Potty Mouth

I hate baby talk and avoid using it as much as possible.  I don't think it will make my kid stupid or anything.  It just bugs me.  A lot. Like nails on a chalk board.  (Please don't be offended if you are a person who finds it sweet and endearing.  Your life, your choice.)

That said, there are some words that just require "dumbing down."  The book I read about potty training learning says that you should develop a vocabulary for all things potty.  Case in point - "potty".  Is it a necessary word?  Not really.  I could teach my kids to say "Mommy, I need to use the bathroom." But its a little weird.  It would definitely be weird to have them say something like "Mommy, I need to have a bowel movement."  So, in this case, bring on the baby talk.  We will use words like potty, poopy, and pee pee.  (I will not, however, be using that high pitched baby voice.  She can hear me fine at my normal decibel.)

Which brings us to.... potty training!  Yep, I am potty training my 9 month old.  Okay, no I'm not.  But I am teaching her about the potty and building it into her routine.  I read the book "Diaper free before 3". Very interesting book. Not necessarily worth the purchase for the amount of "how to" information it had.  But it did have a lot of information about the history of potty training in America and other cultures and medical research vs cultural norms.  The how to chapter was short, sweet, and to the point.  And it is SO practical for us.  Me and Promise.  It may not work for other people. Who knows.

going potty before her bath
(notice her fake smile - yeah she's already learned that!)

The gist is, you build sitting on the potty into the baby's routine so that it is simply part of your day.  She suggests you start at 6-9 months.  I think we started around 8.  No pressure.  No power struggle.  No rewards system.  Just, "here sit on the potty for a few minutes" and "great job sitting on the potty." At this age it doesn't matter if they go.  When we started she didn't want to sit there about 50% of the time. I never pushed it.  Just got her up and put her diaper back on.

So now, Promise sits on the potty after meals and any time I notice that she is straining to poop.  Usually she sits there 4 x's a day. I put her on her little potty, sit on the floor in front of her, and we read a book. She LOVES it.  The more we do it, the more she likes it.   And the amazing thing is - she gets it.   On a typical day she poops on the potty after breakfast and lunch and pees on the potty once a day (sometimes more, sometimes less).  She has actually told me (sign language) that she needed to go twice - one of those times she actually went.

She is very good at pooping and noticing that feeling/sensation.  If she is sitting there and I finish the book but she hasn't done anything, I say "are you all done?" (and sign "all done").  Several times she has pushed my hands away, picked up the book and handed it back to me.  All of those times she pooped.  She just needed more time and knew it.  Seriously?  Kids are amazing.

The past week or so she seems to be noticing when she pees more often.  She will sometimes look down when she starts peeing, sometimes she doesn't seem to notice it at all.  Yesterday she looked down and put her hand in it.  Gross!

We still use just as many diapers.  On the very rare occasion that she wakes up from a nap early or is still dry when I'm changing her before a nap, I put her on the potty.  Sometimes she goes, others not.  That's not the point.  The point is that she LIKES sitting on the potty and accepts it as a normal part of her routine.  Wake up, nurse, eat, go potty, play, sleep, repeat.  Its awesome.

The book suggests putting them in cotton training pants around 12 months.  I have considered buying some for her stocking, but the thought of it kind of overwhelms me.  I'll keep you updated on that one.