Not As Successful Sunday

We definitely had more than one accident today. I would say for every successful pee we had there was a not-so-successful one. The morning began with an accident and I think it went back and forth all day. It was snowy outside so Jameson wanted to follow Kevin out to shovel the back patio, even as I was zipping up his snowsuit I thought to myself this is an "accident" waiting to happen. Sure enough when he came in ten minutes later his long johns were wet.

He seemed really tired today and not really into the "fun" of potty training anymore, apparently it had lost it luster. It didn't help that he had more accidents today than yesterday when he had almost all successful pees. In following the ideas in the "Potty Boot Camp," I made a big deal about how Mommy was sad when he peed in his underwear and walked him back and forth to the potty after an accident. It backfired, in my opinion. He got stubborn, angry and didn't even want to attempt to sit on his potty. I ditched those ideas and just worked on keeping the potty experience a positive one. Heavy on the praise and silly dances, light or non-existent on the negative messages. After each accident I would ask him what happened? Then I would say something like: Oh, its no fun to have wet pants, lets go sit on the toilet and see if you can pee again. That seemed to work much better. Also another suggestion that didn't have the intended effect was making him "clean up" his underwear, carpet/floor, rinsing off in the bathtub and throwing his underwear in the washing machine. No matter how "unfun" I tried to make it, Jameson LOVES cleaning up, he LOVES helping to clean, and he LOVES taking a bath where he gets to do all the work this was not a bad thing in his eyes. Even when he peed in the toilet he would take his underwear off to "clean" in the sink.

After a rough morning, and barely a nap in the afternoon, he was stir-crazy and tired. We would march into the bathroom he would pee and jump up to flush the pee and clean out the bowl only to pee at the sink. I realized he was jumping up as soon as the first tinkle hit the bowl, so I kept having to tell him. "More, can you make more pee?" Each time he could "make" more pee. I was tired and wondering if I shouldn't just throw diapers on him, but he seems to "get it" it just might take a few more days for him to initiate the process. He still only wants to wear underwear and throws the diaper across the room if I present that as an option.

On a happier note he did manage to poop in the toilet late this afternoon. He was VERY proud of himself and got two chocolates, a crazy mom AND a crazy dad shouting "Yay!"

So, while I don't feel today was as successful as yesterday I would still call today a success. He could tell me if he had to pee or poop when I asked, while he didn't always get the toilet he is becoming aware of those functions. I broke out on my own and am going to work with a hodge-podge of suggestions from the book.

I can tell you what book I do NOT suggest. "Potty Train in Three Days" by Louis Kleint, M.A., Ed. There was no depth whatsoever to her suggestions throughout the book. Beside that, in the question/answer section of the book, in response to a question about bed-wetting, she makes the claim that bed-wetting is the fault of the child and a parent should deem this behavior "unacceptable." Therefore no excuses or sympathy is warranted for the offending child. While I agree that diapering a child at night can send a confusing message, I think each parent has to weigh the situation and child. I know that Jameson is a HEAVY wetter. I change him once in the middle of the night or he would wake up soaked through every morning.

Beyond that she recounts a story from a mother whose eldest child wet the bed until he/she was 12 and the mother feared her other child would be the same. The author states "To believe such things, or to speak this in the child's hearing, merely reinforces the negative behavior and gives both of you an excuse to avoid proper potty training." She constantly refers to bed-wetting as a "behavior" issue as in "realize this is not necessary or acceptable behavior." Wow, talk about antiquated theory. She is obviously from the generation that believes a bed-wetter is a lazy child who would rather pee in their bed then get up to use the toilet. Actually, studies have shown that bed-wetters have pituitary issues. The brain doesn't signal their bladder/kidneys to stop producing urine. Bed-wetters don't wake up and weigh the option of going or not going to the toilet, it simply is not an option. On top of that, it is an entirely humiliating experience, they certainly don't need to be punished by parents each morning. As if a child would choose to sleep in wet sheets and pajamas each night, choose not to sleep over at friend's houses and fear summer camp. Most of the time the persistent bed-wetting stops at puberty (not because they realize they should use the toilet) but because as their hormones arrive in droves it kick-starts the missing pituitary message. To think a parent might have no idea about this issue and punish a child for the persistent bed-wetting is enough to make me see red.

Moving on...Only one more week until we leave for Vienna. Yikes!