I’ve mentioned before that we use sign language in this house. BigBrother used it minimally when he was pre-verbal. LittleBrother started even earlier than BigBrother did and has a large signing vocabulary. Similarly, at sixteen months, he already has a large verbal vocabulary as well. Not all of that can be attributed to signing itself, of course. Mainly, he wants to be like BigBrother. He wanted to talk early. He wanted to roll, crawl, walk and run early. And now he wants to potty train early.
I’m okay with this!
A few months ago we received Potty Training Made Easy with the Baby Signs Program Complete Starter Kit. I kept it in the box for awhile as he hadn’t shown any interest in the process at that point in time. And then, last month, he started saying the word potty. (Pah-ee! Pah-ee!) Whenever anyone would go into the bathroom, he would follow behind, talking about the potty. Then he started wanting to sit on the big potty. Then we bought him a little one. And while he hasn’t gone, he sits daily, talking about his male genitalia (pee-ahhs), pee, poop and pah-ee.
Color us shocked.
So, I broke out the sign language program. I read the accompanying parent manual about why starting the training process in the 12 month to 24 month age range was a great idea. I agreed with most of what was said, having already potty trained one child. (I also know that being strict with your ideas regarding what will and will not work can set you up for failure.) The manual, however, does have many things that we agree with (especially since we potty trained BigBrother based on Elizabeth Pantley’s The No-Cry Potty Training Solution
And then we started watching the DVD every few days. LittleBrother enjoys the real kids more than the animated babies. (He’s likely used to Signing Time videos.) We also regularly read the train book that came with the kit. (It’s a lift-the-flap book which are all hugely popular with LittleBrother right now.) While he has done nothing in the potty, we currently have a child who is not scared of the bathroom or the potty. He knows what goes on in the bathroom and the potty. He knows the appropriate signs (more, all done, potty, wash hands). And he regularly tells us when he needs a diaper change. (To boot, he also says “excuse me” (cue-me!) after he toots. Win.
I can’t tell you if he will officially train early or if he’ll be like his brother and train shortly after his second birthday. I can’t predict what will happen. I can tell you that this little kit, complete with reward stickers for when we start moving forward with this “potty train”, is a big help in our house. As BigBrother went through a phase where he was scared of the bathroom (no fault of our own as we didn’t push training), we’re hoping to avoid that with LittleBrother. Of course, having BigBrother around to show by example and encourage with words is a great training tool as well. I’d let you borrow him but, well, I like him very much.
I can, however, offer you this Potty Training Made Easy with the Baby Signs Program Complete Starter Kit ($39.95)! That’s right! I have one to give away! It’s the exact same one we have which means that it includes:
1. Potty Training Made Easy, a Parent’s Guide.
2. All Aboard the Potty Train DVD
3. All Aboard the Potty Train lift-the-flap book.
4. Stickers!
5. All Aboard the Potty Train Conductor’s (wooden) Whistle (yes, noisy).
It can be yours! There are a few different ways to enter.
1. Leave a comment on this post telling me a funny story about potty training. Whether it’s your child, your sibling, your friend’s child or yourself. Make me giggle. Because a sense of humor is needed while potty training! (I remember that much!) You may leave a comment like this once.
2. Tweet about this contest, copy/pasting the following into your tweet stream: Enter the Potty Training Made Easy giveaway over @FireMom’s blog: http://tinyurl.com/SDBptsigns Kit includes book, DVD, stickers & whistle! After you tweet, grab the URL to the individual tweet and paste it in a separate comment here. You may do this once a day for the duration of the giveaway!
3. Blog about the giveaway on your blog, linking back to this post and the Potty Training Made Easy website! Make your post about another funny story regarding potty training, fears about the process or what your plans are thus far. Come back and leave the link to your blog post in a separate comment. You may do this once.
The giveaway will be open through Monday, April 13, 2009 at noon (EDT). I will close comments and pick a winner via the random number generator at random.org. I will then contact the winner by email. The winner has 24 hours to respond before I move on to the next random winner. Winnings will be shipped the following day after claim with delivery confirmation and insurance. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Best of luck… in the giveaway and with potty training! (And if this giveaway doesn’t apply to you, please feel free to pass it on to your friends with children who may or may not be potty training sometime soon!)
38 Responses to “Signing Our Way Out of Diapers”
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Okay this is kind of sad kind of a good thing. I can’t think of a single funny story… what?? My oldest pee pee trained VERY early but didn’t figure out the whole poop thing for a year later.. instead insisting on a diaper and choosing to crouch behind the couch.. the couch crouch?? (is that funny?) My other two were pretty easy too?
and… I totally don’t NEED this giveaway.. so if I were to win it i would donate it to my local foster care foundation where the parents need all kinds of help ALL THE TIME!!
(hope that’s okay!)
@carissa_momif
I tweeted.. I’ll be back with the tweet…
Carissas last blog post..When I Want to Unwind
https://twitter.com/Carissa_MomIF/status/1432867143
Cheers on the pah-ee training!!
Carissas last blog post..When I Want to Unwind
When my oldest daughter was potty training (she just turned 8!), she used to sit on the potty for a long time. One day she took my socks in with her (I’m not sure where she got them) and while she sat there doing her business she proceeded to put my socks on her feet. She was sitting on the little potty feet dangling with my big socks scraping on the floor. She looked so funny. Needless to say we have a few pictures of that day.
