Potty Teaching

The thought of potty training, or potty teaching as I like to think of it, has always been in the back of my mind. We think that Noah is ready to start potty training and are planning on starting this Saturday morning. I have been discussing this with his daycare teachers as well and they think that he is ready and that he will do great. They are such a wealth of information, big helpers and cheerleaders throughout every step of his development.

At first, it seemed exciting, no more diapers, but after thinking about it a bit, it is providing me anxiety.

As a blind Mom, I need to always seek out different ways of accomplishing the same tasks as sighted parents. I know that potty training my little boy will happen and has been done before, but it is time to be creative.

All of the articles that I read tell you to look for your little one’s visual cues, the “pee dance,” and other signs that show a parent that their son or daughter need to use the bathroom. This will work for my husband, but not so much for me.

I have listened to audio books, podcasts, and read more articles than I can count. I wanted to get as much information as I could, so that I could take bits and pieces from each.

I read a lot about how the 3 day potty training method is so successful, but it seemed too much for me. I decided that I wanted a more relaxed approach, and at the end of the day, who cares if it takes longer for Noah to potty train. It is a huge step and I don’t want to overwhelm him throughout this process or it could backfire.

Our plan is to use training underpants; these are underwear with a thicker crotch area in case of leaks. He will still feel wet, but it will not spill everywhere like it would if he had normal underwear on. We purchased training underwear and regular underwear with all sorts of themes on them; trucks, airplanes, trains, mickey mouse, paw patrol, and baby sharks.

My plan, first thing Saturday morning is to take Noah’s diaper off, have him sit on the potty, which he has become familiar with over the past couple of months, and see if he uses the potty. Then, I will put him in his training underwear and a loose pair of sweatpants or shorts, so they are easy to pull down when he needs to use the potty.

I told Noah that we are going to have a “bye bye diaper” party. We will pack up all of his diapers and put them in a box, to be thrown away (or to be hidden in a closet just in case).

I plan on setting our Alexa for 30 minutes at a time and put Noah on the potty. We will adjust this according to his cues or trends etc.

I decided to skip using diapers at nap time as well because that will just be one more thing to eliminate in the future and why not just rip the band-aid off now.

We are keeping diapers on at nighttime for now as he is still young and we do not want to disrupt his nighttime sleep, since his naps might be a little tricky at first as he learns to hold his potty going, during his nap.

Here are a few things that I have read and that sound like good ideas, I will let you know.

· Instead of saying “pull down” your pants, try saying “push down” your pants. It makes more sense if you think about it.

· Let your little one pick out their underwear both at the store, and for the day, this gives them some control during a scary and new process.

· Have plenty of extra underwear, pants/shorts, mattress pads, crib sheets, favorite blankets, etc.

If your child attends daycare, make sure you chat with them to make sure you are all on board, keep consistency, and are in agreement that it is a good time to potty train.

Here are the items that I brought to daycare in case Noah has accidents.

· 10 pairs of pants

· 3-4 pairs of shorts (it is still chili outside)

· 3 crib sheets

· 2 of his favorite blankets

· 5-10 extra pairs of socks

· A few long and short sleeve shirts

· Crocs (I didn’t realize this, but Noah’s teacher said that Crocs are easier to wash quickly if they get wet or pooped on)

I will create a post in the near future about products and items that we used and liked. Right now I purchased various things to potty train but will report soon on what we liked or disliked.