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Opinions on the right way to potty train are varied and readily given. Amongst my acquaintance I have heard many bizarre stories. A colleague tells of her eldest daughter who at 18 months demanded her "potty chair" for weeks, before finally in exasperation took her diaper off in the kitchen and screamed "I WANT MY POTTY CHAIR", and they never changed her diaper again. A friend at church watched as her son (pictured left), walked into the bathroom, took off his diaper, and perched atop the seat, self-taught. An unusual style but it worked for him for quite some time. Then another friend ignored her son's interest in the potty and she was unable to have him completely trained by the time he started Kindergarten.
Everyone has a unique potty training experience. For my part, Toby started telling us when he was going to poo about two months ago, so out came the potty. He sits on it every night and every morning, and we read to him from Boys' Potty Time. He has yet to do anything, despite a few false starts, but he is very excited about two things in the book; new underpants, and "NO MORE DIAPERS" which is always yelled very loudly. Since he hates having his diaper changed, we're hoping he makes the connection soon.
If you haven't yet decided how to broach this subject then check out some of the options available to you:
- The Diaper Free Baby offers help on how to potty train "early" and naturally.
- *Toilet Training in Less Than a Day, *which offers exactly the advice you'd think it would.
- There is also the option of training your baby from day one and having a 100% diaper free baby.
- You can now get the classic *Once Upon a Potty *as an app; soggy books are a thing of the past.
- You might also want to slip in a rendition of Everyone Poops to keep yourself entertained!
At the end of the day there is no right and wrong, the end result is the same. Do what feels comfortable for you and for your child. Come summer I plan on employing my cousin's technique: Let Toby run around naked for a few days and see what happens! Luckily Nanny (Grandma) will be visiting that week. I'm sure bribery will play a small role in this.
