The never-ending pause

[~Denise~]

Hi all,

It's been a very long time since I've posted anything, but our little man is gonna be 3 in a little over a month, and it has occurred to me that I was hoping we'd be a bit further along by now.....

Ever since DS started to learn how to stand, he's been more pause than go. A few times a week he'll happily sit on the potty, but it's never caught on beyond that. I know people say that developmental milestones will do that, so sometimes I tell myself that it's because he's so darn busy developing! (He's like I said, not quite 3, but he already knows the alphabet (upper- and lower-case) and all the letter sounds, and if you say a word he'll tell you what letter it starts with, and he can count to "thirty-ten" with a handful of mistakes).

I'm mentioning this because I'm curious if anyone thinks there is any correlation between being "too busy learning" and really-really-really indefinite pauses. I'm cheered by the fact that he IS on occasion VERY HAPPY to sit on the potty--in fact I think it only happens when it's HIS idea. But he never seems to break out of the more common pattern of preferring to poop in his diaper instead of the potty. For well over a year, if I say "oh, you're pooping! I'll go get the potty", the response is generally "NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! I don't want to sit on the potty! I want to poop in my diaper! No!! Go away!!"

Argggghhh. What's up with this picture? When will the twice a week episodes become twice a day episodes?

[zoebird]

well, first, remember that it will end. i mean, i know of very few intellegent 17 yo boys who are still in diapers, you know? LOL remember, sometimes a bigger picture takes the emotional pressure off.

at least, he will likely be potty learned by 5. right now, he definitely understands the potty and what it is for, and thinks that potty and diapers are all things being equal.

my only suggestion would be, at this point, to follow more traditional potty learning advice--completely diaper free days with the potty right near him where ever he is doing wahtever he is doing. so, if he's always in htis one play area, put the potty there so that he can continue to play and go potty.

without a diaper on, eh can't go in it, and i think he probably knows he can't go on the carpet too.

so, give it a whirl, the worst that can happen is that he's in diapers and going to college, right? can you imagine him telling his girlfriend "hold on a sec, i need to go in my dipe."

[~Denise~]

thanks Zoebird. Sorry I've been really slow to reply. Grad school is getting the better of me(!).

OK, you're right, maybe I just need to calm down and realize it will happen. :-) The other day I suggested an "underwear day" to him, and he was really excited about the prospect, but then when the weekend came he was aggressively unenthused about it. Oh well. Maybe next weekend, or the one after that.... :-)