there are tutorials of cute ways to do this but... |
We’ve had some big developments around here on a number of
fronts. One of them snuck up on us and took us by surprise last week: Nava’s
readiness to shed diapers.
There’s a page on Navagating (yes, just look up a little…oh
wait…not if you use reader…) called
Potty Principles. It’s woefully out of date (I’ll fix that soon, promise). On
it I explain how Nava has been doing most of her #2 on a little potty since
about 10 months. For a year now she’s been in diapers but also using the potty
to pee, to the point that we only change her on waking, after a nap, and at
bedtime. For months, she has been dry overnight. And on a mommy and daughter
only weekend jaunt to Bangkok in May she stayed dry for 24 hours – all it took
was going to the potty every time her heavily pregnant mommy did (during an
extremely busy schedule featuring taxi rides and appointments all over town).
Based on all of this the little mommy voice in my head kept
clearing its throat and sweetly whispering “Potty Training! She’s Ready!”. The
practical voice in my head (also known as the lazy voice) however kept shouting
back “New sibling, not the right time, too much work, not the right time, kids
with Down syndrome train later, not the right time, she can’t do her pants
herself, not the right time.” But I kept coming back to her obvious signs of
readiness and thinking that the longer I ignored them the more I was verging
into the territory of not just “not training” but actually teaching her she was
expected to use her pull up for her pee. And that was a point my lazy voice
couldn’t shout down. So I compromised. A friend recently gave us her huge
diaper stash so I thought, lets move Nava into cloth diapers so she starts getting
used to feeling wet if she goes (something I feared the pull-ups she’s used to
could be confusing). I told her cousins to really try to work on using the
words wet and dry with her so she’d have a clear understanding of the
vocabulary of what was coming next.
And then I got out the panties I’d bought a year ago. And
the training pants I bought 6 months ago. And the training pants I bought last
month along with the Piddle Pad for the carseat I bought at the same time (I’d
been ignoring that voice a looooooong time). And I said, well, we might as well
put her in panties when she’s just hanging at home.
And then I got very, very surprised. With regular potty trips initiated by us, the new Nava in Panties stayed dry. Stayed dry all morning, stayed dry when down at the corner store, stayed dry on bike rides (she actually told them she needed to go during the ride). NIP even stayed dry through naptime. It was at this point I was thankful for:
a)
the vagueness of Lao language. I didn’t ask
anyone to be so gung ho on the panties but maybe that’s what it seemed I was
asking for?
b)
The fact we live in a hot climate that easily
allows for a toddler go around in panties only
c)
Our house, mostly furnished via going away
sales, and sporting easy-to-clean tile floors.
So now, about 10 days after I mentioned we should ‘try’,
panties are the default daytime wear. Today I snipped off the ends of all her
onesies (so now they’re T-shirts with funny hems) and put away her rompers. I
have extra panties in the car as well as a change of clothes. And we’re going
with it. Today, with some constipation in the mix, it didn’t go so well (we
came home with two sets of wet bottoms and a scantily clad child) but the
successes have the accidents vastly outnumbered. I’ll take it.
Does ripping off diapers and running away from Mama count as readiness? :-/
ReplyDeleteGood job, Nava!
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