Why we decided to wait on potty training

Why we decided to wait on potty training

Hi friends! This is a much discussed topic, and thought I’d share some insight on why we decided to wait on potty training with our oldest Vasilije, and now our second born Mateja.

It’s no secret that we bought the potty when Vasilije was ten months, and it served more of a floor seat for him rather than a potty. He wanted nothing to do with it.

The potty just sat in our bathroom for days, and he wouldn’t even care to look at it.

Now, Mateja sees the potty and says he wants to bathe his cars in it. The only reason he sat on it in these photos is because he thought I was going to let him play with water.

So, why did we wait?

I am a firm believer that they will tell you when they are ready and they will show signs of it, to each is own.

We knew that no matter what we tried to tell Vasilije about potty training that he wasn’t having it, and I just knew that he wasn’t ready.

It was the day after we came back from our family vacation in Europe in 2017 that Vasilije decided not to wear diapers anymore. I knew on our beach vacation that he was ready, because he started asking to go to the bathroom.

We litetarily came back Wednesday night, and the next morning, Thursday when he woke up I handed him a pack of his new underwear and asked him which ones he wanted, and he picked a pair.

That day, he had a few incidents.

The next day, zero incidents.

And the next day, zero incidents either.

That’s all it took for him to understand that he now has big boy underwear.

Potty trained in a day

He was potty trained, and was able to hold it when we would travel places. I explained to him that we cannot stop in the middle of the road if we are driving, that sometimes there are no bathrooms at the park, etc. I think the fact he was older he was able to understand more, and also have better control of his bladder. He was three years old and two months when he was fully potty trained.

I should also mention that Vasilije never used this potty actually. We have a toilet seat cover, and he uses that when he needs to go and because he was tall enough when he was potty trained he was able to use just the regular toilet seat like a big guy. Which is another thing that I prefer because everywhere, but our house he would have to use the big boy potty. I didn’t want to have trouble when we are at, let’s say Target and he wanted to sit rather than stand. Thankfully, we figured that out quickly too.

Waiting it out

So, we are doing the same with Mateja. As much as I would love for him to be potty trained right now, I am going to wait until he is ready.

He is currently showing zero signs of wanting to go on the potty although he did ask to wear his underwear a few times.

Mateja is turning three next month so we have quite some time to figure out the potty. In other words, we will do it when we feel the time is right and not when someone else thinks it’s time.

Potty training is hard

So, here is my advice. If you’re contemplating potty training and your child is not even three I suggest waiting it out. Don’t be in a rush to potty train them so soon, they’ll be potty trained when they are ready.

Give yourself a break, and don’t stress over it. At the end of the day, your child will be just as potty trained as those that started a year ago except you have probably saved yourself some time and stress.

On the other hand, if your child is showing signs of wanting the potty or you think they might be ready then more power to you and do it. Again, to each is own. I think everyone has a strategy, and knows what is best for their family at the time. I am just not willing to stress over something that will eventually happen. That’s just how I see it.

Share with me, when did you potty train your child, and if you haven’t yet, when so you plan on potty training them?

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