Potty training: Mom vs. The Three-Year-Old
After changing diapers for roughly 7 years, we are ready to be done.
My 3-year-old boy has master the #1, but #2's are just not happening unless he's wearing a diaper.
So I thought I'd try what my friends have had success with:
Explain that mommy and daddy are tired of changing stinky, dirty diapers.
Now it is the toddler's turn. Place toddler in tub and allow them to change their own diaper.
This is supposed to be offensive enough to them that they quickly change their mind and do their business on the potty from here on out.
OK...
So we are on day six of my darling son's adventure in changing his own diaper.
It's not going well.
He takes it off, starts whining and complaining and holding his nose.
So far so good.
"Okay - here are the wipes. Clean yourself up," I say.
And then he refuses. "I can't do it."
"I'm tired of changing dirty diapers!" He tells me.
Sigh.
A three-year-old shouldn't know anything about using reverse psychology, should he?
And then he stands there and whines and complains for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, the entire bathroom is stinky and I'm secretly hoping that he doesn't step in the contents of his diaper.
I can only take so much of this - my eyes start watering, all my senses are assaulted - I have to take action! I make him use one wipey and then I do the rest.
Is this a fail? I don't know. Well, I could say we've made progress because he's tired of changing stinky diapers. And obviously, we haven't made enough progress because we're on day six of this experiment.
Where do we go from here?
I pause to wonder why it is that the recommended age for potty training coincides with the age where they are most defiant and strong-willed. We battle with our 3-year-old every day about everything.
Put your cup on the table. "No!"
Put your shoes away. "No!"
Time for a nap. "No!"
Go try the potty. "No!"
I have heard insanity defined as doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result.
Why should we think that potty training will elicit a different response from him? That's just plain silly. So the trick is to convince him that it's his idea. And if he still doesn't do the task, we make him do it, or we remove rewards. No show. No games. No book...whatever seems most unfair at the time.
When I step back and think about the big picture, this is just a momentary setback. He will eventually get the hang of this. It's not worth getting stressed over.
We'll just keep at it, and one of these days he will get it.
...right?
My 3-year-old boy has master the #1, but #2's are just not happening unless he's wearing a diaper.
So I thought I'd try what my friends have had success with:
Explain that mommy and daddy are tired of changing stinky, dirty diapers.
Now it is the toddler's turn. Place toddler in tub and allow them to change their own diaper.
This is supposed to be offensive enough to them that they quickly change their mind and do their business on the potty from here on out.
OK...
So we are on day six of my darling son's adventure in changing his own diaper.
It's not going well.
He takes it off, starts whining and complaining and holding his nose.
So far so good.
"Okay - here are the wipes. Clean yourself up," I say.
And then he refuses. "I can't do it."
"I'm tired of changing dirty diapers!" He tells me.
Sigh.
A three-year-old shouldn't know anything about using reverse psychology, should he?
And then he stands there and whines and complains for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, the entire bathroom is stinky and I'm secretly hoping that he doesn't step in the contents of his diaper.
I can only take so much of this - my eyes start watering, all my senses are assaulted - I have to take action! I make him use one wipey and then I do the rest.
Is this a fail? I don't know. Well, I could say we've made progress because he's tired of changing stinky diapers. And obviously, we haven't made enough progress because we're on day six of this experiment.
Where do we go from here?
I pause to wonder why it is that the recommended age for potty training coincides with the age where they are most defiant and strong-willed. We battle with our 3-year-old every day about everything.
Put your cup on the table. "No!"
Put your shoes away. "No!"
Time for a nap. "No!"
Go try the potty. "No!"
I have heard insanity defined as doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result.
Why should we think that potty training will elicit a different response from him? That's just plain silly. So the trick is to convince him that it's his idea. And if he still doesn't do the task, we make him do it, or we remove rewards. No show. No games. No book...whatever seems most unfair at the time.
When I step back and think about the big picture, this is just a momentary setback. He will eventually get the hang of this. It's not worth getting stressed over.
We'll just keep at it, and one of these days he will get it.
...right?
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