I need some help.
First: POTTY TRAINING
(Warning, lots of child-like potty language below)
Back in July, Eli started telling us when he had to go poopie. We'd put him on the toilet and wah-lah he'd go. We naively thought potty training would be a cake walk. We started ROUND 1 of potty training but he quickly became disinterested in the whole pee pee on the potty thing. He never got tired of going poopie and would consistently tell us when he had to go, but would cry and resist having to attempt a pee pee. So, we gave up and decided to give it a couple months (all the while he kept going poopie). We just decided to hit it hard again and ROUND 2 of potty training is in full swing. The whole pee peeing thing is going beautifully. Our little champ has only had a few accidents in the last week or so, stays dry during naps, and went to school in undies two days this week and stayed completely dry. There's just one kink. He's totally lost the whole poopie thing. Seriously, he has made poopies everywhere this week: in his pants, in the shower, on the floor, and (embarrasingly enough) on the ground at the park. It's like he doesn't know when it's coming anymore, and he totally doesn't care. IS HE REBELLING?? IS HE NOT READY?? IS THIS NORMAL?? HOW LONG UNTIL HE MASTERS BOTH? I NEED ADVICE AND SYMPATHY STORIES.
Next: I'M RUNNING OUT OF CREATIVE, ACTIVE, EDUCATIONAL MOMMY IDEAS
I can't believe I'm saying this but it's a good thing he goes to school 3 days a week because on the days he's home I'm tapped out of ideas to keep him entertained. Most of the time we don't have a car (because Zach takes it), so we have to stick around our flat. If the activity doesn't involve music, he has a hard time sitting for more than a few minutes (like he can give coloring about 45 seconds). We don't have any yard space so all outside ideas have to take place at the park which is a short walk away. SO, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE IF YOU HAVE ANY FUN IDEAS TO HELP ME, POST THEM IN THE COMMENT SPACE. Here are a few that we do already:
1. www.starfall.org - he loves the alphabet and music activities on this site
2. Making a bowling alley in the hallway with empty soda bottles and a rubber ball
3. Draping a large blanket over the dining room table and then "going camping" underneath it
4. Turning off all the lights, closing the blinds, and then reading books with a flashlight
5. Using an old egg carton and colored candies (m&m's, jelly beans, etc.) and putting all the same
color in each hole (sorting practice). Then playing a game like, "Eli, eat 2 yellows" (color
and counting practice).
6. Board games- Orchard Toys (www.orchardtoys.com) has really good educational games for
little kiddos.
7. Playing "I Spy" throughout the flat
8. Making things with playdough and cookie cutters
WHAT ACTIVITIES WORK FOR YOU AND YOUR KID(S)?
12 comments:
Hi there, Here are a few thoughts on your questions:
1. We had a reluctant pooper :-) Our pediatrician said to sit her on the potty right after a meal everyday, read a book, etc. and try to get a schedule to their poops. Also we used jelly beans and a pee got 1 jelly bean, but a poop got 2 jelly beans- really exciting when you're 2!
2. Activities for 2 year olds: 1. Try making homemade play doh. 2. Does he like to cook with you? 3. how about washing play dishes in the sink? 4. Gluing (and maybe cutting? if he can yet) anything onto paper 5. fill a bin with rice or beans and add cups, spoons, or other things to pour into. You can also add some of their toys to bury like treasure, etc. (a little messy, but it sweeps up) 6. when its warmer outside- give them a paint brush and a bucket of water to "paint" whatever they'd like
Hope those help a little!
-Sarah Humes
When Heather was potty training we rewarded pees and poos. A pee on the potty got an m&m and a poo on the potty got 2 m&m's...it seemed to work for us.
As far as the things to do inside...everything for me would be on the pc so I'm not sure if that's what you're looking for and I don't know of too much for that young of an age to keep his interest.
