Potty Training: Trials & Tribulations

My parents decided that Al is old enough to be potty trained. He turns two last July and we think it is about time that we potty train him. We did that - about 4 weeks ago. The first week was a trial - to all of us, and Al included. My poor baby was shocked (i think) coz he seemed terrified everytime he wanted to wee-wee or poo-poo. So, we had quite a few hits and misses ..and mum, dad and myself were on "high alerts" most of the time! After a few days, Al started to figure out what we wanted him to do ..he started to be more comfortable with this new arrangement ....

We expected to have these hits and misses for a few weeks ...but, much to our surprise, the second week went very well ...Al was able to let us know when he wanted to pee and so on ..he would actually waited till we were all ready with all the paraphernalia ...such a good boy! We had very few "misses" in Week 2, This occured mostly when he was taking his afternoon nap...

And last week (Week 3) we also saw a lot of improvements ...he is such a sweet boy, and very quick to grasp what we were trying to teach him ...and this really makes me proud! and his mummy, daddy, mama matun, achi and nenek are all so proud of him! By the way, he still wears disposable diapers at night time - we haven't got that far yet ...

Anyhow, this is the first time I actually involved in potty training ...and now I am sharing some tips (in case I have a reader who is interested :-))

(1) be ready for the hits and misses - especially the first week. A friend suggested we put our carpets away till he is fully trained.
(2) be patient - the kid may be confused with the situation as well, he may need extra time to adjust.
(3) don't scold the kid - i find that Al would cry if he actually "misses" the target, in a way he is ashamed- this was in Week 2 - it shows that he knew what he did was wrong -but he cannot help it. Being nice, and encouraging would help them to adjust....and i think scolding would make it worse for them
(4) praise - always praises him/her for the job well done. We did that ..Al seems happy everytime we told him "good job", "well done", "good boy" ....
(5) teach them to be hygienics - we taught Al to wash his hands and so on after peeing ...and use the sanitiser or wipes after washing his hands ...

I actually dreaded the prospect of having to potty train him, but since he is showing remarkable progress - I am happy that we did that. Now, we are waiting for the next step - to let go of the disposable diapers completely!

P/S there is no picture to accompany this entry ... for obvious reason. I don't want to embarrass my nephew ...