Sunday 31 January 2016

Toilet training - Does 3 days work?...xo

So Im finally back...I have quit my full time job in order to have more time with my son and my family as well as do something that makes me happy so here it goes...

So when I started to think about what was important in my life and whether full time work, or if the retail business life was for me...one of those things that was on my mind as a full time working mum was how am I meant to train my child to use the toilet. I thought I could do it all...work 5 days a week and manage to make my child want to use the toilet by simply having him sit on it once at night before bath time (because he always wee'd in the bath..genius I thought?!). He did it a few times and I did the whole song and dance routine when he successfully wee'd in the toilet.. which he loved...but was he motivated to use the toilet as opposed to the bath..no. I asked his dad to assist on his days to ensure regularity and uniformity...that didn't happen. My child was using the toilet 6 nights a week and he wasn't always going. I even had the genius idea of reading to him so he wasn't trying too hard to go and it would come naturally. Reading 'Dinosaur Roar' 5 times over was getting to me. Bath time became a massive hassle and I dreaded it.



How was I to get him to use the toilet. I started having fears that he would go to school on his first day wearing a nappy and children around him would question what the smell was when he did number twos. So when i decided to leave my full time job and change career I felt my first priority was to have my son toilet trained..crazy when I write it down. But it was important and with no help from his father I was determined to do whatever it took.

Now apparently there is a 3 day potty training "program" that people swear by. This was the first I had heard of it. I think, maybe, a friend did it a year or so ago with her toddler but thats when my boy was a newborn so I wasn't paying attention. That was long from my mind. So I researched this 3 day potty training technique and they all say it only takes 3 days to never use Nappies again. 3 days? Thats a blimp in the radar of life I can do this. I have to do this.

http://www.projectpottytraining.com/potty-training-in-3-days/

So day 1. I put on the underwear. I asked him if he wanted to go to the toilet at least every half an hour and waited until he would either say yes or he would wet himself. He wet himself. Tears galore. He hated it "Mummy fix" he said. I put him on the toilet but it was too late. I felt he didn't get it. So we kept with the same thing. I was also continuously putting him on the toilet and waiting for him to go. He hated it. I hated it. I was ready to give up. I couldn't see how this was possibly going to work. My new theory would be that he would simply wet his pants for the rest of his life and say "Mummy fix".

Day 2. He had an accident in the morning as I didn't get to him in time. However from there I would ask continuously if he needed to go with same response "No I don't need toilet". I noticed though when he felt like he needed to go he had this guilty look on his face as he was playing with his cars he would stop and look up at me as if he was hiding something but couldn't hold in the secret...so I then asked do you need to go to the toilet "Yes" finally he could say yes to the question I felt like i had asked 100 times over.  It felt like I was watching his ass all day and couldn't relax. I felt housebound. I felt like I couldn't go anywhere as it wasn't possible and wasn't a part of my mission.

Day 3. This was to be the day he would be toilet trained. I woke up thinking...as if this will happen. How do you change in 2 nights! He has been wearing a nappy for 3 years..how would 3 days make him change that. I still felt trapped. I had nowhere to go.  I needed wine...I wanted to be on my own for a minute. BUT no! I had to do this. If it doesn't work then I have no idea what I will do but it hadn't reached 3 days so it just might happen. Now we were at the point where I couldn't put him on the toilet unless he needed otherwise I feel him might have developed ad adverse feeling towards the toilet. Do you remember the scene in "look whose talking?" where Mikey goes to the bathroom during the night and the toilet starts yelling at him?! I didn't want my child to see that face from the toilet. Ok thats a bit far fetched but it had been 2 days with 1 day to go and I desperately wanted him trained to say I had succeded. I could do this as a single parent. He told him after breakfast he needed to go to the toilet. I put him on his seat and he went. I was beyond proud. I did the song and dance because I actually wanted to. I did it! But was this going to last...

Ok so its been 2 weeks since I began my 3 days of potty training and safe to say I havent had an accident since...I mean my son hasn't just in case you read that wrong?! He tells me when he needs to go and still gives me a cute smile whilst he wees in the toilet. Dork. But I love him and am proud of him. But more importantly Im proud of myself. You might say it seems silly but it is one of the hardest things I think I have had to achieve as a parent. 3 days felt like forever but realistically its only 3 days of your life and its so worth it. I recommend this method but I also suggest tailoring it to what you child responds well to as I knew my son was lazy and couldn't be bothered going that if it appeared I was forcing him he wouldn't have done it. Another thing I will admit, which may sound weird, I felt like we became closer and appreciated our time together. Its a memory I will take with me forever...ok I said that more for dramatic effect to end my story however realistically I truly appreciate my time with my son even if its 3 days watching his ass.

To those mums training their children to use the toilet...no need to stress it only takes 3 days...xo