* We went to church. I had the girls in pull-ups
* It was my birthday and I had a surprise lunch/dinner date without the girls
* My only contribution to potty training was to go buy the Walmart branded training pants (cause you know I can't resist doing a comparison with the popular brand names plus it costs half as much!)
Day 3 Monday:
* Once the girls woke up, I put them on the potty for a few minutes but nothing was deposited. I think I need to catch them earlier but I don't want to interrupt those first few minutes of cuddling every morning
* The girls wore pull-ups to daycare AND Spice made a peepee in the toilet one time. I celebrate all progress.
Day 4 Tuesday:
* Spice woke up DRY! I'm trying not to hyperventilate in excitement here. I'll still have her sleep in diapers a few more nights but maybe by this weekend, we'll try napping in big girl undies.
* Once again, I tried to put them on the potty in the morning before heading out. Sugar said "No potty". Spice refused to sit but was doing the potty dance and asked for a diaper. Ah ha! Turns out she was scared of using the potty. Luckily this was one of the things I was anticipating from reading the blogs of other twin moms. I cajoled and coaxed her and just waited it out. When the first trickles started I put her on the potty and she did her thing. I discussed this with the daycare teacher and she thinks Spice may be better off in underwear. She's always hated being wet or dirty so maybe her dislike of that will help her overcome her dislike of the potty. We'll see
* Tuesday evening was a repeat of the morning. I patiently confined all 3 of us to the bathroom and after the better part of an hour, Spice peed in the potty. Sugar was determined to hold it until bedtime when she got a diaper.
* Tuesday evening was a repeat of the morning. I patiently confined all 3 of us to the bathroom and after the better part of an hour, Spice peed in the potty. Sugar was determined to hold it until bedtime when she got a diaper.
What didn't work:
* Changes to routine: I think Sugar was grumpy about sitting on the potty Tuesday morning because I hadn't given her the first cup of milk for the day. Normally it's wake up-cuddle-milk. When I switched it up to wake up-cuddle-no milk-potty, she was super-irritated and unwilling to humour me
* Flushing sounds and running the tap
What worked:
* A very attentive mommy. Catching those first trickles and helping them make the connection between the "gotta-go" feeling and sitting on the potty is the objective for now. This means when I sit in the hallway patiently waiting for the pee to come, no phone distractions.
* Sounds of the shower
* Understanding that this process can be very scary and emotional for the twins and being ready to address that. The way Mandy handled her daughter's emotions during the potty training process has always stuck with me since I read her post over a year ago. I confess that if I hadn't read that post, I may not have been so patient in handling Spice's fear of sitting on the potty. I've also had to deal with Sugar being extra clingy especially when she's trying to hold her pee in.
Notes on Potty Training and Parenting Style
I read and reviewed the Motherstyles book a while back and strongly recommend it for everyone. One thing about parenting in an over-informed era is that there are so many schools for everything.
I chose this slow, sequential style of potty training because that's what goes most with my personal style of doing things. With reading the Motherstyles book, I also learnt that I would need to work hard to "get" some of the emotional stages that kids will go through. That knowledge is what makes me follow moms like Mandy who have very obvious strengths when it come to understanding kiddie emotions. And believe me, potty training is a VERY emotional time for both the trainers and the trainee.
I'll like to take this moment to say thank you to all the fabulous Mom bloggers who keep it real on their blog and provide a learning resource for the rest of us.
To be continued next week? next month? Sometime!
