The boy who cried potty

[Angelorum]

My 19 mo ds has recently started begging for the potty when he wants attention.  Usually when I'm dropping him off at daycare (he's still adjusting to going, it's only 4 hours a week), or when he's feeling ignored because I have something else I have to attend to, driving, making dinner etc, or when he's trying to put off bedtime.  He almost never goes on these occasions when I stop and take him. 

How do you handle this?  He's in diapers full time still, and we've only ever part time ec'd, though he's going potty more frequently now that he can tell us he needs to go.  I don't want to go diaper free, he still wets his diapers multiple times a day, even when he potties in between, and he does pee on the floor sometimes if he escapes without a diaper on during a change/potty time.  I could see moving to trainers soon, but I don't think that would really help with the crying potty thing.  I don't think he's coordinated enough to pull down his pants by himself yet. 

[Chamomile Girl]

Awwwww, my 20mo old does this too. Sometimes when he points to the potty (or his crotch) he then scampers away giggling like a fool when I go over to help him out. I always grab him and sit him on the potty on these occasions anyway, since I want him to understand that communicating potty means sitting on the potty, every time. He also points to the potty when he actually has to go so the entire thing is not a game...but yeesh.

Your LO might be ready to ditch the diapers (even if you're not). The potty-pointing behavior started here when DS wanted out of diapers, so now he is diaper free during the day (I wasn't ready!!). There are still accidents but he totally understands the whole potty thing and so we've set him up accordingly (underwear during the day, even when we are out and about, even during his nap). He especially loves having the potty to poop on and it seems to have resolved his persistent constipation issues (finally! ). The ritual of bringing the potty bowl into the bathroom and depositing into the toilet is another grand old time . And of course the best is that he will musically announce "Peeeeeee!!" whenever he goes. This last is pretty impressive considering the fact he doesn't speak more than like three words.

[Angelorum]

Does he ever ask when you can't take him potty?  Like in the car, or a store with no bathroom?  What do you do then?

[Chamomile Girl]

Yes. I carry a small potty with me in the car so I am always prepared. If you have an IKEA near you they have just the right size for around four bucks.

[Angelorum]

We use the ikea potty at home all the time.  Where do you sit it when he has to go when you're out and about?  I don't think there would be room on the floor of our car...  We also walk and bus a fair bit to get around, I can't really see carrying a potty around at those times. 

Also, one of the reasons I'm hesitant about the move away from diapers is because ds doesn't seem to consolidate his pees yet.  I've heard other parents say they notice their child hold it for longer and then really empty their bladder in one big pee at a time.  Ds will still pee in  like 1-3 Tablespoon amounts  unless he's just woken up. 

[Chamomile Girl]

Well, I have an Element so there is room to potty right inside the car. When we are out with our other car we put the potty on the ground. It works.

I brought the potty with me once when out and about and it worked. Another MDC mama loaned me her string bag to carry it . But if your kid is not afraid of the big potty (or bathrooms ) than you're in clover. I have a travel kiddie toilet seat that fits into my purse. I thought it was so clever until DS had hysterics when I tried to get him to use it.

My kid can hold his pee when needed, but his default is a bunch of small pees too. The nice thing about the IKEA potty is that DS can sit on it by himself if he is naked (although he recently learned to pull his pants down if he is sans undies). So when inside I just use prefolds to absorb the little pees. He doesn't like this because there's no payoff (no pilgrimage to the toilet to dump and flush) so he's got incentive to pee bigger.

Its kind of like jumping off a cliff really. You don't really know what your kid is (and isn't) capable of until you jump.

[Angelorum]

He's gone on big toilets a couple of times, but that was months ago when we were moving and I wasn't sure where the potty had gone.  Every time I've tried since then he'll sit on it, but won't go.  We tried a couple times at church yesterday because he kept asking and he hadn't done his normal morning poop (grr daylight savings!), and I really didn't want to deal with changing a poopy diaper at church, but nothing.  When he wants to go as I'm dropping him off at daycare I take him to the little kid size toilets and even they seem too huge for him to be comfortable enough.  Maybe he needs something to brace his feet on to be comfortable?  Maybe if I get him a little stool and start working with him on going on the big potty at home he'll be able to do it else where too?  Where did you get your folding seat reducer?  When dh took him at church yesterday, he just sat on the toilet with him, but I don't know how well I'll be able to do that in the skirts I like to where in the warm weather...

You're probably right about the cliff thing.  I'm just not sure if I'm ready to jump.  Really the diaper/potty thing is just all around frustrating right now.  He asks to go potty all the time, goes on it about half the time he asks, and has to be chased down to get his diaper back on 90% of the time.   Rinse and repeat.  We do prefold diapers, so they aren't the easiest thing to get on a squirmy toddler.  Trainers just seem so expensive next to prefolds.  The truth is it is probably time to change something and none of the options sounds appealing to me right now. 

[Chamomile Girl]

Oh I totally understand about the frustration. I wasn't ready either because diapers are so darn convenient for me! Plus he is still having accidents so its not a all or nothing deal here either. In fact he just peed in his carseat on the way home, but it took over two hours to drive what normally takes about an hour, so not entirely his fault. Luckily I have a piddle pad lol.

I've got this potty seat reducer.

The only way I have found using full-size toilets works is to put the kid on backwards, so that he is straddling the tank sort of, and then hold him steady. I had honestly never had this work until today (because my kid was terrified of public bathrooms), but I guess having DS learn to flush was a magic bullet because he actually used a public toilet today. Yay!!! He thought it great fun to be able to see himself pee...hilarious. I don't know how well this would work for poop though...never tried.

Yeah, trainer underwear are pricer than they should be! We bought a pack of Hannah andersson and their size xs are still too large but they work well enough. When out we cover them with a pull-on diaper cover (we have bummi's whisper pants but dappi's are cheaper) so any potential mess is contained. Works pretty well. Plus they are easy to pull down to use the potty. The Bummis run large though, especially over undies. Our 26ish pound DS is wearing a Small.

These are cool too, but also run large.

[Marissamom]

I just wanted to day DD has been doing the same thing occasionally for about 2 months (she's almost 22 months). I started the, "if you ask and it's just because you want attention/to play with the towels hung on the back of the bathroom door, you must sit on the potty until you actually go", policy. that cut how often she was doing it down quite a bit because sitting on the potty for 15 minutes is boring. not she almost never asks unless she actually does have to go. she never did it while out and about though, she's afraid of sitting on regular toilets, so we only potty while at home. 

[Angelorum]

So I've been thinking more about training pants and was wondering if there was something like a diaper cover with a lay in/snap in soaker but that could be easily pulled up and down?  Something where I could get 5 or 6 covers and just change out the soaker layer if he wets it?  Maybe even just trifold my prefolds into?  Am I dreaming?  I could take or leave side snaps.  He's really pretty good about pooping on the potty, so it would be rare that I'd have to change a poopy trainer.