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January 27, 2012

Training

Ah, isn't that a lovely word.  Right now, my son is in the middle of some training.  We began potty training after Christmastime, I have been attempting to sleep-train since the moment he entered the world; he is getting so good at throwing trash in the trashcan or putting his dirty clothes into the hamper.

The potty-training, or attempt at potty-training, started about a month ago, and I can say that my son has yet to pee or poop in the potty we got him.  He knows what the potty is for, what goes in the potty, and he has even successfully demonstrated how to sit on the potty.  But, he has not actually used it for its purpose.  I know that it can take boys longer to become potty-trained or to really even get the concept down.  But, my boy is smart, and he is a quick learner, but this activity is just not of interest to him whatsoever.  Last night, when I was getting his bath ready, he had his diaper off, and when I went to pick him up and place him in the bathroom, there was a little puddle of pee where his feet were.  The potty was not 10 inches from him at the time!  It can be frustrating, and even more so, because within this past month after introducing it to him, he has not gone in the potty yet.  How can I prevent my son from continually peeing on my bathroom rug and into his potty chair sitting RIGHT there!?  Maybe I am just not trying hard enough.  I seem to get wrapped up in whatever I am doing at home, amd I forget to take him upstairs to sit on the potty...on the hour, every hour... I hear you need a good, solid four days at home (not going anywhere...can you imagine being cooped up in the house for FOUR straight days?!) to be able to get potty-training through your toddler's head.  I don't exactly have four days laying around where I can just sit in the bathroom and wait for my son to make some kind of progress.  I do know that it has to happen eventually though.  I think this weekend, I am going to make a serious effort in taking him into the bathroom and sitting him down on that magical, little throne until something happens.  Do I encourage him with big applause and praise when he finally does it?  Or do I act like it is an everyday thing and so not a  big deal?  I have honestly been told both.  I am one to give praise to my child, so I suppose when that moment finally does happen, I'll be whipping out my camera, snapping pictures, and posting them on FacebookYep, I am that mom.

Since my son reached three months of age, I moved him into his own room and into his crib.  It was a little rocky at first, like many new things to a child can be.  But, eventually he was sleeping very well, and that meant that I was too.  For months and months after the move, he would sleep through the night, getting about 13 to 14 hours of sleep.  Save your oohs and ahhs.  It has changed.  As mentioned in my first post, we recently converted his crib to a toddler bed.  The past two weeks have not been enjoyable on the sleep front.  He wakes up two to three times a night now, and he does not want to go back to sleep.  Last night, I finally got a decent amount of sleep, but only because I went to bed a little earlier.  How long is this supposed to last?  Am I just supposed to get used to the fact that every morning when I walk into work, I look and feel like some mommy-zombie?  It's rough; those newborn days are supposed to be in the past.  I have decided that no matter what, I can't revert back to him sleeping in a baby crib.  He's getting too old for a crib; he has to get used to his toddler bed, and he has GOT to start sleeping through the night again in his own bed.  It's kind of like a never-ending cycle.  When we was a newborn, he slept in our room (in his pack-n-play) and woke up two to three times every night.  And now we are back to that.  Eventually, he moved to his room and adjusted quite well.  I should probably give him a little slack, because children don't take too kindly to change.  I need to just give him some time, like I did back then, to allow him to become comfortable sleeping in his toddler bed.  I expect he will be back to his long slumbering nights soon enough, and I will be back to having a little more me-time at night. :)

For a couple of months now, my husband and I have taught our son (and I think I can give a little credit to his amazing daycare) to clean up after himself.  After seeing us clean up and throw away trash, he has gotten the hang of it.  He throws away papers that I do not need anymore and the wrappers of whatever snack he just devoured.  He even makes it a point to throw away his own diaper after changing.  What more could I ask for?  After I change his clothes or finish drying him off after a bath, he runs to the pile of dirty clothes on the floor and hurls them into his hamper.  I am training him early, and he already has it down pat.  It makes me one proud mama.  Something that he may not master for a couple of years is sweeping and wiping up liquid spills.  He loves to pretend to sweep with the broom after I clean up the goldfish or animal crackers thrown on the floor.  He uses tissues, paper towels, and used dryer sheets to try and clean up "messes."  It is too cute to watch, and I honestly cannot believe how much he does at such a young age.

Speaking of how much he does...I have not yet been able to teach him NOT to throw food on the floor.  During every single meal of every single day, half of his food winds up on the floor or under the couch or on the ottoman. This is driving me nuts!  I tell him no; I smack his hand; I take away his food, but nothing seems to be working.  He still does it.  He did last night, yesterday morning, last week, two months ago.  It has been going on for a while, and I am just stumped on how to get him to stop.  This must be something that they are not covering at school.  I have to give the daycare credit though, because he has learned so many things there.  He came home one day from school, picked up a pen, and he held it correctly -- the proper way to hold a pen!  I just could not believe my eyes.  They do lots of arts and crafts there as well, and it makes me happy to see that my toddler is doing so many great and creative things.  It can be hard, working full-time and not being able to spend every moment with my child during the day, teaching him and singing to him.  But, I am happy to know that they are teaching him something, and he comes home happy.  They challenge him there, and they have even taught him some sign language.  They are able to kind of fill in the blanks and teach him things that I have either not thought of, or have not had much success with. 

My son amazes me every day.  He absorbs so much, and I know that using the potty successfully is on the horizon.  I also know that he will eventually go back to sleeping through the night in his room, and I know that as a mother, I have to have some patience with him. 
Pretty soon, he won't need me to teach him much else.

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