I'm a full-time mummy

One of the things I wanted to see and finally get to see it! I blogged about starting Ben back on his potty training few weeks ago after months of delaying it.

Just a brief of history, I only started potty training Ben when I was in my last trimester of pregnancy with baby Alyson  - imagine having a bulging and heavy belly bump and running (Yes, RUNNING!) to the toilet to and fro everytime Ben says 'Shh shh' (aka pee-pee). I could actually stand that for a month or so and then after Alyson was born in Sept 2011, I stopped Ben's potty training as I can't cope with potty training until recently in February, we decided to resume the potty training.

My 3 year old boy finally sitting on his potty to poop! He started doing this at 35 months old. Prior to that, only peeing into potty, no pooping, thank you very much!

The moment we tried suggesting him to sit on the potty, he either ran off or straight away saying loudly 'NO!'

I am so happy to see this finally happening! Maybe you will think 35 months old is a tad too late for a toddler to poop in his potty but we try not to rush Ben's potty training and let him decide on his own (of course, a little prodding and suggestions here and there hoping one day he will try sitting on the potty ahahaha) but the point is, if he doesn't want it, we let it slide and try the next time.

No point trying to force our child into doing something when he is not ready. It might backfire and made him terrified of trying the next time, hence the reason for our subtle approach and just let things go on its own.

Looks like it's working! Yay! More updates on Ben's potty training next time!

I last updated about Ben's potty training progress in my post about settling down with 2 kids where I mentioned "I tried starting Ben back into his potty training exercise but it's still tedious for me at this moment - for example, I can't drop everything at an instant and run to the bathroom with Ben when he wants to pee. So this activity needs to be slowly introduced over time."

Now you need to know all the while that:

* Ben potty trains in peeing by standing instead of the usual route I understand from other parents where their child started off by sitting on the potty. So don't ask me how to train your child to pee from sitting in the potty to standing...

* Ben does not like to sit on the potty at all, hence we have not been able to potty train him in pooping into the potty until recently (which means Ben poops in his diaper while standing)

* Ben also does not like anyone touching or being near him while he poops

So anyway, we have started back his potty training this month where we really stick to our guns (as in no giving in when he insists on diapers) and here's the update and some milestones so far:

Updates:

* No diapers during daytime (unless we go out somewhere)

* Training Ben to pull down his own pants and hold his potty while he pees and then put back the potty on the floor properly (I also use this opportunities to remind him to focus his peeing into the potty)

* Diapers worn daily = 2 (one for afternoon nap, one for bedtime)

Milestones:

* Out in public for 2 hours without diapers! For the time in his 35 months of life, Ben went out in public without wearing diaper for 2 hours! We were going to hubby's 1st sister's house so we brought along his potty. Ben excitedly show off his potty to his cousins and he was so proud when he peed into the potty as we all stood around watching and cheering him on!

* Pooping for the first time in potty! We actually achieved this accidentally due to timing. Ben was playing in his water pool when he suddenly needed to poop. I rushed him to our bathroom, stripped off his swimsuit and told him he need to sit on the potty. Prior to this, he always insist to poop in his diaper even to the extent of crying when I refused to let him wear a diaper for him to poop in. But like I said, time is critical, I told him mummy cannot get diaper on time, he has to use potty so off he goes, sat on the potty and poop. Golly! I was a proud mummy that day!

Next Goals:

* Short Term: To move on to peeing into the toilet seat

* Short Term: To continue training him to poop in the potty until he feels safe to sit on the toilet seat

* Short Term: To train him to poop in the potty by himself without me sitting behind & cuddling him for assurance

* Medium Term: To train him to hold his pee for a longer period

* Medium Term: To go diaper-free during his afternoon naptime after the above goal is met

* Long Term: To poop in the toilet seat

* Long Term: To go out in public without diaper and potty

* Long Term: To go diaper-free during his bedtime

So there you go, I hope we will be able to achieve the goals above and Ben to be diaper-free soon!

Few weeks ago, I blogged about potty training Ben with briefs and stickers and how it is starting to pay off in 3 days time. So I thought of sharing the tricks up on our sleeves on the things that works for us and Ben.

Of course, each child is different and I'm in no way saying that our method is the best (or that you should follow it 100%), just want to say these are the tricks that works for us. And I hereby trademark our potty training tricks as:

Before I begin, I would like to state down some disclaimers first:

* All the tricks listed below are based on our own experience, trials and errors.

* Again, I am in no way trying to say it is the best way to go for potty training. Like I said, each child is different. What works for Ben might not work for your child. After all, you have to consider their age, readiness, temperament, who's in-charge, and many other factors as well when you go into potty training.

