|
After my first date with "Percy", he took me to his place, an apartment
he shared with five other guys from our college. As soon as I walked into his room, I knew I was in trouble. Percy's walls were decorated with Christian art work. And the room was clean. VERY clean. His books were precisely arranged; his desk, uncluttered. Not a speck of dust could be found. As I got to know him, I realized he was truly meticulous. His dresser drawers were neat. He even alternated the waistbands of his underwear so the stack wouldn't be lopsided. The night I learned that, I couldn't restrain myself. I looked at him ruefully. "I bet you were born toilet trained." Born toilet trained. Even back then, long before I had children, I thought it would be a wonderful thing to be born potty trained! Imagine! Now, after 18 years of motherhood, I have discovered it isn't a dream. It's a long-forgotten secret of development. All babies are born toilet trained! It's true. Babies are born toilet trained--that is, they are aware of their elimination. The problem is, they lack the motor skills to get to the potty. If their parents help them get to the toilet in those early days, by the time they can walk, they will happily go there by themselves. The technique is called, for lack of a better phrase, "Infant Potty Training." It is detailed in a book, "Infant Potty Training," by Laurie Boucke. She has also written a shorter book on the topic, "Trickle Treat." (For more information, go to: www.white-boucke.com/ifpt.html.) Potty training from birth is an ancient practice, which is still used in the more "backward" areas of the world. For example, many mothers in India, Vietnam, Africa and China train their babies without using diapers, and often complete the process by the first birthday. This type of training was also used in America until the early part of the 1900s. It was gradually forgotten as washing machines and working mothers became more common. By the 1950s, childrearing books began advising against early training. Today, doctors will tell you such a thing is "harmful" to a child. A good friend, who is a medical doctor, told me that "children are not physiologically capable" of bladder and bowel control. (I respect her dearly, but she's wrong.) Infant Potty Training is easy, but time consuming. The key to this training is the mother. The more attention Mom pays to the baby, the more effective the training will be. Be prepared: The first thing you'll want to do is to get a supply of cloth diapers or training pants. However, training pants are too big for most newborns. (And unfortunately, the best cloth diapers for this job are no longer made.) Set aside a day when you can devote yourself to the task. Get a notebook. Then start watching your baby. Note the times you feed him, then note the times he urinates and deficates. (If you have him in cloth diapers, he'll probably fuss.) It won't take long until you see a pattern. (In the beginning, CJ went every 20 minutes.) Once you recognize a pattern, you start anticipating the child's need. When you sense it is about time, you simply take the baby to a designated spot--either a small potty, or the bathroom sink or toilet. Hold the baby in a squating position and give him a verbal cue, such as, "time to pee," or "sss" or "time to go potty." Be patient and be amazed: If you've been watching and you are close to the time, the baby will respond quickly and will urinate. If the baby doesn't go within a minute, back off and try again in a few minutes. You will be amazed how fast a child learns this new skill. Soon just putting him in the position will be enough to trigger the response. Be consistent: You will never catch every act of elimination. But if you stay with it as much as you can, the baby will learn to go on command. The more you do it, the faster he'll learn. By the time he's crawling and walking, he'll think that elimination is a natural part of life (which it is) and he'll transition to his own potty quickly. Does it work? YES! I was skeptical at first, but the whole idea made good sense to me. I started training CJ when she was five weeks old. On the fourth day, I brought her home from an outing dry, so I held her over the sink and said, "time to potty," and she instantly emptied her bladder and moved her bowels. That was enough to sell me on the method. We did quite well for the first four weeks, but then I realized I could not run a house AND a homeschool AND potty train both Hallie and CJ without going a bit nuts. At the moment, I have too many wet and dirty diapers from CJ, but that's my fault, not hers. Her elimination pattern has also changed, and I haven't totally figured it out. But we have enough successes that I'm determined to continue. A word of caution: This method works best the earlier you start, perferably no later than 5 months of age. After that, a child begins to lose his awareness of elimination (after becoming desensitized to wet and dirty diapers for that long), and he is beginning to develop a will. If you think I'm crazy, try it for yourself (or get your daughter to try it on your grandkid). Get Boucke's book. If nothing else, read her web-ring on the method. There is a better way to potty train. It's time to rediscover it. (I'm sure Percy would be approve.) --For more information on Infant Potty Training, go to http://www.nogreaterjoy.org. |