Lest I get ahead of myself let’s regroup and see where we are with L and the potty. Every morning he sits on his baby potty and he tries to go #2. Most of the time (probably about 65% of the time) he is successful and goes #1 as well. Because he is often “reading” a book while he does it he no longer stresses out while trying to go potty. Having dirty diapers has become a rarity for us because of his new pattern, but I have noticed him going through another change, so I bring this one to you, dear reader, to help me interpret.
Not long ago, L used to soak through his overnight superthick diapers and created leaks on the bed, but no so much anymore. Instead, he often wakes up in the morning with a not quite full diaper and is able to go #1 in the morning. Suddenly he occasionally heads to his potty himself and wants to go; he definitely still has a lot of wet diapers, but after waking him from naps, etc. they are not as wet as I expect, and he is stil eating and drinking well.
Are these all signs that he might be preparing to potty train?
It certainly feels this way, but in my zeal to wean from diapers (as much as I love me my cloth) I don’t want to create undue stresses in this little one’s life. As a pediatrician we are trained to allow toddlers to transition to the potty for themselves. By doing a little “EC” I believe my own efforts have helped push L along a little, and I’ve read the wonder stories of children being toilet trained by 15 months . . but I never quite expected this to happen in my little child who shows no signs of wanting to wean from babyhood in other respects.
Any EC-ers or otherwise out there who are seeing their children make slow attempts to use the toilet more and how do I best facilitate this for the little one? For now I just take him to the potty as much as I can and allow him to go when he does, but is there anything else I need to do? Any accessories needed or things I should make sure to do – or not to do? Occasionally he is very fussy and upset – I think this is because he is also finishing up his teething and boy do those canines cause some pain – but could his upset outbursts be happening because of frustration of wanting to go to the bathroom outside of a diaper? I would appreciate your guidance and wisdom!