Things that might discourage you

After having written my last post I thought I must add some things that might discourage an infant potty trainer. I know I write almost every time that
I am about to give up. I know I never would, just because I have already come so far. here follows a list of what can discourage you.
- The moment I feel overwhelmed and ready to quit I realize I have become too tensed about the whole thing.
- I often fear that she would stop signalling at all.
- When I am tired, because I still wake up twice to feed, and one more time to calm my fearful toddler.
- My case is unique in that I have no one to show me how it is done, so I often make mistakes. I never thought of getting the book, but I would definitely recommend it to someone who is considering potty training her baby.
- When my weeks get too busy and Leviah has to be in a nappy most of the time. Then I conscientiously try to do less and stay at home more often.

So, when you get discourage, know that it happens and that a successful period is just around the corner.

Four months

I have had so much success this week. I am so blessed. Like I said I was just about to give it all up because of fatigue when my husband, my personal cheerleader, gave me some encouragement. My husband encouraged me by saying that things can only get easier each month as they learn to communicate more. Ever since it is as though something has just clicked between me and Leviah. She signals very clearly. It is also nice that her wees are becoming less frequent. She has now upgraded to the toilet. It is just easier for me, because then I don't have to clean the potty.
Something I have noticed is that just as with breastfeeding, Leviah gets very distracted. I know she would want to wee or pooh, but she gets distracted by her surroundings and by her brother, so weeing takes much longer.
I was thinking maybe one day I will regret having invested so much energy into this, but I am actually sure I won't. It is fun and exciting, I have learned to look at my baby in a completely different way. The fact that she communicates makes her so much more of an intelligent being in my eyes. We must not underestimate our babies abilities and what they can understand.
having said all this, and having been so distracted by typing, Leviah has just weed on my lap:) The joys of infant potty training!

Week 16

I have relaxed a lot with the potty training and I think that this is the most important key to success. I am trying to make it something I enjoy, rather than something which I need to get right otherwise... I am still trying, but if I have days where I can't take her, I make peace with it. Sometimes she will show clearly. Other times she does not show at all. Then I figure it is not my fault if I miss her. I am using less than a pack of 58 disposables a month with the help of cotton nappies. I get 99% of her poohs and about 50% of her wees. I think that is still better than just having them in disposables.
I am feeling quite tired at this stage and I even felt like I want to drop the whole thing, but God is gracious to me and gives me more success when I feel like this which encourages me again.

Things I have observed:
-Leviah has changed her way of showing again. She now talks while she wees as if she is letting it all out. It is very cute. She can also kick vividly, especially if she is lying down to sleep or to feed. Do not let this discourage you. I think it is amazing that one can be so in tuned with your babies communication and its changes.
-she can sometimes hold wee only after an hour after she has fed. this for me is good news, because it means going less to the potty. It would be good to remember that one will not always have to go every twenty minutes.

A Dry Nappy!

Leviah drank last night at 8pm for the last time and again this morning at 4am. She woke up at half past 5 to make a wee and I saw that her nappy was dry!!!!!! She had gone a whole night without weeing! I am not writing this to brag. Just to encourage you that at 3 and a half months you will already be seeing some fruit for your labour. I know this will not be the norm yet, but imagine if you can save a nappy which you would have been using at night time as well. I call that economical!

Something to keep in mind

In one article I read that the lady would put her baby on the potty even if she had missed a wee, because she wanted to create the habit of going on the potty. I think this is an important thing to keep in mind. We want to get our babies used to going in a toilet and that is our long term goal. This is more important, I think, than catching every wee.
I also think it is good to have one or two spots that one places the potties and go there every time. I have not done this and I think it has confused little Leviah. Also I have spilt the contents of the potty numerous times to my absolute dismay. Imagine mustard coloured pooh all over the beige carpet! Spare yourself the effort and the stress. I know that this will be something we will laugh about at her 21st party:)

Leviah on the potty

Here we are. I enjoy joking with Leviah while we wait for her wee. I also sing to her and talk to her. I think it is important that it is a fun process for her as well.

Week 14

Since I have been relaxing more about the whole process, I have had so much more success. I have come to understand that this is really a long term process and I need patience as well as a vision. What I have noticed is that she can hold her wees much longer. It would still be round about half an hour after she has drunk, but if she goes to bed then, she would be able to sleep for an hour. This speaks to me of some element of bladder control. She almost waits for me to take her. The moment she starts to talk discontentedly, I know it is time to go. What I have also noticed is that it takes her much longer to release her wee. Whereas in the beginning she would go immediately, now I sometimes have to wait up to two minutes. Just before she weed she would also get upset and I thought she was frustrated because I took her at the wrong time, but in actual fact it is just part of her signaling.
Now I enjoy the whole process again and it is not burdensome. I have realized that if I do not over-emphasize the whole process then she signals more clearly. The moment I get too obsessed she gets frustrated and we miss each other all the time.
You must know that you will have days when you'll feel like you didn't catch anything. I had one of those today. I find that this happens when I have had to go out for a morning to the mall. But I do not let it get to me, because tomorrow is another day and I need to go to the mall sometimes. Life must go on.
As for her bowel movements, they are about one a day and I usually get them. It is either just when she wakes up in the morning or somewhere in the afternoon, but I have found that this differs from baby to baby. My son had at least three bowel movements everyday. I think it depends on the mother's diet and the baby's metabolism. The joy of this whole process is that you have no pooey nappies (only once in a while) and no leaking nappies, so you don't have to change clothes all the time.
I still use disposables at night and maybe one during the day.