I Need a Wee, Mummy!
11 May 2023
We’ve finally tackled toilet training with our eldest child.
We first started thinking about toilet training about age 2.5, but after using the toilet and potty a few times the novelty wore off and all manner of encouragement for a repeat performance was met with a firm “no”.
Then out of nowhere he asked for a “ladybird potty” for his 3rd birthday. I wasn’t sure he would actually use it and we already had 2 potties and a toilet seat at home unused, but I wanted to capitalise on this newfound interest so straight onto Amazon I went! We then decided to buy him some pants as something else to get excited about.
Here’s how it went.
DAY 1-2: HELL
The week before his 3rd bday he insisted on wearing his new pants to nursery just as he was heading out the door, having already got clothes and a nappy on… in the spirit of encouraging his enthusiasm we put pants on him and packed him off to nursery with no idea what was going to happen #soz.
He came back with a bag of wet clothes that day and the next, and had a fair few “accidents” at home. He just couldn’t seem to register when he needed to do a wee, especially when he was distracted by playing or tv. And then when he ended up with soaking wet clothes it was like nothing had even happened. Eek.
DAY 3-4: SOMETHING CLICKED
All of a sudden there were zero accidents and he came home from nursery in the same clothes he went there wearing. We went out to a shopping centre after nursery and even managed to navigate public toilets.
The main stumbling block was - and remains - that he insisted on putting on a nappy to do a poo (the issue appears to be that he likes to stand while doing it… not sure how we’ll overcome that one to be honest…
DAY 5: MINOR SETBACK
We had our first accident in a few days at a playgroup. I had just taken him to the toilet where he confidently asserted “no wee today mummy”… then disappeared to play for 5 minutes and re-emerged with wet trousers (go figure).
Unlike at the beginning though, he recognised something had happened. Despite the setback, I still felt we were doing really well at this point.
DAY 6: NAILED IT?
Just as I was wondering for how long I should keep reminding him to use the potty instead of letting him tell me when he needs it, on his birthday he was heading out to play in the garden when he turned around and shouted “ooh mummy, I need to wee!!”
I was over the moon that he had developed the ability to sense the need to go even when distracted, and also wasn’t put off by the fact that that stopping for a wee would get in the way of playtime. Woohoo!
DAY 8: AN INADVERTENT POO
I thought we had a poo breakthrough when he sat on the potty to do a wee and then a surprise poo popped out!
I was hopeful that having now seen it is actually possible to do it on the potty, he’d be comfortable doing it there from then on. Alas, the next day he asked to have a nappy on for his poo. Hmmm.
I’m gently encouraging him and have tried getting him to sit on the potty wearing a nappy, but it’s still a no for now.
Overall I feel relieved and happy with how smoothly the process has gone. Yes, the first two days were awful but I’m so glad we persevered and I’m so, so proud of my boy. I actually think it has provided something for us to connect over, at what has otherwise been quite a challenging time with our baby girl coming along.
There is a lot to be said for waiting until your child is ready. There can be a lot of pressure from peers or from older generations but I do believe that waiting for the right time (for your child) makes it much less difficult and stressful for everyone.
If you’re embarking on a potty training journey then I hope some of this is helpful to you. Good luck and God speed!
