Control Games
I wondered the other day if TwinkleToes not actually making deposits into the potty anymore might be a control thing. I said that if I knew it was I’d take away the option for a while, but at the time I was not convinced it was.
And then she did a few things that convinced me it was all a control thing, so I put all of the potties and potty seats away and told her she wouldn’t be sitting on the potty anymore, she’d just have to go in her diaper for a while.
This morning she told me she had to do #2 and I told her to go ahead and do it in her diaper. So the little stinker (literally) somehow took her diaper off inside of her one piece footed pj’s and went in her pj’s. The diaper was still in the pj’s, just down around one ankle.
I have no idea what my next move is.
I did make today “attachment day” though. She was permanently attached to me today and was held and carried all day long. I also fed her and didn’t let her feed herself. I could see a positive difference in her this evening, so hopefully we can put the potty training stuff behind us for a while and get a fresh start later. She’s pee-peed in her diaper the rest of the day without mentioning it. She won’t have another BM until tomorrow though, so I won’t know for sure until then.
October 28th, 2007 at 9:37 pm
my suggestion- don’t get caught up in the “potty control game”. The bigger deal you make of it the bigger deal it becomes. Let the potty stay out and ignore it- if she takes her diaper off and sits and reads then puts the diaper back on to poop so be it. Don’t give power to the poop! I made big girl panties the prize to strive for. We picked the out together at the store, which was very exciting for her but the whoel time I told her she couldn’t wear then until she could keep them clean and dry. if she wanted to try a pair at home she was able to put them on but if there was an accident then i took them away and told her “try again another day”. As I mentioned before, once she was really ready the Elmo panties were dry for 2 weeks before even the smallest accident. I knew my daughter had the physiologic capability to be toilet trained, she was when we met her. It was more about her choosing to be emotionally ready.I also felt that since she came home at almost two, she was still trying to learn what the rules were and what behavior was expected from her. I think how crazy it must have seemed to her, to learn that it was OK to go in a diaper again in china and then 6-8 months later the diaper wasn’t what mommy wanted anymore. You had mentioned before that you thought there was some bad history associated with a potty chair so the fact that TT will even play with it now is great. I would say the less attention you pay to it the better.