Update #2: I gave up. I kept telling myself before I started that I would not give up. In my reading/understanding this wasn't a good thing and led to defiance on potty training and trouble later on. I did it anyway. We had a good morning and were mostly dry for a few hours. Seren had a little accident and Kendall was dry.
I even tried the pour warm water on both of them...they didn't pee with it but it seemed to help get the idea going (so thanks Brenda) and Kendall was excited so we claimed it was a pee pee just to bolster her confidence. I gave her a sticker and praised like crazy. We tried the potty sticker chart today and this seemed a good motivator.
During a dry/clean check just before lunch I noticed a small dab of wet from Kendall so I figured they needed to go and were holding it. We sat on the potty and sang songs and read books for 5 or 10 minutes. I told myself we wouldn't leave the bathroom until they peed on the potty or had an accident. They both tinkled on the potty. Yeah! I thought. Success! I thought. They were both so happy and picked their stickers and got praised. Then less than a minute later Seren was in her spot in the front room soaked and dribbling to the floor. I tried to help her to the bathroom quickly without success. And while we're rushing to the bathroom Kendall starts crying from the kitchen. You guessed it. She soaked herself too and left a big puddle of pee at her feet. I gave up. I threw them in the tub and told them we were done potty training. We got out of the tub put on diapers and clothes and I packed up all the potty training evidence. I'm sure I wasn't all smiles and pleasant about it but I hope I wasn't mean about it either. Accidents have not gotten to me but these both did...to be on the potty and use it a little only to pee all over less than a minute later just cooked my goose. I'm sure it's relatively normal but it was my last straw in saying they aren't ready enough for me to be ready. I think they could be ready if they were a single child but to be able to focus on two girls who are only on the verge of being ready is not helping me. And I need to be just as patient (or doubly patient) about it since there are two of them.
I have been reading some more too and the fact that lots of articles say training before 27 or 30 months is a waste of time or too difficult on kids has helped my attitude. One article even talked about the concerns that training early can lead to with later toileting troubles. So I will take comfort in these and forget the idea for a few months. Focus on all the verbal/communication stuff and hopefully when they start picking that up quicker then we will be ready for lots of potty success.
2 comments:
In my last comment, I mentioned my friend who was extreme with potty training. Yes, her daughter was potty trained at 18 months; however, she also had more accidents and wet her bed at night more frequently than my later potty trained daughter. I hate to compare our daughters, but I think there's some truth in the article you mentioned in this post. Every child is different, so don't be frustrated if one twin gets the hang of it faster.
I think it's a great idea to forget about potty training for a bit! :)
Hope...thanks for the positive experience on not pressuring things. I was a little discouraged at first but I definitely think it is better to just wait. I hope that it will be much easier for all three of us when the time is right.
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