* The tricks are currently for potty training Ben on his peeing. I have yet to embark on pooping process (will only do so when peeing is successful!)

* If you decide to share this approach with your friends and/or family members, please do remember to credit or link back to my website, after all, it's not easy coming up with this "BE AWESOME" keywords, OK?!!!

(Approaches listed below are in no particular order, other than for making up the words "BE AWESOME"! Hehehe...)

B = BRIEFS (OR TRAINING PANTS)!

- If possible, get those with designs on them featuring characters they like!

- Start out with small steps, for me, I started by training Ben during the daytime

- I do have some exceptions in this approach, meaning Ben will be wearing his diapers during nap & sleeping time and also when we go out and I also do not force Ben to wear briefs if he doesn't want to, I mean, we as adults also would not want to be forced into doing something we don't like right?

E = SHOW & TRAIN BY EXAMPLE!

- If you are training your boy to use potty, it would be particularly helpful if your husband can bring your child along and let your child sees him when he pees. Let them know how it is done!

- Same goes for girls, if you are training your daughter, then YOU show her how it's done

A = A LOT OF PATIENCE IS REQUIRED!

- You seriously need to have loads and loads of patience the moment you decided to embark into potty training. Never never never give up!

W = START POTTY TRAINING DURING THE WEEKEND

- Why weekend? There is more time to focus on potty training of course! And it'll be great if your spouse is also around to help you out with the potty training

- With Ben, I noticed that he was so eager to use the potty during the weekends as he wanted to impress his daddy (and perhaps let daddy know his progress so that he could get his bicycle soon?!)

- Also, as my hubby mostly works during weekdays, it is a great relieve off my burden that he can help me out during some of the running to the bathroom to pee in the potty part as I was really getting tired at one point  - imagine being 8 months+ pregnant and RUNNING to the bathroom with your toddler every half an hour (or faster if Ben drinks more water)

E = EDUCATE YOUR CHILD WITH THE IDEA OF USING A POTTY

- For me, since I love doing book reviews, I started looking out for books particularly on Potty books or Potty iPad apps

- If possible, get books or materials (even Youtube videos) showing how children around your child's age learn to use potty

- My advice is if you are training your boy to use a potty, get books or materials showing BOYS (not girls) using potty, this is so  that they can relate to themselves (I mean you wouldn't want your daughter to pee standing up right?)

S = HAVE A SYSTEM TO KEEP TRACK OF THE POTTY TRAINING PROCESS

- For me, I Googled around and found some examples of potty training chart and then made one specially to cater for Ben's potty training. Our potty training chart allows us to put on stickers for any potty actions that Ben achieved (and I made sure those stickers are stinkingly cute too!)

- Having a chart for potty training allows your child to see his/her progress and Ben gets excited when he gets to put on the stickers everytime after he pees!

O = GIVE YOUR CHILD AN OBJECTIVE TO ACHIEVE (AKA REWARD!)

- Make sure the reward/goal is something your child desperately wants to have

- For Ben's case, my hubby promised Ben a bicycle if he's off diapers (we used the term "big boy")

M = KEEP UP THE MORALE & KEEP ON MOTIVATING YOURSELF & YOUR CHILD!

- On the first day of potty training, Ben wets himself twice in 10 minutes and he was not able to tell me that he needs to pee. I was of course sad with the realisation of that but I kept to myself, put on a cheerful face and explained to Ben gently that "It's OK for Ben to wet himself, mummy will wipe the floor, no worries, and maybe the next time when Ben feels like wanting to pee, Ben can tell mummy first?"

- I repeated the above sentence often, gently and carefully not to put any pressure on him and I also told myself, do not expect miracle on the first day!

- Thank God from then on, the potty training gets smoother and was I so glad to know Ben started learning and can tell me when he needs to pee!

- Accidents should not be made into a big hoo-hah, just reassure your child that it's OK, we'll try again next time

E = MAKE POTTY TRAINING EXCITING & FUN!

- For an 8 months+ preggy mum, I run with my toddler to the bathroom the moment he says he need to pee (tiring yes, but it's fun for him when he feels it's so exciting and it also make him feel important that mummy has to drop off whatever she's doing and just focus on him immediately!)

- I also taught him to flush away his pee in the toilet seat (made him feel he's doing an important task too!)

So, the above tricks are what's working for Ben and us so far. If an 8 months+ preggy mum like me can do it (just imagine  on the first day of potty training, you're down on  your knees on the floor, wiping piss few times in half an hour), so can you! And I did mentioned that I really really RUN to the bathroom with Ben everytime he needs to pee right? So, yeah, I think you can totally try the above tricks!

Do let me know if you decide to try our tricks above and whether it's working out for your child.

Good luck and keep your chin up!