Hi, I am in the middle on a potty training intensive with one of my twins (3.5yr old) and I’m starting to feel a little defeated. It’s just me and him in the house and watching him is my full time job. Yesterday was day 1, he woke up with a wet nappy and we sat on the toilet every 15min all day long, he would happily to go to the toilet and would even volunteer because he really wanted the “treasures”, but he would sit and nothing would happen, then he would throw a tantrum because I didn’t let him have a toy. He had 2 pee accidents, one at 12:30, and another at 6pm. At 12:30 I gave him his lunch and sat down next to him, 2 seconds later I checked and he was wet. The 2nd time he was on the floor playing with his train, I tried to rush him to the toilet but it was too late. He’s really good at holding it, I gave him lots of juice, water, milk and he was eating salty chips and popcorn. At 8pm I put him in a pull-up for bedtime and he pooped at 9pm. Today he is saying “No, I don’t want to pee in the toilet” and is not as willing to even go in and sit, I’ve adjusted the schedule to every 30min today. I left him with his dad to go take a shower and that’s when he had an accident.
Answer:
Hey There, Great job on Day 1 of your intensive Mama, I know that might not be what you want to hear but Intensives take a lot and that you did a full day of it, even if the outcome isn't what you hoped for YET, you've gained a lot of knowledge about your child that will move this down the finish line.
Can you please reply with the following:
1. # of successful eliminations
2. # of accidents
Also regarding poop it is normal to land pee first and poop take longer. We get lots more practice pee'ing and this is the way for more children, so know that will come with consistency and watching for tells.
So I would give 2 rewards, one for sitting, one for elimination. The sitting has to be light and not has valuable as the elimination reward but something worth the ask. Also want to confirm he's not sitting more then 3-5 mins.
If he only had 2 accidents yesterday I would widen the window today. When he was sitting with the trains was he too far from the bathroom? Is his movement limited, did some pee even a few drops make it to the toilet? If so he should still get reward.
What did you do with the mess? These are the things I would be thinking about as you head into day 2. AND if you need a break, there is no harm in that. You could do a half day today and just stay consistent when he gets home from school. Every day next week.
Susan is going live in a few minutes, if you can make that call you can ask about this there as well. Keep up the good work MAMA, it will come. xo
Hey There, Great job on Day 1 of your intensive Mama, I know that might not be what you want to hear but Intensives take a lot and that you did a full day of it, even if the outcome isn’t what you hoped for YET, you’ve gained a lot of knowledge about your child that will move this down the finish line.
Can you please reply with the following:
1. # of successful eliminations
2. # of accidents
Also regarding poop it is normal to land pee first and poop take longer. We get lots more practice pee’ing and this is the way for more children, so know that will come with consistency and watching for tells.
So I would give 2 rewards, one for sitting, one for elimination. The sitting has to be light and not has valuable as the elimination reward but something worth the ask. Also want to confirm he’s not sitting more then 3-5 mins.
If he only had 2 accidents yesterday I would widen the window today. When he was sitting with the trains was he too far from the bathroom? Is his movement limited, did some pee even a few drops make it to the toilet? If so he should still get reward.
What did you do with the mess? These are the things I would be thinking about as you head into day 2. AND if you need a break, there is no harm in that. You could do a half day today and just stay consistent when he gets home from school. Every day next week.
Susan is going live in a few minutes, if you can make that call you can ask about this there as well. Keep up the good work MAMA, it will come. xo