Monday, June 23, 2008

Can Someone Please Explain....

Can someone please explain why children are so drawn to toilets?!? When I first got pregnant 4 years ago I remember walking around in a daze at my local Babies R Us Store trying to determine what I was going to be needing on this journey of motherhood. Registering for gifts was a group effort with my husband, brother, brother's girlfriend at the time (now wife), and my sister-in-law (husband's sister) all pointing to different items and saying "Here scan this." When I went to review the registry I had registered for 45 receiving blankets but no bottles? But I digress...it was during the many trips to the baby superstore that I remember looking at all the safety gadgets and seeing the toilet lid lock. I remember reading about the toilet lid locks as a safety measure to prevent top heavy toddlers from toppling into the tank and drowing in those 5 inches of water but I also remember commenting to my husband "now why do you need a lock for your toilet lid shouldn't you be able to keep your kid from toppling into the toilet?" I didn't buy it then but 4 years later I'm thinking I may need to!

My 14 month old is obsessed with the bathroom and the toilet in particular. The toilet for her is her own personal splash fountain! No matter where we are in the house she makes a beeline for the bathroom and the toilet and if the toilet lid is down then she turns to the next fun activity which is unrolling the toilet paper! My 3 year old never had this fascination with toilets before until we started potty training so of course he can actually lift the toilet lid and he has become his sister's enabler in toilet tank play! They have already stopped up 3 toilets by shoving the entire roll of paper into said toilet. I can tell him till I'm blue in the face to not play with the toilet/toilet water/flushing button/ toilet paper and it all just doesn't even make it in his one ear to go out the other. So the only remedy I have found is to keep the doors to the bathroom closed and dispense toilet paper by the sheet! (Hmmm maybe I should install a toilet paper dispenser and make guests pay?) So if you come to my house bring your quarters in order to go to the bathroom b/c I'm rationing the TP!

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Be Careful What You Wish For....

Ok so I have been on the potty training express since my son turned 2 last year. With the help of his daycare we started him on pull-ups and then just transitioned to big boy underwear right around June of 2007 figuring its summer and isn't that the best time to potty train b/c they can run around in their bathing suits/underwear all day long and who cares if they pee in the bushes?!?! Well by August I was able to declare victory in the peeing department. Finally 8 months later we are FULLY AND COMPLETLEY potty trained...Yes folks it took 8 long months to get Mauricio to poop on the potty. And believe me it wasn't for lack of trying because I tried everything in the book; stickers, reward charts, candy, bribes, toys, books, puzzles, the potty in front of the tv, bubbles, everything. I devoured potty training articles like I devour chocolate! I visited every conceivable internet site for advice and what did I find NOTHING!!! Oh sure there is plenty of advice out there for getting them to pee but nothing really on the poop side. The only piece of advice I heard and read over and over was don't push him until he's ready.

Well after enduring 4 months were my little stinker would ask for his pull-up so that he could poop and then go stand in a corner do his business, declare that he was finished and could we give him his bath I finally had enough! I took an old pull-ups box from my parents house, and filled it with the remaining pull-ups and made a big huge deal about throwing the box away and showing him the remaining stack of pull-ups. Then I made an even bigger deal on how the stack was dwindling and once the pull-ups were gone that's it they were gone. Finally we used the last pull-up or so I thought. Like an addict my son had a secret stash?!?! I found his stash which was in his overnight grandma bag and got rid of those....and waited. The whole weekend went by and nothing. Monday morning he tells me his tummy hurts and I tell him its because he hasn't gone to the bathroom and he needs to go poop. Well he sits on the toilet counts to 5 and then declares "my tummy doesn't hurt anymore, I don't have to poop." Ok buddy off to daycare for you. I pick him up from daycare and again we have a tummy ache and he sits and nothing so I tell him we need to go get medicine....We go to the nearest drugstore and I give him a Pedia-lax and one hour later after many trips to the potty, more tears than I care to remember on by him and by me and unsolicited advice...SUCCESS!!

The next few days were rough because going to the bathroom was a huge ordeal. My aunt gave me the best advice and said to give him a teaspoon of mineral oil daily. So now we are totally in control and free to use the potty....BUT NOW WE WANT COMPANY EVERYTIME WE GO!!! I went from a child who refused to sit on the toilet to one that is pooping more than a pigeon! So therefore I no longer wish for Marcela to start walking....because then I will never be able to sit down!!