Thursday, June 15, 2006

Potty training Kenny

On May 21st, Eric and I started potty training with Kenny. It had been a frequent topic of conversation among my friends who have kids of the same age, and we had a completely uncommited weekend, so we thought - why not?

If you'd asked me during the first week how it was going, I would have been pretty negative. The first week was rough - the first day in particular, we went through 16 (!) pairs of underwear. But it's been getting better and better all the time, with accidents coming further and further apart. He had an accident yesterday, but before then we had 4 or maybe 5 accident-free days. I don't hesitate to go anywhere now.

I know this doesn't work for some parents - particularly those with younger children. But for us, "boot camp" potty training (i.e., no diapers except at naptime and night) really worked well. The World War II quote from Churchill, about the choice between "and end with horror, or horror without end", seems somewhat appropriate (if a little over-dramatic). In other words, a messy and stressful few days or weeks, with relatively quick potty training, vs. allowing diapers, which can confuse the child and draw out the whole process.

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