I wouldn't want to be one of those mamas who writes about her kid's potty-related activities on the Internet but, um, surely there's nothing wrong with soliciting advice on behalf of a, um, friend, right? Yeah.
So my friend has a lovely daughter, let's call her Vernette, who is almost three. She was a stellar student in the potty department once she decided the time was right. She day trained quickly and night trained immediately. The only glitch was in the #2 department, but after some struggling, cajoling and a bit of bribery, she caught on to that, too, and all was blissful. The last packs of diapers were given away to folks with younger children, there was an all-night street party to celebrate and fireworks were set off throughout the neighbourhood. Okay, everything but that last bit.
And then, after several wonderful weeks, the Regression. Yes, Vernette's parents know this sometimes happens with kids, but the mama is ready to turn her nose inside out and run screaming from the house if she has to clean up one more slimy mess in a pair of Dora panties. "Why? Why? Why?" she can be heard calling into the wind. Who has seen the wind, anyway? (You can smell the wind....)
Vernette now refuses to do her dirty business on the potty. She will do the poop dance for hours before having an accident. This, then, leads to much wailing (on her part, and sometimes her mama's) because she doesn't like the mess and, yet, she will no longer take the less-messy, pretty-potty route.
What is Vernette's poor mama to do? I'll be certain to, um, pass on any suggestions you may have.
3 comments:
I did not try to train my boy until 3 an a half. This was because the boy plain refused to sit on any sort of potty and he was in daycare so oh well. Well when I quit my job to stay home we wanted him to go to preschool where pull ups were not allowed. Training for #1 went swimmingly however #2 not so much. That boy could hold it for a long time then oh boy, what a mess. Yuck Yuck Yuck. So what did I do? Bribes my dear friend. Bribes! I went out in search of something that would motivate him besides candy. I ended up at the Disney store where they had a set of 8 dinky cars from the Cars movie. I then put each one in a sandwich bag and used masking tape to adhere said bags to the wall facing the toilet. I told him that each time he went poop he would get to choose one of those and then started asking him which one he wanted first. I think in the case of a girl something related to the dreaded pink and pretty princesses would work or maybe polly pocket dolls. Don't be afraid to bribe. It won't scar her little psyche forever. I mean. Tell your friend that. K? Good luck to your friend.
I only have sympathy. Cleaning poop out of underwear takes the cake as the single most dreaded child-rearing chore. I have to admit that if it wasn't a neat kinda poop, I used to throw the underwear away. Wasteful, I know.
I hope things get back on track really soon!
Um, I'm sorry. But I might have had an accident myself the other day. Long, sad, unfortunate story.
I see you saw the article at BC. I wrote you about it, and then was mortified to find that you are not Stephanie Alexander, another editor there. Woops.
Anyway hope you got some insight.
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