Toilet Training Update #5

We have been on this toilet training journey since December 2010. Matt has been out of nappies for a long while now, and we keep him dry because we take him regularly to the toilet. He would not tell us when he needed to urinate. And if we didn't take him he would have an accident.

But this week something has clicked for him - twice he has come to tell me that he needs to go, and twice he has gone all by himself at the toilet! Doing the whole routine of lifting the toilet seat, pants down, weeing, pants up, flushing etc all on his own. So chuffed with him.

Potty Update #4

Exciting news: Matt told his teacher at school that he needed to make a poo - he said the word "poo" loud and clear. He sat on his potty and did his thing! First time at school! So proud of him.

Potty Update #3

I can't remember when last I had to clean up dirty poo undies! How cool is that!!!???! Matt has gotten really good at telling us when he wants to make a poo. He loves sitting on his potty. It takes him a while to get the job done - if we ask him if he has finished he is able to firmly tell us that he is not and he wants to sit longer. He is very chuffed with himself after each time he goes - I am so proud of him.

He is able to stay dry as long as we take him to the toilet regularly. He is happy to use toilet in public places now which is such a relief. If we ask him if he wants to wee, he will almost always say no, even if he does. If we forget to take him, he will have an accident. I think he still needs to learn to differentiate between the different sensations. We are not in a rush, we know he will get there. We are thrilled with the progress he has made, and loving that we are totally out of nappies during the day now.

Potty Update #2

Matt broke his potty. It was one of those with legs and he was using his legs to shuffle forwards and backwards with it. The one leg broke - poor little guy got such a fright. We have got two new potties that are a lot more sturdy. We haven't been having a whole lot of progress with the poo in the potty thing since our last post. Lots of accidents. But we keep going - good thing we have a marathon mindset.

Potty Update

Matt came to Lloyd this morning and told him "..ee" meaning wee and then picked up his potty, took it outside in the garden. He sat himself down and made a poo. Although he have been having a lot of success getting him to use the potty, this is the first time Matt has initiated using the potty at the appropriate time.

Marathon mind-set

Since our last post we have had one other successful poo in the potty moment, and a whole lot of accidents. I realise that this toilet training process is more like a marathon than a sprint. So I am working hard to get my mindset right so I don't stress when he soils himself.

I don't get frustrated that he has made an accident, it is more the fear that he might never be toilet trained that plagues my thoughts. I have to remind myself that he has learnt SO much, and has come SO far, and that this too will be conquered in his time. We continue to celebrate the small victories along the way.

Matt returns to school this week, so I am a bit nervous about how he is going to manage only wearing underpants. We shall see.

UPDATE: I had a great chat with Matt's teacher yesterday who completely reassured me that she isn't freaked out about poo and will follow on at school with the toilet training as we do at home. I felt very relieved. Today was Matt's first day at school and he was still dry when I got there. Small steps, lots of small steps is this journey.

Matt made his first poo in the potty today!!!


Celebration in the Tooke household!!!

Toilet Training

We have started toilet training Matt. Last year November we noticed that Matt would put his hand in his nappy every time he peed. We wondered if he might be potty-training ready, although he didn't really display any other signs of readiness. After consulting our RTS support group and getting some good advice we decided to start during the two weeks in December when Lloyd was on holiday.

A while back I read another RTS mom's advice about how we cannot really train our kids to go potty, rather we can give the the potty great PR and trust that when they are ready they will go for it. So that has been our approach for a number of months with Matt - lots of excitement when mom or dad goes to the toilet. And lots of pointing out to Matt when he had made a wee or poo.

I was really unsure about how Matt would take to all of this. And although, I shouldn't have been, I was surprised by how quickly Matt understood what was expected of him. However understanding is one thing and executing is another. So we started one step at a time - first he learnt to pee in the garden where there are no restrictions or places to mess. Matt was initially quite freaked out by his pee and would stop as soon has he started. Now he is very confident and goes whenever requested, which is usually every 45 minutes or so. And with this method he has not had any pee-related accidents for almost 2 weeks.

Second step is learning to pee in the toilet. Matt stands on a little step in front of the loo and is now confident to pee - however the aiming-thing needs a fair amount of work.

Our next step is to somehow help Matt recognise that he needs to go and tell us. This week I am going to not remind him to go and see what happens.

The big challenge the whole poo thing. We need some help with this - any ideas are welcome. Although Matt has learnt to pee standing up (he just LOVES imitating his dad), he really doesn't mind sitting on the potty. He is happy to sit there for ages as long as we are happy to entertain him with book reading, however he is not sure how to make a poo in the potty. We have tried to catch him in the process and put him on the potty. I think he understands what is required, but still needs to figure out how to control his body. He doesn't tell us he needs to go, so we have to be really observant. Sometimes he has started making a poo in his pants and then he stops because he realises it shouldn't be there, but then when you put him on the potty after this he just can't quite make it happen. And shortly after he is off the potty, when back in his underpants, out it comes.

We are determined to not put any pressure on him in this regard, and I am hoping with time we will figure it out together.

We are really so proud of the progress he has made in the last few weeks.