Pediatricians are always stressing the importance of having a “scheduled” baby and how much happier they are when they have a routine and know what to expect of their day. While I don’t necessarily disagree with that, Squally is definitely not on anybody’s schedule other than her own. We have our own reasons for letting her orchestrate the events of her day, aside from her scheduled activities, but one thing I have tried to STRESS to my husband and sister, is the inportance of having a routine directly related to this struggle we call potty training.
Every morning, I tried to get Squally Muffin on the pot pot within 2-3 minutes of her waking up. If I put her on it too fast, she gets irritated and cries, but if I wait too long, she poops or pee pees in her pull-up. We’ve been on this potty training journey around 3 weeks now and I can reliably predict her morning potty now!
I must admit, as a family we are not good about having a daily potty visitation routine, but I can definitely see the diminution of frustration for us and Lariah now that she expects to get on the potty when she wakes up in the morning and from her nap.
We’re also trying to get into the habit of taking Squally to the pot pot every time we go to the bathroom, but it’s so hard when all you want to do is pee and get back to the comfy couch!
All and all, we’re learning what works and doesn’t work and so far, Squally Muffin seems to understand and expect to visit the pot at least 3 times a day so far: are we close to potty trained yet, nope. But we’re making marked progress in the right direction and I love how happy my baby gets when we celebrate her using the Pot Pot! I think she likes the idea of this whole routine thing. At least for pottying that is!
