Today I would be talking about the potty- as in potty training. Have you tried potty training while working full-time and going to school? Or while busy?

This is the one thing about being a parent currently that I kind of dread because what I had experienced. I had watched my aunts potty train their kids and it was not a pretty experience, I would not call it experience, but I would say that I did not like the aspect of moving stuff from one spot to another.

Among my cousins, I am the oldest female cousin and I saw my younger cousins be potty trained in Nigeria and it is totally different. Here is what I remember; during holidays when we visit our grandparents and my aunts come with their kids who are being potty trained at the same time. We the cousins would hang out and it is our responsibilities to make sure that our little cousins do not wet the bed. Grandpa’s old house did not have the toilets in house then, we had what we called the “po” If you happen to be the favorite big cousin who gets waken up at night because the little cousin wants to do the number two, then, it is you who dumped it in the morning. I love my cousins but I did not like being older and I di not want to be the one to dump out the number two.

Fast forward to today

I know that every child learns differently but when it comes to potty training; I have heard multiple times that girls are easier to potty train than boys are. , and I used to roll my eyes when I heard that. I used to say that it was all dependent on the parent willing to do the work.

I have a boy child and I would say I am almost agreeing to the old wife’s tale that potty training a boy child might be harder than a girl child.

I posed a question to a Facebook group that I am a part of and ask them what suggestions they had for potty-training boys and the suggestions I got all summed up to wait for the time when they were ready, to look for clues like, being able to stay dry for a few hours and not being comfortable when with a wet diaper and also getting books that might help the process

My spouse and I talked about potty training and one thing I did not want to do was to have a potty that was separate like a potty and place it in a spot in the bathroom for my little one to use. I refuse to move poop from one spot to another. When in the diaper, it is different but in a potty- NO!!! And my thing is if you can understand me, God willing, I think you can understand let us go to the “big boy/girl” toilet.

I would like to hear from parents, siblings and friends about their experience potty training. You can find me on Instagram and Twitter at Ezanya1 and email me at theizorapodcast@gmail.com. I could read your message on the next episode.

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We got a potty ring training seat for the toilet, got cotton briefs and we decided to begin this adventure. It was hilarious. I learnt quickly that giving juice to a child and potty training do not go hand in hand, they pee often when they drink juice and I got tired of changing briefs every few minutes. We got the book called The Potty books for boys by Alyssa Satin Capucilli and this had a very positive effect on the little one when we read it to him. He wanted the book to be read multiple times and he was intrigued by the child in the book being a “big kid” and going to the potty.

At this point I wondered if we should have got a potty like in the book….. NO!

I GAVE UP! He was not ready yet. We will try again.

I got busy with school, and with work.

I decided to test the old wife’s tale about boys being harder to train than girls by asking Google and lots of links came up. Here are some of the links that came up; there was a potty-training stubborn kids by a blog called kandookids.com, there was one on how to potty train a reluctant child by care.com. I finally clicked on Secrets to potty training boys: by parentingpssage.com and the working mother article.

Fast forward to now

We have started potty training again and I am celebrating little milestones with lots of stickers and progress chart.

This time, he is ready. What are the clues, he understands to sit on the potty seat and pee not to pee first and then ask to seat on the toilet? Another clue is that he is not comfortable with having a wet diaper for long.

Here is a summary of steps that have been suggested to follow:

1. Find what works after you have noted he/she is ready. Do you want to stick with certain number of days or extend the training period if needed for the kiddo? It is up to you

2. Would you reward each “go” or not? Or would you be like me and do a happy dance- I would say if you can do cartwheels; go for it. The kiddos think it is funny especially if you are not a great dancer

3. Make sure that they are comfortable- and be prepared. If your little one wants to be read to while seating on the stool, read to them. Dhanya G. mentions that “men like to be comfortable on the toilet, that is why they head there with the latest subscription of the New York Times… Boys are no different; if something is uncomfortable for them, they would not go

4. Make sure you have the right tools. Avoid urine guard or anything that would make the child associate being in pain while on the potty. Dhanya G. also mentioned that the urine guard can scrape against a child and leave them associating the potty with pain so avoid it.

5. For parents with autistic kiddos; I was sent a link about potty training a child with autism, I found very helpful information and I believe you would too. Check it out! (Thank you Karen).

6. Be patient!

6. Practice, Practice

7. Lastly Pray, practice and be patient.

These are some of the steps that I would follow. If you are busy and are trying to get your little one potty trained what would you do differently and if you succeeded in potty training how and what did you do?

Have fun! This is only a season and soon, we as parents will ask where did time go?

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