I recently went to Aldi and bought 4 packets of nappies for Jeremy with my mum. When she noticed me putting them in the trolley, she asked me if I was ever going to get Jeremy out of nappies? I felt the same, will Jeremy ever get out nappies?
Jeremy will be turning 3 years old on the 23rd of March and soon after, starting 3 year old Kindergarten. I had began to despair at being one of those mums who I did not want to be, of a child still in nappies at 4 or 5 years old. I was getting sick of wiping his smelly bottom and big cacas.
I came home from visiting Rachel and Sam with re-newed hope that if Sam was successfully toilet training, then why not Jeremy? Their developments have always been on par. With the 2 unsuccessful attempts at toilet training when Jeremy was 2 and 2 1/2 years old, I wasn’t expecting much this time round. However, Jeremy was full of surprises. Not only did he take to toilet training, it only took 4 days for him to be completely out of nappies and within 7 days, he was doing most of his cacas in the toilet.
It felt so much easier and less stressful in this third attempt. Jeremy tells us when he wants to do his pee pee and cacas and is able to hold on until he is on the toilet. When I look back, I think that we tried toilet training him too soon, and he just wasn’t “ready”. What is being “ready”? There are many experts that tell you that you should start toilet training before, during or after the summer your child turns 2 years old and that your child should be able to hold on to their pee pees and cacas long enough to make it to the toilet. There are all sorts of expert advice on this subject and can be interpreted by parents differently.
Many seasoned mums and child care workers have told me that toilet training should only take 1 or 2 weeks at the longest when your child is “ready”. I think they are right. Our first unsuccessful attempt took 4 weeks before we gave up, the second time took 6 weeks and I caved in. This third successful attempt took less than 1 week. I think that parents should use their gut instinct as to when they think their child is “ready” and attempt to toilet train their child, if they are tearing their hair out and getting stressed about it after 2 or 3 weeks, then their child is not ready. Try again in 3 or 6 months. It’s amazing how much 3 or 6 months does to a child’s physical and intellectual growth.
Oh, and it also helps to reward your child with something they love when they have done their pee pee or caca in the toilet initially. For us, it was ‘fait du velo’ - going for a bike ride. At first, Jeremy got to go for a bike ride around the block with his Papa when he did his pee pee in the toilet, now that it’s not such a big deal when he goes to the toilet, he doesn’t ask for a bike ride anymore. Oh, and I think that he’s sick of all the bike rides after all the pees pees and cacas he has done in the toilet.
To bed, he still wears nappy. I am keen for him to just finish all those nappies I bought in Aldi otherwise I’ll have a find a home for them! I am happy and relieved that Jeremy won’t be using those 4 big packets of nappies from Aldi anymore.