You are doing a FABULOUS job though Erica!!!
hey woman,
well, you know me and poops. i have lots of em, some end up in the toilet, but not all of em! topher was doing pretty great, but then he pooed in his undies at our friend's house. fortunately it was not juicy! we reward the crap out of poos! lily is getting better, but she still doesn't love to poo. if eli is relational like lils is, we tell her she has a baby poo in her belly that needs to go home to its mommy and daddy poos that are already deep in the toilet. sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt'. good luck good luck good luck!
we are big on walking around outside. lots more to look at outside than inside. we play quite a bit of hide and seek. maybe you can play 'memory', and even make your own cards- maybe with words, or family members' faces.
i don't know how you do what you, but you are so great erika! zach is a lucky man to have scored a great wife and an amazing mother for his kids.
yikes, erika! we are in the same boat...hope, i think, has been holding a #2 for two days in an attempt to avoid going on the pot. we'll see how this goes. in any case, she is super responsive to star charts (a la candy land) that end up with some reward (money for bank, ice cream dessert, go to zoo...); see facebook for photo. also, the book i was reading really stressed telling the trainer that so-and-so will be SO PROUD when they hear that eli went poop in the potty! hope was VERY responsive when i told her that elmo would be SO PROUD that she went in the potty; we even "called" him on the phone to tell him. (you can substitute any real/fake person's name) perhaps this could help???
as far as activities go...i still really like the crafty crow (google it, i can't remember the website). we run a lot of errands, read a lot of books, play and an occasional video. hope LOVES to paint and rummage through the spice drawer. sorry...i'm not so good in this area.
god's blessings on this adventure...pray for us too! :)
About the potty training...I feel your pain. Maya went through the same thing. At age 2, she was all excited about using the potty and was doing really well. Then, just lost interest and literally didn't care if she had poop in her pants for three hours (not that I ever left it in there for three hours!). After talking to several friends who had just potty trained, I figured that I just needed to let it happen (because almost all kids go back and forth) and it did. She got interested again and she is now using the potty all the time. We do reward with m&m's as well. We used to give her one every time she went, now she gets a reward at the end of the day if she is dry all day. Good luck!!
yay, thanks for the encouragement and some ideas!! Keep 'em coming!
Sarah - we washed plastic dishes in the sink tonight and it kept him busy for a LONG time!
Kim - thanks for the encouragement!! I'd love the PC ideas anyway even if he's too young for it now.
Jihae- I love your families' poo stories. Please take this as a compliment...when I'm having a bad day I can take comfort in the fact that you've been there and done that and you're still surviving and blogging about it :)
Rachel- just looked up the crafty crow and I think I'm hooked! Thanks for that tip! We miss you and Hope!!
Brooke -At what point did you switch to just 1 reward at the end of the day? When she was totally comfortable on potty? Oh, and I keep checking for that "bump" picture to show up on your blog :)
We switched to one reward a day when she was going in the potty ~75% of the time. That way she wasn't loaded with sugar and it made it more of a challenge to not have an accident. Also, she is in preschool as well and getting her teachers involved really helped (Miss Brandi will be so proud of you for pooping in the potty).
Yeah, I'm still not excited about putting up the bump picture, because it's not so much a bump as it is a watermelon! I'll do it soon, though.
1)Do NOT let the kid get constipated. A poo a day, wherever it happens, is better than no poos because he does not want to go on the pot. Constipation will just make the kid afraid of going, and a vicious cycle will start.
2)Variation of I Spy is 'Eli, go in your room and bring me back something yellow'
3)Hot and Cold. Hide something, he looks around, you give him clues.
4) Sort EVERYTHING. Playing cards, scrabble tiles, silverware.
5) Teach him any list-type knowledge you want him to have now; books of the Bible, 10 commandments, fruits of the spirit.
Liz K
Hi! I am of no help when it comes to potty training because Ben could not be forced, but eventually finally figured it out. He was three and a half and my pediatrician said that was totally normal. It will happen for Eli...don't stress and don't feel the need to rush. :)
Activities wise...do you have an old digital camera or can you buy a cheap one? We have had lots of fun doing photo scavenger hunts. Eli might still be a little young, but maybe not. I will make a list of a bunch of items (inside or out) and he takes the camera around and photographs them when he finds them. We usually print of the pictures on the printer and make a collage or something. You could make it more educational by making him photograph something red, or three rocks...basically involving colors, numbers, letters, etc. It's lots of fun. I usually play along with him...so this might not be a good game to distract him with (if you were tyring to get something done)...but he'd have fun! :)
Here are some ideas from Mom (and me). :)
:: A large box (refrigerator size) could become a store, hidaway, boat, train, and the ideas are limitless. Around here I think you can get them from Lowes for free--not sure if that's anything that's available there or not. We had one for a while until it fell totally apart and the kids loved it. We cut windows and a door and then colored shutters around the window, flowers on the outside, colored inside on the floor (which was the side of the box), taped pictures on the wall, etc.
