My mother who is a babysitter would train babies who are even younger than 1 year old to urine when coaxed. She would especially try in the morning, just after the babies wake up. She said that there is not too young an age to train them. Though, its still a far step to get them to independently potty train before the age of two.
Somehow, I did not remember to do this as a parent, probably due to the busy workload that occupy this daddy's mind. Whenever I am home with Haruka, I would instead take pleasure to play with Haruka, speak with her and try to bath her each day. Then, when she was close to 16 months, a thought suddenly came to mind to test Haruka's ability to potty train, as I spend money on 7 disposable diapers a day for hygiene purpose.
First, I tried to evaluate her understanding of the meaning of urine. Haruka understood! I said Shi (urine) and Haruka repeated after me. She must have heard mummy asked her if she has Shi on her diaper. Then, I asked her to Shi on the small pail, and she refused.
The ne
xt few days we went hunting for a potty and we bought a simple yet pleasant looking potty. It has a flower picture on it. Haruka already knew flower is hana in Japanese. Just before bath time, we evaluated the potty together and I told her to look at the hana. She was excited. Then, I said sit on the hana. She did. I said Shi on the hana. She knew I was up to my tricks again, so she stood up. I encouraged her to see the hana. She cried. But, that was progress! She understood the concept.
xt few days we went hunting for a potty and we bought a simple yet pleasant looking potty. It has a flower picture on it. Haruka already knew flower is hana in Japanese. Just before bath time, we evaluated the potty together and I told her to look at the hana. She was excited. Then, I said sit on the hana. She did. I said Shi on the hana. She knew I was up to my tricks again, so she stood up. I encouraged her to see the hana. She cried. But, that was progress! She understood the concept.
The next day before bath, exactly when she was 16 months old, somehow she was in a good mood. She followed my instruction to "Shi on the hana". She sat for 5 minutes and stood up and there was a few drops of urine on the potty. I clapped and praised her and asked mummy to join in the celebration of the discovery before we took our bath. She was happy. She knew she could do it.
The subsequent days however were not so hopeful. She does not Shi everytime we asked her. Sometimes, she listened because she loved her daddy bath time. Most of the time, she simply refused. But, there was success at least once every 2 days, and even when mummy asked her during the morning, she complied. We thought we had succeeded.
Somehow, we got busy in our travelling and in my work. We did not remind her everyday. She got comfortable in her diapers. That's the evil inherent in comfort and convenience. Haruka did not feel the need to urine on the potty because she did not feel the wetness. The third world countries that do not use diapers make children want to avoid wetting themselves compared to diaper wearing countries. I joke with Haruka that it's smelly, and she understands. But, she thinks it's just a joke adults make. There is yet a paradigm shift that it is preferable to urine on the potty or toilet than in her diapers. She has not adopted this new lifestyle.
Unfortunately, this tip requires a sequel. Haruka is smarter by the day to resist my instruction. She only does what she feels right and what she likes to do. Yet, daddy is going to coax mummy tomorrow to have Haruka wear pants without diapers on weekends when we are not busy. Haruka by now knows daddy and mummy Shi at the toilet when she is left alone to play. She understands that she is growing bigger. The question is whether she would take that step of inconvenience to urine at the potty or toilet. Also, the question of when I would be saving that journey to the shop to buy 2 packs of 52 diapers every 3 weeks.
So, when was the first time your child urined on a potty? Andmost importantly, when did you finally had a smile at your wallet that you are rid of diapers? Please leave a comment to console me.
(Photos show more of Palace of Versailles and the Gardens of Versailles. We did spend €13.50 per person to view the palace which is money well spent despite my initial hesitation, but because we went on the first Saturday of the month, we saved an extra €10 otherwise needed for the gardens and for Petit Trianon. Since we are on the subject of potty, do you know that these large gardens were potties for the elite. Actually not potties, but the very concept of diapers as mentioned above. In an age without toilets, the elite would find it a luxury to enjoy the scenery with good company, while politely and inconspicuously mind their business under their large garments. I kid you not.)
