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Tuesday, October 15, 2013

My Secret Potty Training Tip



I suffered more years than most potty training ONE child.

Yeah.

I can't blame it all in him though. Because when things became frustrating, I looked back through time to when he was a BABY. Not even a year old and he was trying to HOLD IT IN. I can still see my little guy holding on to the couch (he was in that I-can't-walk-yet-but-I'll-hold-the-edge-of-the-couch-phase), crossing his legs, and his face would turn red. We all figured he was going.

NO. He was holding it IN.

At 2 we dabbled with the idea of potty training. At 3 we committed. At 4 I was so frustrated I would cry.

"Oh, boys take a lot longer than girls," they would say.

"As long as he can go by Kindergarten, there's no need to worry," others would say.

And "No one will remember this when he is 16."


Well, first off, your kids were potty trained by 2. Thanks for pretending not to judge me.
Second, I am worrying. This kid might be the only kid that will have potty issues in Kindergarten.
Third, I will.

Well, now that he is 5, I am happy to report THIS TOO SHALL PASS. If any of you moms are in the same boat I was, I am SO SORRY. I could cry for you just thinking about it.

It really was horrible. First there was the feeling that I was being judged for the shortcomings of my child. Maybe this was all MY fault. Was I feeding him the wrong things? Maybe. But kids are picky. Sometimes you just want them to eat, so you make it easy for you and them. There was the nice coaxing, the pleading, crying, yelling, apologies, threats, rewards, crazy rewards, potty movies, potty books, google searching, and doctor visits.

Finally we found the right mix. We used Miralax, but that was messy. So that came in MUCH smaller doses. Then came my friend's suggestion to use a homeopathic remedy (we diagnosed him using a homeopathic website and gave him Hyland's dissolving tablets as directed---for his symptoms he needed Silicea 6x). If you are looking for a remedy this site has a section to help you.

And I think between the two things a miracle occurred!

He had just turned 4 when all of a sudden, we were a happy family again. I cannot begin to tell you how much stress this put on my relationship with my son and me. I hope he never remembers how hard that was for the two of us. But we made it.

Please tell me I am not alone in that battle?

Anyway, I am sorry for the long post if you were looking to head straight to my top potty tip.

Here it is:


Put a panty liner in the rear end of your child's underwear.



I thought I might be a genius when I discovered this. Someone most likely thought of it before me, but I had never heard it suggested nor had I seen it pinned on Pinterest. So this is revolutionary.

If your child has "accidents" I'm sure you hate to clean them as much as I did...

When you put the panty liner on, say they do go. Welp, the fabric in the prime target area has been protected! You just rip it off, dispose of the mess, and then the underwear can go in the laundry!!

So that's all I've got. There's a million "How to Potty Train Your Kid in a Weekend" tutorials, but those never worked for me.

So this is for all you other gals and pals :)


***
Afterthought:
I just might have to delete the "details" soon since this is the internet and nothing is worse than Mommy blabbing your secrets. But for now, I hope it really does help someone else!


24 comments:

  1. Sounds like my daughter exactly! Holding it in, using miralax! What hylands tablets did you get? Thanks for the tips too!

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    1. Nicolette, you are welcome!! Thank you for affirming that I am not alone, LOL! This is a great site for figuring out which tablets would be best, because every person is different. http://abchomeopathy.com/

      For my little guy Silicea in the 6x dosage is what worked. This was my first time using homeopathy and I was impressed with it. I hope things get better for your little one!

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  2. i'm in this right now... thank you so much for sharing!

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  3. We are struggling with our 3 1/2 year old son too. He is one stubborn little dude and I feel like such a failure at times. Thanks for sharing and I will be using this tip as well!

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    1. You are welcome!! I am happy I can share something helpful with other parents. It's okay, I felt the SAME way. Isn't it funny how our child's performance in different areas is how we measure how good of a job we are doing? It's not really fair, is it? But I think we judge ourselves the most :( Thank you for your comment and sharing that you are going through the same thing!

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  4. THANK YOU! I am right there and I totally agree with the people "not judging" but judging because their child was trained at 2. Panty liner is genius. You helped this momma and made me feel a little less alone in this battle!

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    1. Reading your comment made my eyes misty. And I am not a very emotional person. Although I feel bad that other moms are having the same problem, it makes me feel better TOO to know I am/was not alone. I hated it when people would brag about their child being potty trained early...it made me feel bad :/ So happy this tip can help!! You made my day.

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  5. This is so wrong....

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    1. lol, I understand how it would seem that way! But when your are in the trenches of this problem you get desperate. This was a solution that at least helped us :)

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  6. Thanks for the reassuring words. My 3.5 year old girl isn't potty trained and people treat me like a failure because of it. Heck I feel like a failure. Your kind words and others admitting the same issue is very good to hear.

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    1. I am so sorry about that!!! I think the majority of the feeling like a failure is self inflicted. Because when I step back and think about it like a rational human being, of course we can't control this! Heck, we can't even control what our own body does sometimes. We are not alone! I hope it gets better for you and your daughter soon. In fact, I know it will :)

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  7. Obviously those people that are surprised by a pantiliner in the undies have never had to deal with a child that has developed Encopresis. My son did just fine with peeing in the potty, but we found out quickly that constipation and holding it had led to a loss of feeling in the anal sphincter. He has been potty trained for 3 years now and while we are having much more success than failure, we still are working with him to take responsibility for his own bowel movements. You're idea is genius. I wish I had done that because it would have saved much frustration and many tears (his and mine).

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    1. Thank you so much Gillian!! Your comment really meant a lot. You know what I find amazing? I have confessed this problem to some moms and have found out there child had a really difficult time too. I think all we hear are the easy stories and we keep quiet about the difficult ones. And the only way you can find any comfort is by searching parenting boards (been there). I am glad there has been more success! God bless all of us parents and children that have dealt with this!

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  8. Thank you for sharing I'm struggling with my son who is going to turn 4 next month and he just does not care if he has an accident in the his pants when we are out I take him to the the bathroom before we leave every destination and when we get to one but it still hasn't stuck
    I'm going to try your remedy

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  9. Thank you for sharing I'm struggling with my son who is going to turn 4 next month and he just does not care if he has an accident in the his pants when we are out I take him to the the bathroom before we leave every destination and when we get to one but it still hasn't stuck
    I'm going to try your remedy

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  10. My 3 yr old son won't go poop in potty. He does it in underwear then comes tell me I need to make him a bath.

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  11. My 3 yr old son won't go poop in potty. He does it in underwear then comes tell me I need to make him a bath.

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  12. My daughter had encopresis too. I only knew what it was because my older brother had it. I didn't like all the stuff I read about giving her laxatives, especially for a long period of time, medical testing that seemed to lead nowhere, etc. I read somewhere in my research that chiropractic can help encopresis, so I made her an appointment, and within a few visits, the problem was 100% gone and has never returned since (and it has been a year and a half!)

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  13. My daughter had encopresis too. I only knew what it was because my older brother had it. I didn't like all the stuff I read about giving her laxatives, especially for a long period of time, medical testing that seemed to lead nowhere, etc. I read somewhere in my research that chiropractic can help encopresis, so I made her an appointment, and within a few visits, the problem was 100% gone and has never returned since (and it has been a year and a half!)

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  14. Thanks for being real! Us moms need to hear more and share more of that.
    Reading this not only made me feel better in the sense that I'm not alone in this, but in this simple, yet very real blog.......you've most definitely inspired me! Thanks again

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  15. My son is 6 yrs old.he is not using toilet for passing stool.always passing stool in nappie.i m very worry about it plz suggest medicine.

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