So after a few good days, a morning dry diaper, poopy in the potty – I thought Sophie was ready to step it up a notch with the potty training. I put her in panties part of Saturday and Sunday and we had lots of accidents. I figured this was normal. Monday night, I also put her in panties. She stayed dry but fought me to even try to go on the potty (which was exactly what she did this weekend). She started getting very frustrated and angry with me if I insisted she try. Her respond, “I don’t have to potty!” I tried stickers for trying. I used her Dora pull-ups as an enticement. Those really only worked on a superficial level. I was not really getting through to her. Between Saturday and Sunday we also had a lot of acting out on her part which I can see now was a direct result of the stress the potty training was putting on her.
I started to suspect that maybe we should take a break but felt like that was “giving up” and thought that was the wrong thing to do. The doubt was there, though. It did not feel right to me – and I know my child, I know her reactions. What really got to me was when I spoke with her teacher and she relayed to me how well Sophie had been doing going to the potty in school but all of a sudden, since Monday morning, she was not going potty for them. She would sit on the toilet for a bit and then jump off and say, “I’m done!”
After that, I definitely felt like my instincts were dead on and we needed to take a break. No pull-ups. No potty. For a couple of weeks unless she showed interest sooner. I told Sophie this, too. I will probably tell her a few times so that she is aware. My kid may be showing physical signs that she is ready for the potty – but she is not showing that she is emotionally ready to keep it up. From what I hear and read, a lot of it is a control thing. Going potty is the one thing they can control. Also, stopping what they are doing to go potty is another control that Sophie is not ready to give up – at least not at home.
To be continued for now…
