The time has come. That moment we've been wondering about since our children were born: when will I stop changing diapers all day? When they turn two, this question becomes more prominent, and anxiety grows rapidly. We see the little friend from the park without diapers, the cousin, the schoolmate, reading an article in a magazine, and so on. The first thing to do is to talk to the pediatrician. It's in them that we trust, and so it's an opinion that should be taken into account, just like in many other moments of doubt we have about the development of our little ones. It's no use wandering around like headless chickens asking one person and another how they potty trained their children because we'll hear all sorts of things, and our heads will get tangled up. A mistake I made, of course. From the pediatrician, I heard: "The most important thing is to stay calm, respect the child's time, and observe the necessary maturity for potty training. They will start asking to go to the bathroom or begin to be bothered by the dirty diaper."
Well, this never happened with Pedro. Clean or full of pee, it was all the same to him. Ask to go to the bathroom? Never in his life. Even if I put the entire Mickey Mouse crew there, live and in color, he wouldn't go. Before giving up entirely, I still thought: - Could it be the shocking pink toilet seat I bought that traumatized him? I ended up relaxing. I understood that it wasn't the right time. It wasn't the fault of the vibrant color or mine. About six months later, or better, these days, a note came from school to start potty training. Just as I was, I grabbed the car and went to the mall to buy underwear. The time has come! In the meeting with the educational psychologist, the first question was: - Are you ready, Mom? Thought response: - Well, it depends, I'm prepared to stop changing diapers. To see my living room rug become a potty, no, not at all. But with a positive mindset and a strong desire for everything to be as smooth as possible for my son and all of us, I followed every piece of advice I received that day.
From tomorrow morning on, stop using diapers. Talk to your child beforehand and tell him that now he is a big boy and can pee and poop in the toilet.
Don't put on a diaper for any occasion, only to sleep at night. Talk to him beforehand to avoid confusion in his little head. If he doesn't want to put it on at all, wait until he falls asleep and put it on, but when he wakes up, explain why he slept in a diaper.
Ask if he wants to go to the bathroom every time you remember. But not too many times, and don't insist that he go if he doesn't want to at that moment. He may and probably will end up doing it in his pants, but he will soon understand that staying wet is not pleasant and will listen to you the next time.
Whenever it leaks into his underwear, don't blame or scold him. Always talk to the pee and not to him. For example: - Oh, your pee, it ended up outside of your house, but it's okay, next time it will be different.
Celebrate and give affection every time he gets it right and does his business in the toilet. Together, say bye and flush.
Establish the routine of washing his hands after every bathroom visit.
During this period, let him wear only flip-flops or easy-to-wash sandals. No sneakers or closed shoes.
To line the car seat and avoid having to clean it every time something spills, put those big dog diapers under him.
After a few pees on the comforter, the rug, the lap, the mall, and underwear so dirty with poop that it went straight into the trash, everything worked out. In 10 days, my little baby truly became a boy who now asks me to go to the bathroom and knows how to hold his needs well outside of the house. It's at these times that we realize how fast they grow. It seems like yesterday that I learned to change my first diaper. But let's move forward because there's still a lot of pee to say goodbye to!
This chronicle was published on the Pais&Filhos magazine website in April 2012.
Comments