Potty Training Pressure

For the past few months whenever anyone asked me about potty training I'd (truthfully) reply that my pediatrician said not to bother starting until Baby M was two and a half.   I cited recent research showing that the biggest predictor of success for potty training is when you start, optimally between 24 and 32 months.  But as more and more of Baby M's playmates made the switch to underwear I started feeling the pressure.  My in-laws gave me a DVD on potty training. Huggies started sending me coupons for Pull-Ups instead of diapers. I just kept repeating  my mantra-- "two and a half, two and a half."  But now Baby M is just days away from from the 30 month mark and the pressure is on.

The potty is not a new concept to Baby M.  We've had a little green Ikea potty in his bathroom for months.  We talk about the potty and what goes it in.  We've read all about how Elmo uses the potty.  But Baby M has no interest in using the potty himself.  When I notice that he is about to have a bowel movement I ask if he wants to sit on the potty and he says, "No, I'll just go in my diaper."  When we talk about how babies poop in diapers and big boys poop in the potty he is always sure to add, "but sometimes big boys pop in a diaper."  When I ask him if he wants to learn to use the potty he brushes me off saying, "Maybe in the summertime."

And to be honest, I am just as ambivalent about potty training as he is.  I don't relish the idea of being confined to the house so that we can sit on the potty every 30 minutes.  I don't want to carry a potty with me in addition to the snacks, toys and whatever else it is that I lug around in my ridiculously heavy diaper bag.  And then there is the extra laundry, upholstery and carpet cleaning that will undoubtedly result from the process.  Most importantly, I don't want to get into a battle of wills with Baby M.  I know I will lose.

So I think I may delay a little longer.  I've still got 2 more months before we hit the 32 month deadline, after which point he will be more likely to suffer ongoing urge incontinence issues.  And it is starting to get pretty warm outside, so maybe in a few weeks I can convince Baby M that it's the summertime.  Although the last time I asked him about learning to use the potty he said, "Maybe when I go to preschool in the fall."  Hmmm.... I can't imagine where he gets this tendency to procrastinate from.

Sesame Street

I'm afraid my baby is addicted to Sesame Street. I was all for keeping to the "no TV under 2" recommendation and except for the period when I tried anything and everything to calm his colic, I rarely parked Baby M in front of the television.

Then I caught cold after cold this winter and I started turning on the occasional episode while I recuperated on the couch. I also found that 10 minutes of Sesame Street would sometimes stop the inconsolable crying jags that Baby M often experiences upon waking from a nap. And I admit that both my husband and I have pulled up sesamestreet.org while we surreptitiously check our email in a separate browser. Although Baby M was happy enough to watch, he never seemed obsessed with watching, until now.

Now he wakes at 5:30 am and begins gesturing wildly at the TV set. He rummages through our DVD collection until he finds the Sesame Street Fiesta DVD and then waves it in front of my face. If I hide the Fiesta DVD he pulls out the unopened Baby Einstein videos I received as shower gifts and if I hide those, he brings me Austin Powers in desperation. So I have acquiesced and now allow him thirty minutes of Sesame Street a day. It makes him really happy and I can use those thirty minutes to catch up on email or wash the dishes. But a lot of the time I just sit next to him and watch. We love it when Elmo "asks a baby" --it cracks us up every time.