B3 is officially toilet trained. Day and night. He is three years old. Officially no longer a baby. You cant call them your baby baby when they aren’t in nappies anymore. Needless to say I’m a little saddened and glad all at the same time.
When B1 was toilet training it was horrific and I made it worse listening to too much well meant advice. He was still having accidents at four and I was out of my mind. Looking back I was horrible to him and I’m regretful at how hard I was on him because if I had just let him work it out on his own it would have clicked just a lot quicker. My husbands cousin called me a couple of weeks ago. Her B3 was four and not trained. He is just being lazy she said exasperated. No he isn’t I said don’t make my mistake of giving him a hard time. Trust me I said. He will work it. But he is four she almost screamed. S0 I said. I made that mistake with B1 and I truly think I stuffed him up.
You can follow all the good advice in the world but the fact of the matter is they ain’t going to be ready until they are ready. The switch in their brain needs to go off that that funny feeling they get down there means go to the toilet and no one can make that go off for them but them. You can help it along the way using super hero pants, lots and lots of praise, taking them to the toilet every often and showing them what the toilet is for all of that is fantastic help. Good lord my mother even brought me a singing toilet for B1 that actually had a song belt out when he went and I read about how one women toilet trained her child with a potty party but sorry but that kind of freaks me out. I did all of that but eventually my praise turned to exasperation, frustration, anger then worst of all embarrassment and finally worry that there was something wrong. Looking back if it had gone on much longer I probably would have had B1 looked at. Given all his other troubles (his hearing) I would have gone fairly quickly.
In the mean time my B2 whom I was neglecting with all that rubbish; toilet trained himself at 18 months old. I was what the hell did I do there. Nothing. Not a thing. And the penny dropped. B1 really will do it just when he is ready. Needless to say my B3 toilet trained himself all on his own too and that went for the nights also. I would carry them to the toilet when I went to bed and made them go before bed but that was it. B3 still needs to be told to go to the toilet when he is jumping around like a rouge grasshopper but this is usually because he is trying to see the last of Charlie Bear or something equally important.
So you think I should just leave him my cousin said. Yep for sure I said. If he hasn’t got any other issues then it will just click for him. And guess what two weeks later he was officially using the toilet for ones, twos and night times.
So yes B3 is toilet trained but he still needs me in the toilet when doing number twos…I think its just for company and to do the dirty work you know what I mean. So I guess he needs me just a little..even if its just to clean up his proverbial sh*t but I think that’s always going to be my job and right now I really don’t mind.
xX Deb
