The last year has been quite a year. Not because my husband has been gone for 10 of the last 15 months but because for the last 15 months I've been working and for the most part failing at potty training.
My son will be 4 next week. 4. There have been weeks and weeks I've been bold enough to declare him "done." When we went to Italy he travelled and behaved like a pro. Every time Mike has left we've suffered about 3 weeks of endless accidents and underwear I refuse to clean. (I throw them away)
Before you wonder: NO he does not have a medical problem. He is smart and he knows how to go when he needs to go. He is stubborn and sometimes he decides he just doesn't want to walk the 25 feet to the toilet and uses his pants as a subsitute. I'm over it.
Today was the first and WORST day we've had for weeks. Months even. I am literally at my wits end with this. There is nothing I haven't tried for him. Today (5 accidents! 5!) I took away his two most prized possessions: Chocolate milk and his "fast scooter." He has to earn them both back.
So, aside from this making me feel like an ultimate failure as a Mother I'm about 2 pair of underwear away from shipping this kid off to a Freudian institute for children with bathroom problems.
Heaven help us all live through this......
3 comments:
I"m so sorry for all your pain. Have you tried cold showers when he poops his pants? Charlie was getting 2 cold showers a day for awhile. It didn't instantly solve the problem for him though. But I think it helped.
It feels mean though. But poop in the pants is SO FRUSTRATING. I'm not looking forward to regression when this baby is born in 2 or 3 weeks.
Torture I tell you. I've heard of kids going to potty training psychologists.
That's rough! Kids seriously need to come with an instructiion manual!
So I've been struggling with Cade since we started potty training at 2 1/2 and he turns 5 in april, so you're not alone. I've decided that nothing has worked b/c it has always depended on ME making him go. I decided it has to be HIS decision to go. He had fears of it hurting so he would hold it in, thus making for accidents in the pants and a sick boy. Here's what we're doing now that has been working, finally! We have several target behaviors like talking back, acting like a baby, and of course poop in the pants. If he does one of these things I calmly go over and mark an X on a chart. The chart has room for 6 X's each day, and in the last three spots i've written things that he loses. Electronics, toys, and then the last one is he spends the rest of the day in his room except for meals with family. Since poop is such a big issue it gets 3 x's, and he has to wear a pull-up until he goes on the potty. I think since he's mortified of people seeing his 'diaper' even if you can't see it, it has worked. He failed miserably at first, spending a lot of time in his room and the dreaded pull-up, but it has gradually gotten better and we've been accident free for a week now. Just thought I'd share!
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