. So we bought a little travel potty and just keep it in the car for days with long errands when he'll need a pee break away from home.<br /><br />Oh, and I think using cloth is a good idea, because it's more obvious when they're wet, for both the kids and parents. For training pants, there are a few kinds out there that are absorbent enough to keep a huge puddle from forming if there's a miss. You'll still need to change pants, but maybe not scrub the carpet!Lauren Waynehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07500733577920040395noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-472399563141922488.post-75787431941293781772009-10-17T11:53:37.994-04:002009-10-17T11:53:37.994-04:00Waiting paid off big time at our house. Was our da...Waiting paid off big time at our house. Was our daughter physically capable of being trained before she trained herself at 3? I think she probably was, but she was so set on staying in diapers that it would have been highly traumatic for the entire family. And it was well worth the wait when she literally trained herself overnight the day before her third birthday. Probably wouldn't work for every child, but it was definitely the way to go with our first. <br /><br />And, since we use cloth diapers, pampers and huggies didn't get any extra money from us ;)MaryAnnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13253503049272771754noreply@blogger.com