This advice is FREE and NOT guaranteed to work!

Okay, so may of you have asked how I managed to potty train Knoah. Today, he is 31 months old. It wasn’t as simple as I made it sound b/c just a few short months ago, I was dealing with this.

So, I gave up.

He was content doing his business in his diaper even though I told him I was NOT buying anymore diapers. I would stock up on diapers for him from a wholesale warehouse here in Monroe. I could get a box of Pampers for $30.00, that would contain 100+ diapers. So, my diaper buying days were OVER!

In February (age: 27months), I knew he was ready to potty train. How did I know this? I used three criteria to gauge Knoah’s potty training readiness.

1. Can he communicate the word potty?
He could. Either by sing language or the word. He knew where and what the potty was. We used “demonstrations” to show him what it was to use the potty. All of us let him come into the bathroom and we would talk to him and say we were using the potty.

2. Can he hold it for more than 2 hours?
This was simple, I simple let him run around the house without a diaper. I did this for days and even now still do this. It helps him become aware of his body and the signals it is giving to indicate he has to use the bathroom. He would, in the beginning have one or two accidents and when he went outside of the potty, he was very upset by this. When he would verbalize his disappointment at having an accident. I would reassure him that it was OK and that we would learn when we had to go.

3. Do I have the time to give him the opportunity to succeed?
When we think of potty training, we want it to go as quickly as possible. It doesn’t always go as planned. Potty training takes time and dedication. When your dealing with a any child, especially a dwarf child, recognizing their anatomy is different than an average height child will help you and your child succeed! Dwarf children are not going to have a large bladder. So, they will not be able to hold large amounts of urine. So, urination is frequent and when your out and about,it sometimes is not possible to run to the bathroom every 20 minutes to let them go. In cases like this, it is OK to have them wear a pull-up. They them they are underwear. This will give you time to do what you need to do without worrying or “forgetting” they don’t have on a diaper….., on the other hand, I have NEVER forgotten…. ;-)

Yes, I have…..

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Okay, so, with this three criteria in place, ask yourself are they ready to potty train? If you answered no, to any, work on getting them to do what you want them to do. It is during this time, when you are going to be saying “poo-poo” and “pee-pee” a lot. At home, in the car, in the store walking past strangers. If this embarrasses you, you are going to have to get over it quickly, because you have kids now and they are very gross creatures!

My experience with potty training started way back in 2000. Jacob was 2 and Hannah was on her way to being born. I was looking at a total of 5 years in diapers…..

That’s almost $3000.00 for 5 years worth of diapers!! WOW!

So, I started training Jacob. It was difficult. He finally caught onto peeing in the toilet, but not number 2. This would take YEARS….okay?

Hannah potty trained herself! One day, I was in her room and I heard water running, I ran into the bathroom thinking she was in the bathtub, but she was on the toilet! I was shocked! I had gone through this same criteria with all of them and now I can say I am NOT buying anymore diapers for ANYONE over the age of two!!

YEAH!!

No more butt-wiping!….well, I still have to wipe butts, but not like that!!

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As a final piece of advice and it goes without saying, frequant and lots of praise is needed. Using the words, Big Girl or Big Boy when referring to them is important.They will soon realize they are not a baby anymore. Give lots of high fives, hugs and kisses when they succeed and when they fail. Reassuring them it is OK if they go on the floor, it was an accident will help them realize that not only with this is it okay to make a mistake but in life, it’s OK to make a mistake!

Make it an achievement! When they use the potty, dance around and say yeah! Take pictures of it and show them so it reinforces the idea of using the potty. Gather the sibling(s) so they can show them and encourage the siblings to celebrate their success.

Poop in our house right now is a GREAT thing! Especially when it goes where it’s suppose too!!