Now I know most people with think its very early to TT, but I am a firm believer in "the sooner, the better" and seeing as though we had great results with Stella TT early, we were confident in doing the same. Well as confident as you can be , going into toilet training twins, and one boy and one girl!!
We feel that the longer you leave it, the more of a 'habit' toileting in nappies becomes, rather than the fact they don't know any different!! I think we should give our children a bit more credit and realise that they are actually alot smarter than we can ever imagine!!
We used a sticker system again, rewarding each 'success' with a "ticka" (their pronunciation of course) and it seemed to be the motivating factor. A simple little sticker. The joys of a child's innocent mind!!
However, we did change a few things this time, the main being the use of potty's.
I have never liked the idea of potty's, I used to think , why teach them to go on something , that you then have to empty and clean each time, and then have to wean and reteach them to go on the actual toilet?!
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| A tired little girl, complete with a dummy , on the toilet!! ( and yes, they broke the paper holder!! Too enthusiastic with the rolling!!) |
But we knew that Toilet training twins was going to be different and certain obstacles would be in our way that were perhaps not there before, like the fact there are 2 of them! ha
And if they both wanted to or needed to go at the same time, and it was during the day when it was just me, what would I do? Have one in our ensuite and one in the main toilet?
When they are that little and learning, when they want to do it, the opportunity has to be there!!
So we bought potty's and put them in the laundry, which is right next to our toilet and bathroom area. I am pleased we did now, as they seem to be sympathetic toileters!! Like as in, if one wants to go, the other follows and go's too!! Which is good for us too, you get them both out of the way at the same time, and it limits the amount of trips I had to make to the potty's and the amount of time I spent sitting on the floor , singing and reading books!!
Now that they are confident enough to take themselves off to the toilet, the pottys mean they can do it all themselves, especially if I am busy feeding Angus or something.
We also chose to teach Max to go sitting down. Its not the 'done' thing though, but he is too small to reach a toilet standing up, his aim would be ridiculous, and we were worried that Lacey would want to copy and vice versa. Keep it simple and teach them the same way. There is plenty of time for me to be cleaning up wee dribbles all over the loo!!
Toilet training Stella really only took a week, but I also had a week at home to focus on teaching her , and that only. Max and Lacey have really taken a bit over 3 weeks, but we have to leave the house everyday, and when I did so, I put a nappy on. I simply did not have the energy, time, etc to be cleaning up messes on the school run, at playgroup etc. It was nice to know that when we did get home, they needed to go straight away and more often than not, their nappies were dry. Yesterday marked their first trip out for about 40 mins, and they did it with total success!
As I mentioned, Lacey was the first to indicate that she was ready for learning, and she took to it so well. The first day she went a number of times and Max didn't want a bar of it! However a day at daycare, a few trips out and some lengthy time at the park in nappies and she didn't go for another week.
It was then that big brother Max stepped up and cruised through, being so so proud of himself!
Then..... she came around. And now they encourage each other, talk to each other when going and clap for each other. So sweet.
So... here we are, with 2 little cherub, 2 weeks after their second birthday , and they are in little undies! We are so very proud of them and it was definitely alot easier than we expected.
The next task is to master the day sleeps, then eventually the nights. And it seems that everyday they are edging closer to waking up completely dry, actually they have done the past few days, so we might tackle that soon too, why wait if we are on a good thing?
Everyones experiences with Toilet Training is different. Everyone has different beliefs as to when they think is "the right" time. Everyone is ready (as a parent) a different times, and when you start, you just can't stop. And these are my opinions and my experiences, I'm not telling you they are the right way, just what worked for us! I am just a proud Mumma, bragging that her little babies have reached a milestone that seemed so distant, so difficult. And they did it with gusto, and all for a pack of $2 stickers!!
They no longer ask for stickers every time they go, and they don't get them, but even if you do have to give your child stickers or little rewards for their successes, even for a few months, a few packs of stickers are alot cheaper than packs of nappies, and a small price to pay for a great outcome!!
If you are thinking of toilet training your child, I say go for it!!
You can do it, and more importantly, your little one can too! Take this inspiration and use it as your fuel!
To read other posts of mine about Toilet training , try HERE.
Good luck xo
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