Ready... Or Not?

Sometimes these little people send quite the mixed message.

Devin decided a while ago that Hanna seemed ready to start potty training.  She shows a lot of interest in the potty, and that Hallie doesn't wear a diaper. She likes to pull on Hallie's panties over her pants and rock out like that.  Devin doesn't think I should let her do that, but who am I to say no to hilarity?

I wasn't quite sure if she was ready, because she never wants me to change her diaper, and I thought one of the signs that a child is ready for potty training is when they want the dirty diaper off... fast. But maybe I made that up?  Anyway, she fights me and fights me at diaper changes, which, admittedly, does make the idea of her going on the potty very enticing.

So, we got out the old potty chair and put it in the bathroom, and at night when Hallie is going her pre-bedtime you-know we have Hanna sit on the little potty chair.  She loves it. But it's really more of a game for her. She'll yell "wee-wee!" and sit on the potty for two seconds. Then she jumps up and yells "done!" then when you try to put the diaper on she rushes back onto the potty and yells "wee-wee!"  Until you tire of this and force the diaper on her.

This afternoon, while Hallie was still napping but Hanna had woken up, she decided she wanted to sit on the potty.  I took this as a sign of progress.  "Wee-wee!" she kept yelling, pointing to it, as I took off her diaper.  She sat down and I wondered if we would end up just playing the usual game.  Yep. Two seconds down. Jump up! Repeat and repeat.

Hallie woke up from her nap and came stumbling into the bathroom.  I smoothed back her hair and talked to her for a minute, sort of ignoring Hanna and her potty routine.  Just as I was turning my attention back to her, she peed all over the floor.  "Wee-wee!" She yelled, to which I immediately started saying, "Potty!" and trying to shove her little bum onto the potty while there was still something coming out.  "Diaper! Diaper! Diaper!" she responded, at the top of her tiny lungs.

She would not stop yelling diaper and pointing at the wee-wee (to use her word) on the floor.  So, I wrapped her little bum up in a clean Elmo diaper and sent her on her way.  I can't help but wonder what this means. Clearly, when she originally asked me to go to the potty she really did have to go.  Did she know that, or was that just dumb luck?  Because if she did know that, and asked to sit on the potty, that is clearly a flashing sign saying "READY!!" But, if it was just dumb luck and at the first sign of wetness coming from her body she wanted a diaper, that is clearly a flashing sign saying "NOT READY".

I'm stumped. You?

Comments

  1. All I have to say is good luck, and I hate potty training.

    I do have friends whose kids have potty trained as young as Hanna is, so some kids definitely can be ready.

    I guess I would just keep letting her call the shots. Let her play the game as much as she wants.

    That stinks that she is so difficult to put a diaper on sometimes. I remember Hallie and your leg maneuver. Oh man.

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  2. I know, it's just really hard with the hernia. When she kicks me... yikes. I had actually forgotten the leg manuever, oh man - watch out Hanna!

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  3. Haha. I will never forget that maneuver! So funny. I already have to use a variation on Daniel, because he is SO intent on rolling over and grabbing anything near by. If I so much as blink during a diaper change, he'll be up on his tummy or all fours with his cute naked bum in the air.

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  4. I'd say that if she seemed surprised that she peed on the floor, then she is not ready, since she maybe didn't recognize the sensation. It's a hard thing to gauge. Good luck. Landon has been acting interested in the potty, and we are in the same boat of figuring out whether it is a game or if he really wants to use the potty.

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  5. She might have been surprised by it, I don't know. I think she was mostly upset that she had made a mess, she doesn't like messes and I think she knew the diaper would stop the flow, and maybe in her little brain she thinks of that as being "cleaner" because then it isn't on her leg, and foot, and a puddle on the floor?

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  6. gah, I don't know. I am dreading doing this with Minnie and right now I am thankful that we are so not even close to doing that yet.

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  7. how old is Hanna? My Sarah will be 3 next month and I feel like reading this post is my life right now. The fighting to do diaper changes the whole story! She kicks me (and my 7 month pregnant belly, ouch) A few weeks ago I was set on potty training so for about 4 days then realizing this was all a game to her (and me being pregnant and too tired to fight her) I went back to diapers and figured I'd try again later. Plus she would pee a little in her underpants I'd change them and then sit on the potty, nothing. Then she'd pee a little in her underpants, I'd change them sit on the potty and nothing. Same pattern every afternoon. So my advice to you is if she wants to "play" on the potty let her. And I agree with the "when she wants her diaper off" is a ready sign. Phew there's my 2 cents on the subject!

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  8. She's still pretty young, she'll be two in January.

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  9. This sounds exactly like Akoy. We got a potty last year and he always sat on it. It was a game and we randomly tried to get him to go. One day Bryson made him sit on it for awhile and ever since then he BEGS for a diaper. Every time we mention the potty he just says 'diaper, diaper.'

    Then the other day, okay the week before Lily was born he saw Toy Story underwear at the store and really wanted it. He tried so hard to go potty so he could get his new underwear. I could tell he was using the wrong muscle (it's a little easier with boys :) Now he is kinda showing more interest but I'm not sure I want to potty train him quite yet.

    Let me know you decide. Maybe Hanna being potty trained will motivate me.

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  10. Wanting to sit on the potty is a great sign. With Emily, one of the hardest things for her to learn was going once she is on the potty.

    We've been sort of potty training for over a year (hah), and she learned the most when Jill came to visit. Jill was being potty trained, and I could just follow Mimi's lead (thanks Mimi).

    The last daycare I worked at, we worked on potty training with a lot of kids. Most of the kids went through months of being taken to the potty every couple hours, before them finally moved from pull-ups to underwear. Even then, they would still have accidents sometimes.

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  11. Well, ......I'll reminisce with you a bit. My recollection of child care may be somewhat distorted. We had a wide assortment of boy babies, but only one very precocious daughter to compare. As I recall, girl babies were much easier to potty train, than were boy babies. Some boy babies are more stubborn than others. A couple of our boys still had problems when they were five years old. Especially if they were out doors and very absorbed in whatever they were doing. Taking time out to go in the house to go potty was something to be postponed as long as possible. Often postponed too long. (Especially when at the neighbors.) Well, ... that's about the best I can do. Sorry, I'm not more help. Grandma was closer to the action, and would remember better than I do. But, we'll have to wait a bit until we can consult with her. Love, grandpa H.

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  12. I have a 3-year-old-in-one-week who has almost no interest in potty training, so even if Hanna's not quite ready, she's more ready than Annibelle.
    Just keep following her signs.
    (THis post made me laugh out loud!)

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  13. That sounds really annoying but I have no memories of potty training my brothers so I don't think I can help you on this one. It sounds like she knew the diaper was for the pee and doesn't understand it can also go in the potty.

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