(click pix to enlarge)
It was like my wife and I hit the jackpot when Clarence learns how to go to potty. He can now tell us when he needs to poop or pee (poo-poo/wee-wee in his words). We were afraid that we’ll not be able to teach him how to use the potty because most children in his age (he’s 2 yr / 5mo.) were already trained in using it. It also comes in our minds that this potty issue could be a big reason, for him not to be accepted in pre-school. This is why we decided to introduce to him the function of his potty. His potty chair was a birthday gift from our friends (Raffy and Karen). Honestly, when I saw it the first time, I can’t imagine that Clarence will be cooperative in using it. Well, I was right! At first, he used it like a chest for his small toys, a chair when he’s playing his piano, a platform to reach high places (like tables, TV, light switches, etc.), a drum when he got two pencils in his hands and a radio since it’s musical with a press of a button. We failed to make him realize the purpose of the chair, till we just think of buying a small toilet seat that can be attached to the actual toilet. That’s when we found out that his potty chair has already the part we needed. We didn’t know how functional his chair was until we saw the same chair in Wal-Mart showing in its box a boy sitting in a toilet with the seat detached from the potty chair and using the rest of the chair as a footrest. Thanks to Raffy and Karen, we saved a bunch of money from buying a seat. When we arrive at home, we immediately try the potty’s seat on the toilet and it fits. Now, the only thing that we are aiming to get is to make our son sit and stay on the toilet when he needs to go. We tried to demonstrate to him how to use the toilet; we used every chance in getting his attention to recognize the function of it. We used the help of internet, particularly YouTube because there are videos of kids using their potties. We are trying to make him realize that it’s a normal thing to do for kids like him. We even sing the potty song, like “Poop goes to potty!, Wee-wee goes to potty!” but it’s really hard to make him use it. Then we thought of taking his diaper off for a period of time. We started at the first day of October, we just let him run off the house with just his shirt, brief and shorts, not minding if he’ll pee on the carpet or couch. He did pee on our carpet and everytime he does, we’ll make him feel that it’s not appropriate, that it’s like a yucky thing. It’s funny when you can see him walk because of the wet pants, it’s like that there’s a big something between his legs, a very wide leg opening, a zumo wrestler walk I may say. It reaches 4 days before he can actually control his pee. We didn’t have problem with his poop because even if he has no diaper, I know the signs when he’s about to poop, and that’s when you can see me rushing to the toilet carrying him. Last October 5th, he can actually say when he wants to wee-wee or poo-poo. Whenever there’s a success in his toilet time, we are there praising him for a job well done. My wife sacrifices her sleeping time just to let my son know that his efforts are being appreciated. Now, when he says, “Daddy, wee-wee/poo-poo” and I don’t respond sooner, he’ll panic and say “Oh no! Oh no! wee-wee!!”. When he’s sitting on the potty and he sees that his wee-wee come out, he’ll tell to himself and us, “Good Job!” in baby talk. That was really a relief for us. Not to mention, the savings for not buying more diapers.
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