Potty Training (part 1)

Posted on May 30, 2012 by 2flowerslearn

So posts are a wee bit thin this week. We are in the midst of potty training mayhem!

Rose turns 2 this Saturday and has been showing signs of being ready to train for a few months. We hesitated until after a recent trip and until daycare were also ready. Rose is at home with me 2 days a week and at the weekend and in a wonderful daycare close to home the other 3 days. Discussing the action plan with daycare and ensuring we are using the same methods is essential for success.

This is my second potty training experience, Daisy was trained at 22 months, and it is turning out to be quite different!

The first thing we did when deciding to train Rose was watch for signs that she was ready. Questions we asked ourselves:

Does she follow instructions?
Does she show an interest in the toilet and /or potty?
Can she sit still for a few minutes?
Are her pees and poops at regular times?
Is she aware she is peeing or pooping?
Does she want to be independent?
Is she beginning to dress herself?
Can she say “pee and poop” or “potty”?

The answer to all these questions was ‘yes’ most of the time. The issues I was predicting may be a problem, are sitting still and following instructions. Rose is a very active girl and does not always follow instructions (refusals are common). Our preparation in the last few weeks involved:

Talking about peeing and pooping
Bringing her to the bathroom when another family member was ‘going potty’
Encouraging her to help with flushing and ripping off toilet roll
Buying lots of big girls knickers/panties (she is using her big sisters but has her own choice too)
Discussing the potty training action plan with daycare to ensure our methods are consistent
Buying a potty or lifting the potty out of storage and sitting and using it
Clearing a few weeks to stay at home and focus solely on potty training

When I spoke to her teachers at daycare we compared how we were planning on potty training. We agreed she would wear knickers and no training pants. Only using diapers for nap and at night time. Once we start we continue; we don’t give up. We also talked about reminding her every hour and watching for cues to try to encourage she got to the potty. The classroom leader has many years of experience so I listened carefully when talking to her.

We sent her off to daycare on Monday with many spare pairs of knickers and shorts/shorts. It was a challenging day for daycare. She wet or pooped through all her clothes and refused the potty. Yesterday at home I had a similar day. I watched for signs of her needing to pee or poop but she does not give obvious signs. When I noticed her wet I said “Oh dear let’s get changed. Next time tell mama I need to poop or pee”. She tells me when she is wet, after she has peed. It was a long day but we stayed positive and cleaned up after each mess of course. Daisy was a huge help trying to entertain Rose to encourage her to sit on the potty and role playing with a little plastic potty we have at home. Lots of stuffies and dolls went pee pee yesterday.

This morning first thing, she sat willingly on the potty and had a drink of water, snack and we chatted. After 5 minutes she PEED! We all did a happy dance and sang “Rosie peed in the potty!” yes, even my husband danced and sang!

I hope daycare have had a better day today. I will fill you in later in the week.

Here are some more resources for potty training:

The ABC’s of Potty Training – lots of detail from Babycentre

How to Potty Train a Child – Great simple step by step advice from Instructables

Everyone Poops is a great book. It was given to me by a friend before we started to potty train Daisy. The language and simple pictures are perfect for opening up discussion about pee and poop. Some adults are horrified at how direct the book is but if you have a wee one potty training or a big one who loves talking about pee and poop it is a sure winner. The gas we pass we will be looking at with Daisy (The story of farts still to come).

Is Your Child Ready? some questions I had are discussed here.

The potty training continues…

Using a Calendar with Preschoolers

Posted on May 7, 2012 by 2flowerslearn

Using a calender at home was something I debated with. Time passing is such as abstract concept for preschoolers. Daisy tends to think of days as either an at home day or a day care day.

We use an Animal Friends Yearly Calendar and refer to it at least weekly.

I did put all the numbers in once and then decided just to do weekends and special occasions. At the beginning of the month we look at our event calender and see when we have important days in the coming month. These may be birthdays, mother’s day, holidays or special days at daycare.

l help Daisy to add the dates for Saturdays and Sundays and then we pick out triangles for special days. The emphasis is on number recognition and celebrating special days rather than remembering what date it is.

Inserting the numbers and triangles requires fine motor skills.

The days are changed when we remember. I struggled with this and asked Daisy to do it everyday for a while. The task then became a chore rather than fun. Now we do it when we remember and the emphasis is on what day today is, what day came before and what day will be next. The discussion is about what is happening today or the next day. This tends to be used when there is something exciting coming up.

Looking outside at the weather is always exciting and helps us to plan activities for the day.

The season helps us remember to change our book collection.

I am a book lover and have a rather huge collection of children’s books. They are now neatly organized in seasonal bankers boxes and rotated through the year. A new season means exciting new books to explore.

Here are some links for Calendar ideas:

Calendar Time for Young Children

Activities for Preschool Calendars

Morning Greeting and Calendar and Weather Time in Preschool

Time, clocks and calendar related activities

Daily Calendar Math

Days of Celebration

Do you have a formal Calender time?