4 Tips to Fail at Potty Training

Lil Mister waited so long in the bathroom to potty he
climbed off and fell asleep!

All mothers will admit at some point that their children are the best thing that ever happened. Don't get me wrong I agree fully! No matter how bad my day is they can always manage to turn it around with a simple hug or kiss! However, there have been some downs (way, way downs) that were so bitter, they made the sweet almost break my heart! You know we've all been there!

Parenting is a roller coaster for sure! Some days I can't imagine bed time will ever come and other days I'm trying to find excuses why I can break my own rules and keep them up! However, one of the greatest things (and hardest things) about parenting is how much they have to teach us! It is unbelievable how much I truly learn from my kids!

I'm adding a series on the blog called A+ Mommy! You can read the first post! It's all about the reality of it and when we just don't quite get it right! My mom always said learn from your mistakes! Well, if learning is good then I shouldn't be ashamed of my mistakes!

Today, I want to talk to you about the ~~horrifying~~ lovely experience of potty training! I know this is a time of our children’s lives that we just ~~dread~~ love! The sense of our children coming into their own! The independence it brings them and the lovely mommy dreams of no longer cleaning nappies!

Lil Mister was always an independent child. He often wanted to do things himself; well he still does and usually goes about it in his own way. Like the other morning when Hubby woke up to get ready to work and found a half-eaten apple in the sink. Apparently, Lil Mister wanted a mid-night snack!

Around 20 months, we decided it was time for Lil Mister to potty train. We were fed up with nappies and he was “showing all the signs.” Two years later as we approach the age of four, we are still trying to figure out how to get him to stop going in the bed at night!

As you can tell, we're experts at this! Right?!? I mean seriously who else can succeed at taking 2 years to potty train their boy? It's a talent and I'd hate to keep that all bottled up! I want to share with you my top 4 tips for failing at potty training!

Here is my 4 sure fire ways to FAIL at potty training!

1) Be extremely lax about everything. I was given advice not to push him or urge him into it. I was told to follow his lead. We basically took off his pants and let him run around all day. The first couple of days we took him to the potty every 30 minutes or so and that was about it. Afterwards he returned to school and the school had a similar method (but with pants on!). There was no concept of revolving the whole first few days around it. There was no constant potty time. We basically went with the flow…which happened to often flow down our tiled floors!

2) Cheer all the time! Oh yea, we cheered no matter what. As long as he sat on the potty, we cheered. We figured the more we cheered for him, the more he’d go to the potty. So even when there was no results in the potty, we cheered. This resulted in him just sitting there all the time but not actually doing anything!

3) Let him see the men going. You see, there is this thing here is SA. I’m not sure if it is just our circle of friends or if it is that common (because it’s seemed to be the case no matter where we lived) that when we braai and what not, then men don’t go inside to wee. They find a corner tree or whatnot where they aren’t seen and it’s like a social thing. They’re worse than women…they always go together! We figured if Lil Mister sees this then he’ll want to be a big boy too. This resulted in him just weeing anywhere outside. If we’re playing and riding bikes, he stops and pulls it out and goes right there in the yard. You can imagine how well this went over with the school!

4) Give up! Oh yea…this happened too. I eventually was so sick of washing out underpants and changing his clothes that at one point we put him back on nappies for the winter and decided to start over in the summer! This was the WORST thing ever! He just hated the nappies and it was a fight the entire time!

So there you have it peeps, my tips for failing at potty training! LJ is showing the signs and seems to be ready, but I’m just so scared to have a repeat that I’ve been waiting. I’ve been told if I wait too long we miss the “window” and it will be harder. Then again I just figure maybe he’ll eventually take the nappy off himself and go! ;-)

Have you potty trained before? What is your funniest potty training moment?

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