Stop, Drop and Blog

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!)