Tag Archives: potty training

There are a zillion methods for potty training out there these days. It seems that there are plenty of parents who have success with one – and an equal amount of families who say the same method doesn’t work. So please don’t take my ramblings today as potty training gospel. Just because I have one child who successfully navigated this tricky part of childhood doesn’t mean that I’m an expert. Far from it!

That said, I’ve decided that there’s no rush in potty training my daughter.

When my 4 ½-year-old son was younger, we had some early “hooray!” moments with potty training. I guess you could say that they were misleading…extremely. Just because we had some successes didn’t mean that it would be a simple, easy “Point A to Point B” journey to a diaper-free existence. Add to it the fact that I was pregnant with our second and there … Read More

Raise your hand if you’ve potty-trained a small human. Or are in the midst of doing so. Or plan on having a child not enter college still having bedtime accidents.

Then you know how daunting it may be. Especially with a super strong-willed child. (Should I finally admit here that my son is SO MUCH like me??? So. Very. Stubborn. I should be proud, really.)

If you read all the books and blogs and Facebook posts and advice handed down from generation to generation, you’ve literally heard every suggestion possible…including complete contradictions.

Offer a reward. No, wait, that’s bribery and never works. (Even though it worked on me as a kid. Not that it’s a good thing; it didn’t work with my son.)

Tell the child when to take a potty break. No, wait, let them learn to listen to their body’s cues. (In my experience, one leads to the … Read More

While many of you cloth diapering parents are still dealing with dirty diapers and possibly potty-training, listen carefully–your relationship with your child’s bodily functions does not end with potty training. It changes, it becomes less “hands on,” so to speak, but it lingers on…and on. My girls are six and nine. They are fully self-sufficient going to the bathroom, including “dropping the kids off at the pool.” However, while the kids do make it to the pool, they usually don’t get flushed. Quite often another family member gets a bit of a foul surprise the next time they need to use the loo, so I wrote a little poem called “Please Flush, Frankie!” Unfortunately, it hasn’t helped them remember to flush, but it has brought a little humor to an otherwise stinky situation.

Please Flush, Frankie!

Little Frank was a handsome tot,
He ate and slept … Read More

Well, I thought my daughter was ready to potty train this past December. She exhibited the signs: dryness when she woke up from her nap, telling me when she went in her diaper and then wanting it changed, and she was showing interest. One Saturday morning we decided that we would just dive right in. The first week went well; better than I had expected. She even pooped on the potty which is something my son struggled with when we were training him. Then the busyness of the holidays happened and little by little she became more careless. After a few weeks we started to just let her walk around the house pantless. Man, I got tired of looking at her naked little bottom half! So, I thought that perhaps we just needed to be persistent and have her wear underwear around the house so she got used to the … Read More

     When Cooper was a newborn and I had just started blogging for Thiristies, I was already thinking ahead to the days we would be potty-training him. It’s not that I was anxious for him to grow up, but rather that I had heard cloth-diapered tots often potty-train earlier than their disposable wearing buddies. Could it be due to the fact that cloth diapers feel wet after a tinkle, unlike disposables, which thanks to being filled with  sodium polyacralyte, feel almost dry even when ready to burst? Or could it be that their parents were more motivated to have them using the toilet so they could stop washing poopy diapers? I had my theories. And let’s just say, Cooper threw me for a poopy-loop despite it all.

     Cooper’s two older sisters were potty trained just after they turned two. Once I was ready to be consistent and follow through, they didn’t … Read More