It's actually going well. I'm not ready to declare victory yet, but I'm happy with the progress. We tried 3 Day Potty Training and it didn't work super well for us. We started on Friday afternoon and I was ready to quit by Saturday. DH convinced me to stick with it for the full 3 days. We did and by Sunday she was doing much better. On Monday we had a diaper on her for a few hours because my parents were watching her and I didn't want them to have to deal with it. She kept the diaper dry and when we got home DH took her to the bathroom and the diaper was dry and she peed on the toilet. She still several accidents that day and I was torn because I didn't feel like she was getting it, but I was afraid that if we quit, we would have to repeat the hell of Friday and Saturday when we tried again. I decided to wait until at least Tuesday so I could talk to her OT about it. Her OT was very encouraging and said that if she could stay dry overnight (we'd put a bedwetting alarm on her the previous night and it didn't go off until 8:30 a.m.) we could definitely habit train her. She also said that if she can recognize hunger, she can probably to learn to recognize what it feels like when she has to go. After that we decided that we would keep her in panties when we were home, but put a diaper on her when we needed (or wanted) to go out. It really helped a lot to know we weren't prisoners in our own home. By Wednesday we caved and started putting a diaper on her at night because changing the sheets so often got old fast. That day we had been gone most of the day, so I was really afraid she would regress.
Thursday and Friday were pretty good days and yesterday she stayed dry ALL DAY! Today I took her to church in panties. That was the first time in 6.5 years! She had one poop accident today, but she's been dry otherwise. She goes to bed in just over an hour.
My main goal is to get her to a point where we can send her to school without diapers. I think we're almost there and we have two more weeks before school starts. The next thing we're going to try to tackle is the poop. She has chronic mild constipation. The ped prescribed a stool softener for her a while back, but we haven't tried giving it to her yet. She poops fairly regularly, but (TMI) it's small hard lumps. Today before her accident I could tell she had to go and put her on the toilet a couple of times. I think she would have gone if it wasn't so hard for her. Assuming the stool softener works and she starts pooping on the toilet, we'll start working on her telling us when she has to go. Once she's doing well during the day for a while we'll start working on overnight.
I'm really pleased with her progress so far. When we started this I expected to fail, but I was wrong. Even though the 3 day method wasn't the best method for us, it got us off to a good start. We're so proud of her!
For some reason, Anna was up to peeing on the potty as much as 60% of the time when we put her on, and now she hasn't peed on the potty in 4 days :-( She happily goes upstairs to her potty, even saying "pee" or "potty", lets me put her on, and sits there for less than a minute, then says "no" and climbs off.
It's great to hear of your success so far, and I hope to be able to share some good news from our end soon, too.
That's great news! When one of my girls was little (actually up until 4th grade) I bought this pad that went over her bedsheets and tucked under on the sides and it was waterproof but also "held" liquid (potty) so when she went at night, we just took that off and sheets stayed dry. It is washable. It really helped in keeping us on track with the training and also so much less work after accidents. It helped her feel better too. I forget where we got it. I will search and get back to you.
Katy Blessed mom of 6 girls, youngest Sarah born May '07 with hypotonia, vertical nystagmus, developmental delays
Yes, please share where you got the pad for the bed if you figure it out. Someday we will need that!
Garrett turned 4 last month, and I have had him pee on the potty a couple of times per day some days, but then he will go a week or more without wanting to when I have him go potty...such an unknown for me...how will I know he is ready?? That's the big question! Our nero says he is really like a two year old, and I know many 2 year old boys are nowhere near potty trained....so I am now sweating it now as his development is behind.
Hope you guys had a super weekend.
Have a blessed day!
Clara-Leigh
Clara-Leigh
Garrett, 4 years old, mild congenital myopathy,possibly MITO so hypotonia, g-tube from December 06-Fall 07, constipation, gross motor and speech delay, heart PDA repaired by hearth cath. Winter 08. OT once monthly, PT two times weekly, Speech 3 times weekly, water therapy weekly and as many horseback rides as we can fit in at home!
Addie, 8 years old, mild congenital myopathy, possibly MITO. Low tone, tires easily, poor endurance. PT weekly, regular swimming and rides horses 3-4 days per week and competes in barrel racing and other timed events.
Ainslee, 6, just about too normal some days, but really patient with all of her siblings' therapies!! Oh, CONSTIPATION...how can one forget that???
