Early Potty Learning

The last full day that W was in diapers was September 9, 2013 making him 17 months and 9 days old when he graduated from diapers.  **I don't like the term "potty trained" especially since he is so young; it just has so much pressure along with it.  I just say he's out of diapers when he's awake since he does still wear - and need - a diaper for naps and overnight.**

People are so surprised when they hear that he is out of diapers at his age.  And they either ask me what kind of voodoo magic I used or just attribute it to W being "mature."  I honestly believe most babies could potty train this early if they're given the opportunity to.  If you have a young baby and want to start them on the road to "early potty learning" this is what we did...

I got W a potty when he was about 9 months old.  With BabyDeux I'll probably start even sooner; as soon as he can sit up on his own I'll let him "use" a potty.  When it was convenient for me (as in if I was going to the bathroom, when W was brushing his teeth, when the tub was filling up, etc) I would put him on his potty with absolutely no expectation for him to do anything it was just him getting to sit on a cool new seat with his pants down.

First time on the potty!

I think a key to this is the fact that when I would use the toilet I would bring him with me and put him on his potty.  If I was peeing I would simply tell him, "Mommy is peeing in her potty because she doesn't wear diapers, if you want you could pee on your potty, too" and if I was pooping I would give him the same general explanation.  So he knew what he toilet was for.  It was actually the second day I ever put him on a potty that he pooped!  And I didn't celebrate, I didn't give him a prize, I just said, "wow, you're pooping on your potty instead of a diaper!  What a big boy."  If he went in his diaper  didn't get upset (obviously, he wasn't even a year old yet) I would just simply explain while I changed him, "you peed/pooped in your diaper, I'm going to put a dry diaper on you.  Isn't that more comfortable?"

Within a month he was almost exclusively pooping on the potty.  I rarely changed poopy diapers for the month of February.  It was awesome.

Then we flew home to visit my family at the beginning of March and we both got sick and he was nursing non-stop (so his poop completely changed) and he totally freaked out about the potty.  ::whompwhomp::  I was a little heartbroken, but hey - he could't walk how could I expect him to regularly use the potty?

After that I would still put him on the potty but I never pushed it.  He had sorta lost interest in it.  Then The Sailor got back from deployment, and I got pregnant, and every time I would put him on his little potty he would just stand up since he could walk.  I got to the point where I thought he was gonna be in diapers for a loooooong time since once BabyDeux got here there was no way I was going to be able to potty train a toddler while caring for a newborn.

Then I got the idea to try and put him on the big potty (with a topper on it) so he couldn't just walk away....and it worked!  This was probably a month before a decided to ditch the diapers.  I started putting him on it whenever it was convenient for me again; sometimes he would go, sometimes he wouldn't.  Then one day he walked up to me, handed me his potty topper, and signed please.  As soon as I put him on the potty he peed and I accepted he was ready.

I picked a date to ditch the diapers about two weeks in the future to mentally prepare myself and made him some training pants.  I started offering him the potty regularly throughout the day instead of just when it was convenient for me and as long as I offered it every two hours or so he'd have clean diapers all day!

I originally planned to do a "three day potty camp" where you essentially camp out in the kitchen (for easy clean up) and pump your kid full of salty snacks so they drink (and thus pee) a lot and essentially dedicate three whole days only to using the potty.  But, because of my back we lasted about 2 hours in the kitchen then just went back to normal life in the house just W was naked for easy potty access.

And he's been out of diapers while he's awake ever since.

For the most part at home he's completely naked or just in undies.  When we leave the house he's in undies and cloths.  If we're leaving during nap time I bring a diaper to put him in knowing he'll pass out on the car ride home (since he does still wear diapers for naps and night time).  He's had two accidents in clothes - one he was asleep in the car seat with The Sailor (he passed out and peed, really can't hold it against him) the other was at a birthday party and he started to wet his pants but finished on a toilet.  He's also had a bunch of starts of accidents at home, but he's generally naked so I just swoop him up and toss him on the toilet for him to finish but those have become few and far between.

Chillin in his undies

So yeah...how did I get my 17 month old out of diapers?  Early introduction.  It was never hard for us to do, honestly.  Like I said, in the early days I never went out of my way and he essentially let me know when he was ready to ditch the diapers.  If you introduce a potty early you will know when your child is ready.  Just trust in that.

I also do give some credit to the fact that we cloth diaper.  Since disposables do such a good job keeping babies dry-feeling they don't really know when they've peed, whereas with cloth it's easy for them to tell.

Since that is more than enough information I'll do a follow up post with tools that helped us along the way,, and as usual if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask!

W - 16 Month Update

Pretty sure I haven't done one of these since W was a newborn!  It's about time I update the world on my big, little man!

Where to start...well, he's about 24 pounds and although he can fit in 18 month clothes he really shouldn't (the shirts are basically crop tops on him).  He sleeps in his crib from 8 pm to 630 am on weekdays and 730 on weekends - I say he gets woken up by The Sailor while he gets ready for work, The Sailor says that isn't true, either way he wakes up earlier during the week then the weekend!  Then he comes and cuddles in bed with me and nurses for about a half hour before we actually get up!

Things he likes...going to classes at the local Family Resource Center!  This past month we went to Art Explosion, La Leche League, Natural Parenting for Non-Hippies, and My 5 Senses.

Art Explosion

Playing with another toddler at La Leche League

He also loves playing with balloons and balls of all sizes.

One of his favorite "activities" is eating.  A normal breakfast for him is a whole piece of fruit (usually a banana or a pluot - which is a plum apricot hybrid), 2 pieces of turkey sausage, and an egg.  Then he has a morning snack, lunch, an afternoon snack, dinner, and still breastfeeds between 3 and 5 times a day.  He's also started using an actual fork to feed him and even eats corn directly off the cob.