:: Don’t just use regular crayons - have fun by melting some together in muffin tins! (It's a great way to use up all of those little broken pieces.) Just peel them and put all of the pieces down in a muffin tin (either greased or with muffin papers to make them easier to get out) and bake them at a low temperature until melted. Use these to draw on very large paper—even with writing on it would be okay (newspaper) just to doodle--the bigger the better! Then there are no edges to limit creativity!
:: Timer activities—when the buzzer buzzes we have to run around the table with one arm behind our backs, then when it buzzes again we have to lie down and put one leg in the air, and on and on until we lie down to read and rest. (Mom's appreciate THAT time! lol)
:: Little boys appreciate movement more than stillness but they need both. However, they usually need a food bribe to make the still times enjoyable! :) Not tons of food at a time but just those super treats like m&m's, raisins, or something like that.
:: Spencer always had fun with rice and dump trucks with a box or cookie sheet to dump it in. He also loved hammering nails in a old wall, but maybe you don't want to start that!! lol
:: Another idea that Jodi's kids enjoy when Jodi is desperate (haha) is watching the "Kipper the Dog" episodes on YouTube. They recently took most of them off (?) but I think there's still three on there. They also like watching the "Brentwood Kids" singing videos on YouTube.
We also have recipies for homemade playdough (made out of flour so if they eat it it's no big deal) and a thing called "Oobleck" that's fun, so if you want those I can post them too.
Morgan and Mom :)
Hi there, Kim R sent me over to give some of my 2 c's (for whatever that's worth!!).
Pls accept my apology if any of this has been mentioned as I haven't read thru the comments. Here goes...
I had a shy pooper. She hated hated hated pooping in the pot. She'd go squat in her pull up...or hold it for hours 'til the nap time pull up (to be able tp poop in it).
We did "poopy prizes". We had a basket that was always filled to the rim of tacky, cheap, dollar store goods. You know, junk that 2 yr olds love.
Ea time she'd poo, she'd pick a prize. It was successful enough that she'd sometimes squeeze one out 2-3 times a day, to score more junk.
Okay, as far as things to do while you're trapped indoors...
-get a fairly shallow tub (like an under-the-ground rubbermaid tub). that thing will bring hours of entertainment... fill it w/ beans (watch for him sticking them in his nose or other crevaces!). Trucks, cars, & measuring cups.
we fill ours w/ snow when it's too cold to play outside in it. sometimes w/ warm water (& rubber ducks, etc.). And rice. You could do sand too (hide "jewels" & other things in it).
-fill baggies w/ cheap hair gel, bottles w/ oil/water/glitter, any clear containers w/ anything he can shake & watch.
-make a band... beans in jar/bottles, etc., rubberbands on boxes, you name it. then strike up the band.
-throw a blanket on the coffee table (or a kids table, or any low surface). have it be a cave, or a dark place to look at books w/ a flashlite.
-open-ended art... i don't know how you feel about messy art, but i keep a tub full of tissue paper, styrofoam, bubble wrap...and let the kids go crazy w/ paint, tape, marker, etc.
-shaving cream- let him paint the shvg crm, write his name in it...or squirt it in a pan & hide everything flat you can think of.
-go on a 'color hunt'. make a "red" bag (ahead of time, plant red stuff in a room) & go searching for the items to add to the bag. you can also do a 'square hunt', 'round hunt', etc.
I have other ideas, but have to run. Good luck & GOd bless!!
Amy
Wow, I'm loving all these ideas!! I should ask for feedback more often!
Liz, I was hoping you'd weigh in since I know you too have dealt with (are dealing with) an active little boy! Thanks!
Ali, Eli totally loves digital cameras and always wants to snap pics (with help of course) so I think this could work for him. By the way congrats on baby Moser #3!!
Morgan and Aunt Jane, love the crayon and buzzer activity ideas. And I wasn't familiar with "Brentwood kids" so I pulled it up and Eli was mezmorized!
Amy, thanks for stopping in. I think the basket of poopy prizes might just work! He's so over the same old same old potty treats I've been giving him. And I love your ideas...cheap and creative!
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