Check out another blog I write: http://lifenewcreation.blogspot.sg to find about building taking charge of your health and pursuing longer life span.
Check out another blog I write: http://lifenewcreation.blogspot.sg to find about building taking charge of your health and pursuing longer life span.
4 comments :
Philip, u r right. I remembered ur mum was very good in toilet training babies...
O, Haruka is so cute... n she's a smart lil girl. Very clever in her understanding..
I remembered I was quite concerned abt my children, yet they jus did the right thing with the appropriate age. So I reckoned Haruka too will be trained soon....
Hi. This is Sukye. You left a comment on my Multiply post. Thank you for your advice.
First of all I have to compliment you for being such an involved dad.
It doesn't sound like your daughter wad potty trained at 16 months. Not by my definition anyway. To me, to be potty trained means she is able to go to the toilet when she needs to, or at least able to let you know she needs to go. I'm sorry but I do not agree with your mum to potty train a baby at such young age. There's no point becos they can't communicate and most importantly can't hold their bladder. The sooner you start training the longer it will take.
By 13 months old (if my memory serves me right) my son can already communicate that he needed to poo, but not when he needed to pee. I think he was just physically not able to control his bladder at that age. I only started toilet training him (the pee part) after his 2nd birthday and it took only 2 weeks and he was completely out of diaper during the day. Now my mission is nite time training and I'm having a bit of difficulty here becos he won't simply wake up when he needs to go even if he's already wet. He's 3.5 years old now.
So how old is your daughter now and does she stay dry throughout the night? I guess like my doctor cousin said, bed wetting is hereditary as I myself visit the toilet at least 4 times throughout the nite. If it doesn't work in a week's time I think I'm going to put him back in diapers. There's no point letting him wet the bed every nite and having to change the sheets.
Oh by the way, please leave your reply at my Multiply page becos I won't be checking here and there's no notification. Thanks!
Aunt Molly, thanks for your well wishes. I guess I am just an impatient dad, not so much worried.
Thanks Sukye for your comments. I do believe in celebrating small succcesses so the journey will be filled with many achievable milestones. Though, I did not define well in my short blog post.
I believe my mum is right that there is never too young an age to train the babies. For less than 1 year old babies, they definitely would not sit on a potty by themselves. They cannot speak as well. So, my mum would hold them up in front of the sink or toilet bowl when they wake up in the morning. Then, she would make a sound for peeing such as Shi, Shi. Even for babies less than 6 months would sometimes respond. Sometimes, it is a matter of timing that the baby happen to want to urinate then. But, when the baby does urinate, my mum would praise the baby and clap hands. So the baby understands that it is a good and praiseworthy behavior and is associated with the Shi sound.
Next, any age below 2 years old, a potty can be bought. There is no harm to start earlier with little results. Again, the goal is to communicate that it is a desirable activity to pee by themselves. Even if the baby does not tell that the baby wants to urine or shit, if they do it whenever they are given the potty in the morning, its one step closer.
Controlling the bladder takes practice and you are right that babies closer to 2 years do it better. But, if we encourage and remind them, they would put a little more effort earlier and can possibly excel at it sooner.
Haruka is still under 2 years old. She understands well the concept of potty. She also knows we want her to tell us whenever she wants to use the potty. But as the diaper is too comfortable, she does not feel anything even when she pees. So, that makes her complacent. I am in the midst of speaking to my wife to let Haruka wear pants without diaper during the day to encourage Haruka to go to the potty.
I am also spending more time to talk to Haruka. Reasoning to the child helps. They may not be able to overcome bedwetting but at least they know that adults do not bed wet.
For instance, I tell Haruka that she is becoming a big girl now. I also tell her other babies do not wet themselves. She listens. Sometimmes, she says No when I ask her to use the potty. But she listens as she knows she is becoming a big girl. She knows that big girl need to behave better. When she behaves well, she knows daddy and mummy will be happy. It is enough that communication takes place. As my Aunt Molly said, at the appropriate age, they will do the right thing as they already know what is right.
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