Tuesday, April 19, 2011

The Iron Bladder

As I have mentioned {more than once, I know} we are potty training Mya.  Why can't all kids just have the same patterns/habits when it comes to this?  Anyway, I just wanted to share our little experience - the Child with the Iron Bladder.
I learned very quickly that Mya could hold it for quite some time.  And when I say quite some time, I mean not peeing a single drop from 9:30 am until 7:00 pm.  Yep.
By about 5:00, her poor tummy was hurting and she would be running around the house crying, but refusing to go in the potty.  Or a Pull-Up.  Or even a diaper {at some point you just want the poor kid to relieve herself anywhere}.
And then, usually at about the most inopportune moment possible, the floodgates would open and she would unleash a river of urine - on the floor.
Thank goodness for a) owning a steam cleaner, and b) having lots of non-carpeted surfaces in our house.
We tried everything to get her to go.
Books, songs, coloring, playing games, giving her the iPod to watch movies/play games on, and of course lots and lots of fluid.
Saturday we sat with her from 4:00-7:00 and got nothing more than about 4 drops.  And every time she did eek out a little drop or two, she would shake and say "no, no, no, no".
I cried many, many, many times.
I looked up every forum I could on the internet, trying to learn some fabulous tip that would work.  I read nothing that I wasn't already doing.
How do you potty train a kid who JUST WON'T GO??
Sunday morning I had a little idea.  Something I am usually completely opposed to, because it is so nasty to me.
I put her little Dora potty chair in the family room so she could be out with everyone else and hopefully become more relaxed/distracted and be able to let loose.
I know that a lot of people do this when they're trying to get their kids familiar with the potty, but it just seriously grosses me out.
Well, wish I would've had this stroke of genius about 2 weeks sooner, because it totally worked.
She still holds it for a long time, but not to the point of being in pain, and tells us when she needs to go.  And who is going to complain about their kid being able to hold it?
So, I think we did it.  I know we're not done, and I expect it to be a couple more weeks before I feel like I can maybe say that she's potty trained.
But I feel like Super Mom because of it.  It was such a major hurdle to just get her to go.
To me, that's one of the most rewarding things about being a parent - encountering a problem with your child {even if the problem is pee} and finding something that works.  Parenting is so much trial & error.  Sometimes I feel so defeated over, and over, and over again. 
So it may have taken a few weeks, but I figured it out.
And it is awesome - because I did NOT want to be buying diapers x2 this time around!!

5 comments:

Strong Family - said...

Yay Kiersti!!! Glad you figured out something that worked. :-) And good timing too. Good luck in the weeks to come! Lauree

Carrie Medford said...

Right now I'm wishing that I had an iron bladder.

The Byers Family said...

It is great finding out what works for your kids and as you know, it's not always the same thing for each one of our kiddos! Glad to see that Mya has realized peeing in the potty is ok! A few weeks isn't too bad either! Some kids take way longer than that! Congrats on your success!

Lindsay said...

Oh CONGRATULATIONS!!! That is SO exciting! I love finding SOMETHING that works! Best feeling!

Jennie said...

Two weeks? that's it? I think it took two years for mine to be potty trained. Way to go! Oh, and I have THREE in diapers right now. The whole night training thing just isn't working for my two older ones.