And I swear this boy loves his pets more and more each day!

Things he doesn't like are when I try to carry him to and from the car - he wants to walk there himself, and being told no in general (as in, "No, W, you can't play in that drawer in the kitchen.")

He hasn't shown any signs of parental preference...he just prefers us all to be together.  He gets upset if either The Sailor or I leave.

He's go, go, going non-stop and incredibly independent.  He likes to play on the playground himself, walk places himself, and read to himself regularly.

My favorite thing he does is when he "surprises" me with kisses.  He doesn't like to give me kisses if I ask for them (but he'll give Tomcat, Gabby, or stuffed animals kisses on command) but every once and a while he'll crawl up on my lap and just give me a kiss.  It absolutely melts my heart.

His words are still pretty limited but he regular says Mama, Dada, Meow, and vroom (when playing with cars) and he signs milk, please, more, finished.  He "talks" to me (and everyone else) constantly, I'm just waiting for it to become actual words!

Challenges this month were 1) me trying to keep up with him even though I'm pregnant and lazy and 2) he's transitioned from 2 to 1 nap ::whompwhomp::  He used to take a morning nap at about 930 and an afternoon nap at about 230.  They were each about an hour and a half long.  But he started fighting the second nap and I'd spend 45 minutes trying to get him down only for him to wake up a half hour later.  Now he's going down for a nap between 11 and noon and that nap lasts 2-3 hours.  He has his best naps when we've done something extra active to wear him out in the morning (either going to a class or playing outside) and if he poops before he goes down for a nap.  If we can keep up one nap that lasts about 3 hours long I'm not going to complain!

I guess that's really it this month!

In case you couldn't tell, we did a "golf" photo shoot last week at the driving range on base, haha.

I hate milestones

And when W isn't hitting his milestones ahead of schedule I generally hate other Moms and Mommy Bloggers.

Personal creation

We all say, "babies/toddlers/kids are all different and hit milestones when they're ready" but we all know we want our kids to be "ahead."  If you deny it, you're lying.  W wasn't a "late" walker, but he wasn't early either (he started consistently walking a few weeks ago at like 13 and a half months).  Same with crawling, not late, not early.  Now that he is walking, the focus is talking.

I didn't even realize he should consistently be using words until I had an encounter like my little illustration up there.  It wasn't in person, it was online, but still.  W doesn't even consistently say Mama or Dada.  In my/his defense since The Sailor was deployed from 5 to 13 months there was no Dada around and no one was calling me Mama.  But he doesn't have any other words apart from Meow.  He and Tom Cat will go back and forth meowing at each other all the time.  It's thoroughly amusing, but that isn't even a real word!

So I start working on it, focusing on Mama, Dada, and ball (since his favorite thing in the world is a ball of any size) and still nothing.  Then I happen to be reading another blog and they mention working on a new word with their 12 month old for an hour or two and now they're using it consistently! What the heck dude?!

So then I turn to the trusty dusty internet to see where it says my son should be, and it's pretty much useless.  Most articles jump from 12 month milestones to 18 month milestones and that's a HUGE difference!

According to Baby Center:

7 to 12 monthsWhen she babbles and vocalizes now, your baby sounds as if she's making sense. That's because she's trying out tones and patterns similar to the ones you use. Foster her babbling by talking and reading to her.
13 to 18 monthsNow your child is using one or more words, and she knows what they mean. She'll even practice inflection, raising her tone when asking a question by saying "Up-py?" when she wants to be carried, for example. She's realizing the importance of language as she taps into the power of communicating her needs.

(http://www.babycenter.com/0_developmental-milestone-talking_6573.bc)

When W babbles it totally sounds like he's just speaking a different language.  He knows what he's saying, I just don't.  But he's 14 months old and not using any actual words, so according to that article is he not "behind" unless he doesn't progress between now and 18 months?

And, according to WebMD:

• Baby talk at 12 months. Most babies say a few simple words like "mama" and "dadda" by the end of 12 months -- and now know what they're saying. They respond to -- or at least understand, if not obey -- your short, one-step requests such as, "Please put that down."

• Baby talk at 18 months. Babies at this age say up to 10 simple words and can point to people, objects, and body parts you name for them. They repeat words or sounds they hear you say, like the last word in a sentence. But they often leave off endings or beginnings of words. For example, they may say "daw" for "dog" or "noo-noo's" for "noodles."

(http://www.webmd.com/parenting/guide/baby-talk-your-babys-first-words)

W does listen to me when I tell him to give kisses, shut the door/drawer, sit down (in the tub), and a bunch of other "one-step requests."  But apparently I have another 4 months to teach him 10 simple words before he's "behind."

Here's my other issue though - I don't wanna be the Mom that cried genius.  W might say sounds that kinda resemble real words, but I don't wanna be all like, "yeah, he has a better vocabulary than I do already!"  We all have that friend who's kid makes a noise and obviously they're saying such-and-such word.  No they aren't; they're just babbling!  I'm pretty sure W "says" Gabby (our dog's name) but until it is at least 90% distinguishable, I'm not comfortable saying he knows that word yet.

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Since I just spent all that time talking about things W isn't so great at, I obviously have to point out the things he is good at.  He's incredibly social and listens really well when I tell him not to do something.  The kid has amazing hand eye coordination and is super strong.  He can throw a ball with more accuracy than I can with either of his hands.

Personal Photo

I know it's pointless to compare your kid to other kids, but part of being a Mom is worrying.  Obviously I don't think there's anything "wrong" with W, my biggest fear is just that I'm not doing enough, know what I mean?

Did your little one hit milestones ahead of schedule or on time?  Do you also drive yourself crazy focusing on stupid milestones?