The Sugarbaby will be a year old on April 3. Just before her 10th birthday, I had the idea to start putting her on the potty when I would go. This was inspired in large part from watching/reading "The Help" and also because Tesla developed a nasty yeast diaper rash from the rounds of antibiotics she was on. Because I liked to let her air dry when we were at home, the best solution was to put her on the potty and let her do her thing. This idea infinitely trumped the idea of covering the living room floor with fleece blankets. Not monumental messes, but nevertheless, trying to keep her in our nest of blankets was tough. It was also difficult when you have a small dog who wants to help out. Oh, sweet Guapo. ::shaking my head::
So began our adventure into potty training.
She's made the connection that the toilet is where she needs to go. She just sits there and concentrates and does whatever she needs to do, then will sign "all done" when she's finished. I slacked off when we were all under the weather, but started back up a week later. One Saturday morning, I forgot to immediately put her on the potty. I really had to go. It took everything in me to prep Mari's toothbrush with toothpaste, prop Tesla on the floor and hand her a toothbrush that has been prepped with water. I was seriously doing the potty dance! I left them by the sink and danced over to the toilet. Tesla, on the otherhand stopped brushing her teeth, crawled over to her potty, lifted the seat and was trying to climb up. I pulled down her pajama pants, took off the diaper, and propped up. In that moment, I was proud that she knew the routine and was ready for it!
Thus far, it'd only been in the mornings where we've seen routine success. In the evenings, it has been sporadic. I can usually catch her if we go immediately after dinner. The other evening, however, I caught her with a look on her face and rushed her to her toilet. We made it in time, too! We all danced and cheered for her going poo in the potty. Pretty silly, but simultaneously, monumental in her life. The Sugarbaby smiled proudly, while big sister did a potty jig, clapping her hands with a made-up sing-song. We gave high fives all around.
I'm not rushing the milestones by any means. We are taking cues from her. She's quite the observer. It also helps having a big sister. While she is building her vocabulary, pee/poo are not yet in there. Neither are the sign language signs.* Like I said, she's leading the effort. I know that potty training before a year can be done. A couple of my cousins were potty trained well before a year. I witnessed one first-hand! At 9 months, he took off his diaper, crawled and climbed up on the toilet, did his business, then put the diaper back on. He wasn't able to flush the toilet, but he knew what to do. I was impressed. I've read that cloth diapered babies are better able to tell when they need to go. I'm not certain about that. I think the kiddos do it when they are ready, regardless if they are age 9 months or 4 years. I can say, it is nice when they are able to go on their own. With all of the stomach issues we had encountered with Mari, it is comforting to know all of that works the way it should work and that she can take care it if all herself. It's just as exciting when Tesla can do it, too!
How about you all? Any potty training tips, tricks, flubs?
*Her vocabulary so far....Her signs include: eat, more, all done, and shakes her head no. Her words are mama, maaaaa (mari), dada, do (dog), ca-ca-ca (cat), shhhh (fish), bu (book), baaabaaa (sheep), che-che (leche=milk), ma-ma-ma (mas=more). We are working on thank you and potty.