The funniest thing that happened with my daughter was actually after she was potty trained. She liked the attention she got when she went potty and would ask to go constantly whether she really had to or not. I was kind of getting tired of running her to the potty every time she wanted special attention, so when she asked on one particular occasion, I responded with “Do you really have to go or are you pulling my leg?” Well, being only 2 years old, she obviously didn’t know what I was talking about. She just looked at me, quite confused, and then walked up to me and pulled on my pant-leg. It was too cute!
Thanks for the giveaway! I would love to win!
Kristies last blog post..Wordless Wednesday: The View from My Front Door
I blogged about the giveaway here:
http://kristiesnotes.blogspot.com/2009/04/time-for-potty-training.html
Kristies last blog post..Wordless Wednesday: The View from My Front Door
http://twitter.com/kellyleuwerke/status/1434492717
Oh good, just in time, cause we’re about to go at it full force here soon. We’re finally not scared to sit on the potty bare bottomed!!
A friend (on a msg board) posted a story about potty training her son, and she decided to lay on the floor facing him while she was waiting for him to pee. Well, he started to pee and that’s when she noticed she had not double checked that his penis was behind the guard. Whoops! Pee in the face…but yay, pee in the potty?!
It was a lesson for me, that’s for sure! Since the only boys I’ve potty trained were when I worked in a daycare so we had the little kid sized potty, so the boys were able to train standing up. Always make sure the penis is BEHIND the guard
This sounds like something my son would really benefit from. He is just a month younger than Little Brother.
stickyfeet2Enter the Potty Training Made Easy giveaway over @FireMom’s blog: http://tinyurl.com/SDBptsigns Kit includes book, DVD, stickers & whistle!
Nathan has been showing interest in the potty. Though you can tell that he is with me that majority of the day. When he sits on the potty he wants a piece of toilet paper so that he can wipe. He wipes himself and then puts it in the big potty. Then he goes back to his potty and wants more toilet paper. I told my husband he needs to be in the bathroom with him more often to see how boys go potty.
Nathan has yet to actually pee in the potty. Though one time we were so close. He peed in the hallway on the way to get a new diaper.
Twitter:
http://twitter.com/shannon731/status/1437976897
I couldn’t help but comment. We have been working on potty training for awhile and our son gets the hang of it, though we are having a hard time getting him to tell us when he needs to go in the middle of the day. He is good in the morning and evening when he gets up/goes to bed. He also loves his mnm’s which is a treat for using the potty. (one for going potty, two for pooping) However I think we need to change our strategy.
The other day my husband sat in the living room while our son played with his thomas trains, his latest obsession. He had a funny look on his face and so my husband asked him nicely, “Do you need to go potty?”
My son: “No.”
My husband: “Are you going potty right now?”
My son: “I’m pooping.”
My husband: “Do you know what you get if you go poop in the toilet?”
My son: 2 MnM’s
My husband: Do you want to go poop in the toilet then and get 2 MnM’s?”
My son: “No”
My husband: ….
My son: “I don’t need anything right now. I’m playing with my trains.”
My husband tells me later when I get home from work… “How do you potty train a kid who is perfectly happy to not get candy?”
I think we need to regroup and change our strategy.
Forgot to add…. There was also the time he was going on the big toilet and got ahead of the guard. Somehow he got pee on his board book he was reading and before my husband could get to him, he had decided to taste the “water” on the book. EW! Somehow my husband decided to laugh it off and say that well now our son knows something we don’t know. Personally…. well….EW! I’m a bit squeemish about the toilet and all things toilet related. hehe… Must be doing something right though. Haven’t passed on that to him. He loves to sit on the big potty. Now if only he’d use it when he needs to!
@Jen, That’s Jack, exactly, down to the trains. Thank you for proving that I am not alone. :0)
Twitter: firemom
says:
@Robyn, LOL @ you both. That was very much how BB was. He didn’t (and doesn’t) care for/about candy.
Ooo.. scary you have a jack too!
I am so jealous! Jack is 3 and 3 months, and has no real interest in toilet training. He can go on the toilet. He just doesn’t like to be bothered. We give him a M&M for going – we’ve been doing that for a year, no joke. We’re now going to step up the bribery.
We tried going cold turkey over Christmas. He had one accident-free day, and the next day, would sit on the toilet, not pee, and then 5 minutes later, pee on something else, like his slide, or my white cushioned dining room chair.
He just can’t be torn away from whatever he’s doing to use the toilet. His preschool doesn’t help in this arena. I think that if I were the full time SAHM I used to be, he’d be done by now.
*sigh*
Sorry for babbling.
http://twitter.com/kellyleuwerke/status/1441477426
http://twitter.com/shannon731/status/1449324643
http://twitter.com/shannon731/status/1452613806
http://twitter.com/shannon731/status/1464246359
http://twitter.com/shannon731/status/1470002690
Oh, I wish I had a funny story about potty training!
The best I can offer you is about my still-in-diapers 19-month old son. We bought him a potty last week, and from the moment he saw it he fell in love. He LOVES sitting on it. When I go into the bathroom to go pee, he goes and says “pssss” while sitting on his potty.
He has yet to actually do anything in it, of course, but it’s adorable all the same
Allisons last blog post..Naughty Words, Kinda Cute
When my niece was potty training they did the wear a dress and no diaper method…lets just say finding all her “accidents” around the house was worse than having a new puppy!!!