November 16, 2020 email from Sarah Morgan, one of two of Elliot’s preschool teachers:
Hey! Thought I would provide some info about our potty training attempt today before I forget.
Elliot was wonderfully willing for everything. Every time I asked him to sit on the potty he did so happily. A few times he said ‘potty’ so I took him potty.
He didn’t have a diaper on for the first few hours. He told me he didn’t want a diaper so I left it off. Then after his pee accident he agreed to wearing a diaper. As soon as he peed he told me about it.
Even while wearing a diaper, he would still tell me if he wanted to sit on the potty. He did this after nap..
I was originally doing a sticker for potty attempts and offering a (kosher, stale) marshmallow for successes. But he conned me into giving him pieces of marshmallow for attempts, haha.
In general we discourage against pull ups, but I feel it could be helpful for him. He’s so enthusiastic about sitting on the potty and diapers just make it more difficult (even Olivia has a hard time pulling down her diaper after nap to pee). I’m encouraged by how long he was able to stay dry, and his awareness of being wet.
He wasn’t in the bathroom while anyone went potty today. I think this may help in the future if he sees someone else using the potty.
When we are getting more serious about potty training, it is important that he have clothes he can manipulate on his own. This generally means no onesies and (preferred) pants with an elastic waist band. This will help him take responsibility and helps encourage independence in using the potty.
Overall, I feel like today was great for building confidence and getting Elliot used to our toilet at school. I’m so encouraged by his frequent speech and that he stays dry for hours.
My recommendation at this point would be to buy pull-ups the next time he needs diapers, so it’s convenient for us to put him on the potty at school when he requests it.
As always, let me know if you have any questions.
-Sam
Hi Sam,
Thank you for the detailed email! It is amazing to hear how interested he is in this… at home we have a toddler potty but he’s not too interested in it except just before taking his nightly bath.
I will make sure he has pull-ups and drawstring pants.
We appreciate very much your attention to Elliot. It is clear you love him and we couldn’t ask for anything more.
Thanks for the potty training! We will work on it at home, too.
Eric
And the next day from Sam/Sarah:
Potty training attempt: day two
1. He really likes using this with our big potty
I think he enjoys climbing up the steps (he kept saying today “one step, two step!”) and he also very much likes flushing. So I could totally see him being uninterested in a little plastic potty, especially if it doesn’t flush.
I truly feel at this point, he does not understand the mechanics of how to actually pee. I tried turning on the faucet and having him be in the potty while others use it to try and have them model the behavior for him. Today he would sit for just a second on the potty then tell me all done. I thought he was just trying to extort marshmallows from me, but then he was completely fine when I didn’t give him a marshmallow….
I love his enthusiasm for sitting on the potty, even when he doesn’t get a reward.
I’m not sure where to go from here. I’m very optimistic because he loves being on the potty. Also, he’s really been peeing only three times a day (at least while I’m at school, between when he arrives and 3}. This is awesome because he’s demonstrating bladder control. We’ve had other ‘potty trained’ kids that have to be put on the toilet every 30 minutes or they will pee in their pants. He generally wakes up from nap dry, which is awesome! He also tries really hard to push down/pull up his undies/pants.
Let me know how you’d like to proceed! Any time on baby connect you see potty attempts not very far apart, it’s because Elliot says ‘potty’ and wants to try. At this point I haven’t been verbally cueing him at all, it is totally him telling me “potty”. He’s been requesting no diaper in the morning so we’ve been leaving it off until his second accident (which is usually right before lunch/nap) then putting it on. He’s been doing so well with his speech and verbalizing what he needs.
We have less kids this week (tomorrow it’s just me and five kids) so I’m more than happy to put him on the potty when he asks.
Please let me know your thoughts and such!
-Sam
