Potty Training a Toddler

Whoever said "Oh, my little angel just magically decided to go on the potty all by himself/herself. Training only took a couple days." Well, you make me sick. Whoever said potty training wasn't a process is fooling most of us. Potty training is hard work. And, at least I'm not in the minority. Ben's teacher, who not only has 6 children of her own (of which 5 are boys), but has potty trained gajillions of toddlers in her day as well as other professionals have said it is indeed a process and it takes several months and sometimes years.

Whew! What a relief! Things have always been so easy. Ben is so smart, so one would assume he would be one of those children that would only take a couple days. Nope. But, he really tries hard and I have had to learn patience. As he approaches his 3rd birthday, some may say "He's not trained yet?" My answer. No. According to all kinds of pediatricians and experts, those who think their child is ready many times is kidding themselves. My child wasn't physically able to even hold it in until just recently. You have to wait for their bodies to mature. And don't rush things along when they aren't ready. It'll backfire later.

Throughout the process, I have had to learn that what seems easy and logical to us is not necessarily true for a toddler. I have also learned to reach out to others for help. That's important cause most mothers feel like it's cheating to ask for help. That includes me. There's nothing wrong with asking for help. In fact, it makes life easier, and best of all -- less stressful!!

Reaching out to those who know what their doing has been invaluable. Let's be honest here... I'm a first time mom with one on the way. I'm by no stretch of the imagination an expert. I just do what makes sense to me. There's no rule book. I'm flying by the seat of my pants. But I do my best, and that's all we can do as mothers.

So, after nearly a month of what I would call full-on potty training, he's doing ok... he's making progress. I can't really ask for more than that. But it sure would be nice to be done!!