potty training

[Guest guest]

Lydia,

good luck in potty training Austin. It is so different with every child. We

recieved help from out DB specialists when we started both our chargers 2

years and 4 months ago and counting. The single most important thing that I

was told was never ever to put a pullup or diaper on(except at night). Diane

is verbal and has always been easier to reason with but was very reistant to

go on the potty. I acually found an old fasioned potty seat with a tray in

the front and restrained her in there until she peed. sounds harsh but i knew

that was what she needed and she trained in 6 weeks. it was summer and we

spent alot ot time in the yard with big girl pants on. I had at least 20

pairs of wet underwear by the end of the day for weeks but was determined,

not to say i didn't loose my temper more than once. Emma is not verbal and is

tube fed so i thought she would be much harder. she was five at the time and

actually caught on quicker when i used signs pictures and verbal cues. She is

time trained now with a rare pee pee accident but still poops in her pants.

I still have to bring her at certain times of the day but the time has

increased from 15 mins to 2-3 hours over the past two years. she still will

not bring herself although she is very mobile, can undress herself, and gets

everything else that she wants by herself. What i am trying now is to make

her do all the undressing and wiping in the bathroom by herself and working

my way towards my being physically outside the bathroom so she is more

independent. It is very time consuming as she is very distractible and takes

her sweet time with everything. I probally should have done this in the

beginning but did not have the energy for it. She will also wait until

noone is around so she can poop in her pants rather than the potty. if i am

extra vigilant and she doesn't the chance all day, she will wait for her

diaper to be on at night.

There are alot of opinions and ways to go about it, but i feel that if i

waited for her, she still would be in diapers and the two years would have

escaped me anyway. We rewarded Diane with whatever treats she wanted and

lots of juice to make her have to pee again. Emma we rewarded with helium

ballons, i bought a tank at a party store, as she doesn't eat orally.

Good luck and hang in there!!!