I guess this is the first parental pressure ever faced !! A friend of mine has started potty training her first child from 6 months and was successful when the child turned a year. Another friend started when her daughter was 1 year old. So I was assuming that it was not a very difficult task.
I waited till Rish was close to 2 years old. My parents had just arrived for my second delivery and my dad is very patient in these kind of things. So me and him used to take turns and somehow make Rish sit on the potty before and after breakfast for quite sometime oblivious to my mom's and Ravi's voices :-) We somehow wanted him trained. But he refused to budge and all was forgotten. Then again after 3-4 months we were in India and I had enrolled him in a play school. Since most kids are trained there by the age of 1, I was hoping he would learn easily. At home again dad was determined to try his best. But after a month we gave up..The peeing was okay, he could hold. But poop, no ! He thought the underpants were meant for that.
So again all was forgotten and then we came back to the US and I waited for the magical age of 3. Many of my friends said around this age kids learn themselves and I refused to believe that my son would change. By this time I kind of got used to his patterns too and could almost accurately predict when he would stealthily poop in the diaper, many times catching him red-handed. Still he was adamant not to use the potty.
I scoured the internet even thinking of joining those online training centers
which would reveal their secret on paying some money and assuring that it would work.
Also in his school we were told that he would be promoted to the next class only if he was trained. Then I landed on this book "Once upon a potty" - By alona frankel.
Rish's obsession with books and ability to read greatly helped here. I used to read the book to him everytime he has to use the potty and he used to re-read it many times. So finally he was ready to use the potty and I was relieved. I got the feeling that he too would get out of diapers pretty soon. And ofcourse the comparison with friends helped. So by the time he was 3 years and 4 months he refused to wear diapers/pull-ups at night/ nap-time or outside thereby compelling us to make him diaper free.
We still have accidents but thankfully the carpets have remained intact with hardly any mess. I am hoping that Nish will be trained by the age of 2, but it remains to be seen. For now, he is happy to imitate Rish (with diapers on) and pull the flush.
Jan 2, 2009
Jan 1, 2009
Rish completes 3 years !
I guess 3 was when we saw a lot of transformations in Rishab - from comprehending, to responding to potty training. He was very correct in all his milestones but still we felt he was lagging behind in socializing and communication.
But he was very ahead in his verbal abilities and memory! So we used to be torn between that happy and worried state. And towards the close of his 3rd birthday I decided I would get him home early afternoon since Nish was 1 year old now. That made a big transformation.
Initially Rish used to repeat a lot of phrases from books and would pretty much repeat many conversations too, sometimes it was scary. But our pediatrician and my mom were my rock of support whenever I was worried. My pediatrician said since he was very ahead in certain areas compared to other kids, it was natural for him to lag in certain skills and with time he would catch up with other kids just as they would in his skilled areas and asked me to patiently wait till he was 4. And my mom used to always tell me that nothing could go that bad and perhaps he just was reserved in nature. I used to be pretty positive too but a mother always finds it hard to find flaws in her offsprings. Hubby is a more analyzing type and it was good in a way as I do not think I have that capability atleast with respect to my kids.
So many times I used to console him and be his strength but at times it would get to the peak and then I would be internally disturbed too. I think it was just 2 days when he was 3.25 years that I could not sleep for 2 days as still I was not seeing the changes that I expected to see in him. And after all that worrying, suddenly there his communication and socializing increased by leaps and bounds !!
The secret - we hid all his books. I guess that was occupying all his memory and his thoughts and kind of closed his minds. I also used to religiously do some brain stimulating exercises that any website or person suggested. Whether it was that or the mercy of the Gods, we now have a smart kid atleast comparable with other kids in areas where he was trailing before :-)
But he was very ahead in his verbal abilities and memory! So we used to be torn between that happy and worried state. And towards the close of his 3rd birthday I decided I would get him home early afternoon since Nish was 1 year old now. That made a big transformation.
Initially Rish used to repeat a lot of phrases from books and would pretty much repeat many conversations too, sometimes it was scary. But our pediatrician and my mom were my rock of support whenever I was worried. My pediatrician said since he was very ahead in certain areas compared to other kids, it was natural for him to lag in certain skills and with time he would catch up with other kids just as they would in his skilled areas and asked me to patiently wait till he was 4. And my mom used to always tell me that nothing could go that bad and perhaps he just was reserved in nature. I used to be pretty positive too but a mother always finds it hard to find flaws in her offsprings. Hubby is a more analyzing type and it was good in a way as I do not think I have that capability atleast with respect to my kids.
So many times I used to console him and be his strength but at times it would get to the peak and then I would be internally disturbed too. I think it was just 2 days when he was 3.25 years that I could not sleep for 2 days as still I was not seeing the changes that I expected to see in him. And after all that worrying, suddenly there his communication and socializing increased by leaps and bounds !!
The secret - we hid all his books. I guess that was occupying all his memory and his thoughts and kind of closed his minds. I also used to religiously do some brain stimulating exercises that any website or person suggested. Whether it was that or the mercy of the Gods, we now have a smart kid atleast comparable with other kids in areas where he was trailing before :-)
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