I-search 1st Draft

The Ins and Outs of
Potty Training

By Samantha Jackson

 

Background

At some point in our lives, usually between two to four years old, we all learn to control our bladder and bowel functions. I was almost two when I could officially say “I’m a big kid now”.  As I cannot remember those times, I looked to the one person who would know best; my mother. I was a very easy child to teach. M&M’s were my reward for when I did the good deed. Potty training for me began when I saw the other kids at day care using the “big potty” and I figured out how to remove my diaper. Most of the time, I would wait until we were in a public place, such as the beach, and my mother would have to chase my bare-naked booty across the sand in order to get a new one on.

 One of her favorite stories to tell to my friends is the time that I “had an accident” in the bathtub. She was in my room preparing my night clothes when she heard me start to cry and call for her.  Upon entering the bathroom, she noticed I was frantically trying to climb up the back side of the tub. In the tub was a single floating brown mass. I was terrified of it because it was moving closer. My mother did what any good mother would do and laughed a lot before finally rescuing me. 

She was a single mother, who raised me on her own until I was six. My step-father then stepped into the picture and when I was seventeen years old, we were all blessed with the miracle that is my little brother, Gabriel. He will be three in November and we are all taking turns with the potty training.   

Why am I writing?

Raising a child is new to me. I do not have children of my own, nor have I ever spent a considerable amount of time around children to say that I had a part in raising them. This is my first experience. It is full of surprises and frustrations, especially potty training. I cannot figure out the proper method or technique that other parents and older siblings use. My parents are about as lost as I am. My father hasn’t potty trained a child in roughly thirty years and for my mother is has been a little over nineteen years. I want to find research that will assist me in this process and make the learning experience run smoothly. My initial questions are as follows:

•          Are boys more difficult than girls to potty train?

•          Is it better to use underwear or pull-ups?

•          What reward systems should I set up for every time he uses the toilet?

•          Are potty chairs better to use or should we adjust him to the actual toilet?

I feel that if I can answer these questions that I will be able to successfully teach my brother how to regularly use the toilet, or a potty chair, instead of diapers. We are already partially on the road to achieving this goal. Gabriel recognizes the need to go and tells us so, yet he still messes in his diapers. Much to my distaste.

What I already know

•          Are boys more difficult than girls to potty train?

                        Most of my friends and family that have kids past the potty-training age have said that girls are harder to potty train. I have no experience with female toddlers, so I cannot confirm if this is true. However, I do know that teaching a little boy to pee standing up is a lot harder when you are in fact not equipped with the same tools.

•          Is it better to use underwear or pull-ups?

                        Pull-ups are absorbent like a diaper, but they slide on like underwear. The downfall with pull-ups is that the child will still feel like they are wearing a diaper and won’t always pull them down to sit on the toilet. On the other hand, if I was to use strictly underwear, I’d have to be washing them constantly and keep the mop on hand at all times. I have already tried this method several times and Gabriel seems to forget or ignore that he has to pull them down to go potty. When I leave him naked from the waist down, he does fantastic because there is nothing there so he knows he must sit down. In that aspect, I have succeeded but this new process will be the most difficult hurdle to overcome.

•          What reward systems should I set up for every time he uses the toilet?

                        I can’t use Cheerios as we use those for “target practice” in the toilet. I don’t think it would go over well if I then provided him with the same thing he just peed on.  I have tried cookies but then he got used to just sitting on his chair and pretending to go and expecting a cookie. High fives and praise works well but “the experts” and “veterans” say that a physical reward, mostly edible, is the best to use.

•          Are potty chairs better to use or should we adjust him to the actual toilet?

                        I do not know much about this. We have a potty chair and we have a toilet seat adjusted to fit his small tush. He prefers the potty chair since we keep it in the living room for quick access. The toilet seat we save for upstairs, when he is playing in his room or in the tub. He does not like being helped climbing on the toilet, most often than not so most accidents occur when he is attempting to get onto the toilet to relieve himself.

 

The Search

I suppose I am not entirely clear on how to write this section. I looked at some of the examples provided online and I was curious if I could set it up like the pervious section but how I found the answers? I’m not sure if it’s okay to mimic the section before or not. Also, if I understood correctly, the “search” that I gave would actually be more like my answer or should I change that around too? I have a feeling I mixed both in together so I have to find a way to seperate it. For now, it's under 'The Answer' section.

 

The Answer

Potty training was an interesting topic to decide upon when thinking about my Isearch. I originally wanted to do something about Necrotizing Fasciitis, Breeding Gargoyle Geckos, and something about trying to determine if my Bearded Dragon was sick and how I could cure her. None of these choices panned out so I was left with the only thing that I was currently doing. Potty training Gabriel.

    The Internet has a plethora of sources for this. The problem is finding sources that are credible and have useful information. I know I could theoretically use anything but I wanted to use something that had sources and didn't look like it had been written by someone who had never ever been around a child.

    The first article online that I found seemed credible enough but the information was very vague and didn't exactly answer my question. I kept the link just in case I could use it later on but as of right now, it isn't something I find important. The next few articles were of no help at all as they only talked about potty training girls. If Gabriel had been Gabrielle, that would be nice information but the parts are a bit different.

    My neighbor has a son that is a year younger than Gabriel and he also picked up an interest in potty training. I asked her a bit about what she did but she couldn't give me concrete answers because he would only go on the toilet at the baby-sitter's house. When he was home and they tried to potty train him, he would decide to use the floor or the laundry basket instead of the toilet. While this information was interesting and could potentially be looked into for answers, it didn't relate to my brother. Gabriel doesn't go to a baby sitter nor is he trying to relieve himself on anything but the toilet or in his pull-ups. Even interviewing my mom gave little help as apparently I potty trained myself at the baby sitter's also.

    The biggest piece of information came from Gabe's new doctor. She told us that typically boys do not start potty training until 3 and a half years old. Gabe did just turn three and it's great that he shows an interest but he may just not be ready. She told us that we should stop with the potty training and let him take the reins. If he says he wants to use the toilet, then we can let him but we shouldn't be placing him on it every half hour or continuously asking him if he has to go. It could turn him off of wanting to transition and put a setback in his development.

    I still want to get a hold of some books to possibly get some more information on the psychology behind potty training but as of right now, the quest of potty training Gabriel is on a hold.