I continue to be amazed at the boys' potty training progress! We're coming to a close of Week Three and we're working toward 100% progress during the day and about 65% at night. I told Andy tonight, "The boys have drier pajamas now wearing underwear than they did a month ago in diapers!"
They actually LIKE going in the potty. They like being dry. They like holding it. They like when their "tummy feels better." They like "making mommy and daddy so happy!" They like waking up in dry pajamas and with dry blankets. We only woke them up in the middle of the night to use the potty during the first week; if they have to go now, they usually wake us up to go and then go right back down. They've had a few occasions where they'd start going in their underwear and then realize what they were doing before waking us up and finishing in the toilet - that's progress! I really am amazed that they have come sooo far in such a relatively short amount of time.
Our routine has been adjusted. I carry one of their toilets in the van at all times for those moments when a public restroom is just not within reach. I've even been known to carry it INTO church and playgroup to be sure they've got a familiar piece of plastic to work with when the time comes! I carry a foldable/portable potty seat (like this one, except ours is red and has Cars on it.) And I always carry at least four pairs of extra underwear and a whole extra outfit on each outing. It feels like a little more work at times, but then I remember the hassle of having to buy and dispose of diapers, finding clean areas to lay them down and the frustration of bathrooms with no changing tables... and then I feel extremely proud.
So, now that we've got potty training to a comfortable working level, we can work on our next challenge: sleeping.
Again.
Sound familiar? Yeah, I'm thinking that sleeping is going to be a constantly evolving challenge in our house. As the boys grow, they become more independent, more confident, more aware of how they effect their surroundings. The last two weeks have been horrendous sleeping weeks. It takes forever to get them down... they want to go to the potty... then they want to wash their hands... get a treat... then their brother wakes up... and they want me to hold them, sit on their bed, stand/sit at the door for "just a minute"... then it's an all-out mad house! We weren't confident enough to tell them they couldn't use the bathroom after they were in their beds - after all, they did go almost every single time - but now, we're at a new breaking point.
A few nights ago, we cut them off from getting a treat after peeing before bed. The new rule is "no treats after we brush our teeth." That was a struggle at first, but now, they've bought it. Then, we told them that they could only go potty ONE TIME before bed. And that was it. Don't get me wrong, they get plenty of opportunities to use the potty before the "last time" comes. And they'll still come out fifteen minutes later if they have to go potty, but we make it a habit not to talk to them and just shuffle them back to bed when they're done. That's been working pretty well. They definitely understand that they should not be using the potty as an excuse to get out of bed and walk around (which Jack was extremely guilty of!)
Now I've just to apply all of these things during naptime!
The boys know that mommy is extremely tired once naptime rolls around and I look forward to taking a nap just as much as I know they need one. But I've gotten extremely lazy. Now I've got to step up my game especially if I want them to be sleeping in the weeks before Baby Girl arrives... and hopefully afterward, too!
So here's my plan. Tomorrow, I'll be making four new posters with the boys. One is a checklist of things to do before sleeptime and then the other is a revised Sleep Rules poster with the rules added to it about using the potty (one for each of them.) And just like last time, I'm hoping these posters will help remind them of the process we all go through to help get us ready for sleep!
Here's hoping anyway. I wonder what my boys will do when they realize their mommy has absolutely no idea what she's doing. Hopefully, that won't be until they're the daddys struggling with how they're going to deal with their kids!
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