Baby Girl was 9 months old when I first sat her on the toilet, but she didn’t take to it at all. So we left it a couple of months, then slowly alternated between the potty and the toilet. It was me who was ready to encourage the toilet, she was quite happy using the potty. There is only so long you can put up with emptying a potty before you have well and truly had enough.
We bought a Lupi Lu Toilet Seat for our Little Man when he started toilet training a couple of years ago and he still uses it at 5 and a half years old.
It is brilliant because:
- It’s a child and adult size seat connected by a hinge and both fit snuggly under the lid. So you basically choose the seat which fits you and pull it down into place.
- Our toilet it is fully equipped for the kids whilst the room remains clutter free. We don’t have any other contraptions needing to be added/removed and cleaned before each use.
- I also love the soft close function. Prevents children’s fingers from getting pinched.
With the Lupi Lu still in place we can begin to encourage Baby Girl to use the toilet straight away – the sooner the better. It’s coming up to 6 months of consistently cleaning out a potty and I’m over it.
The anticipated Toilet Walk
At just under 12 months old Baby Girl grabbed her Da’s hand and walked him to the toilet where she did both a wee and a poo. Later that day she walked me to the toilet as well – only another parent who is in the middle of toilet training a child will understand the true elation this created in our household.
So does that mean we’re done? She is going completely of her own accord so, does that mean I can say SHE is toilet trained, not just WE (the parents) are toilet trained?
I was looking forward to Baby Girl walking up to a potty and sitting down by herself (which she does now fully clothed just for a laugh) but looks like its not going to progress like that. The rest of the family uses the toilet and since she isn’t one to take quietly to missing out on anything – she wants to use the toilet too!
It took no time at all for Baby Girl to favour the toilet over the ‘Royal, Million Dollar’ Potty. We put her on the potty and she hops off with no result. I then walk her to the toilet and ‘presto’ we have success. I sit with her while she is on the toilet as it is quite high and I worry she will fall off. Also, she needs a distraction to keep her there long enough to relax.
I have resumed my previous position of sitting by the toilet numerous times a day reading a book. (Flash back to toilet training days with my Little Man.) Just as I was getting myself all frustrated and thinking of the millions of other things I could be doing instead of sitting around a toilet, I realise how valuable time is. Giving Baby Girl 10 minutes or so of my undivided attention, just like when she was a baby and I gave her the time during a nappy change, is invaluable.
So here I will continue to sit, this week teaching her how to recognise objects in the ABC picture book. We are doing great pointing exercises which I hope will build her vocabulary. Actually the time she sits on the toilet is the only time during the day Baby Girl completely stops and concentrates 100% on a book. Once I realised the value of my patience I quickly reversed my thinking, let go of my ‘chores list’ buzzing in my head and we enjoy story time. The importance of reading to your children is well known so, I will use this time productively.
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Hygiene Lessons
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