Heidi was only 18 months old when people started whispering the P word. We had picked up a potty in the baby event at Aldi but Heidi was much more interested in filling it full of Happyland figures and flying it around like a spaceship. However, I was following my first piece of advise:
"Buy a potty and see what happens."
By the time she hit two years old the pressure to get her out of nappies grew. With baby Harriet due in a few months even my partner Christopher was eager to get things going, so we weren't paying out extra money. However, this was not a good enough reason for me. I stood my ground.
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| Courtesy of nickmom.com |
"Potty training cannot be rushed."
The potty stayed in view, gathering dust for another few months. We read stories and I would casually asked her if she would like to try the potty every so often. The answer was always a firm "No."
"Prepare and gently encourage, but follow their lead."
When baby Harriet, Heidi was nearly two and a half. Pressure from others was building and I started to panic. I abandoned my own instincts, bought looooads of pants and whipped her nappy off, in the hope that she would just 'get it'.
"Avoid pull-ups and let them run free."
With Harriet only a few weeks old I was going nowhere in a hurry so I was happy to stay in for a week to see how thins went. At first she did really well. She ran to the potty when she needed to and even had a No 2! Her potty was soon decorated with stickers to demonstrate her success.
"Praise, praise, praise."
Things began going wrong on Day 6. Heidi just lost interest. She wasn't even bothered when she had an accident! I persisted for another couple of days then gave up, much to the disappointment of Christopher. She knew exactly when she needed a wee and where to do it but she didn't want to! She had much better things to do than remember to use the potty. I went back to leaving her nappy on which Heidi barely noticed! A sure sign that she wasn't ready.
"Don't be afraid to back track and try again later."
It was time to stand my ground again. I ignored the "she'll still be in nappies when she's at school!" comments. Heidi is a very clever girl but will not be starting school until September 2016. I was confident that she would be out of nappies by then! I went back to my own advise.
"Wait, wait and wait some more"
I think the penny finally dropped when we were on holiday in Aberystwyth. But there was no chance I was going to start the ball rolling while we were there! As soon as we were home and settled, we asked Heidi if she wanted to try the potty, and she did! We allowed Heidi to run free while at home but popped a nappy on if we went out. We progressed to short nappy-free trips in the car and we always, always took the potty. After a week, I had stopped reminding her that she was nappy-free. Success!
"They will do it when they are ready"
After 8 weeks Heidi is still doing really well. Accidents are rare and we even have to bribe her to have a nappy on at bedtime. As soon as she wakes up she asks for it to be taken off! We have just overcome the fear of the toilet with a very successful trip to Chester Zoo without the potty. Number two's cause a little anxiety but this is normal and I'm confident she will overcome this soon.
Like most parents, I was dreading potty training but by allowing Heidi to take the lead it actually went quite smoothly. There was no need for stickers or rewards because she WANTED to do it. A whoop and a clap were enough!
I hope that when the time comes to start the whole process again with Harriet, I remember the key to successful potty training:
"Be patient."
Love and cuggies,
Alison x
