Things have been so busy since we’ve been expecting our second little girl that I haven’t been able to post about Jackie’s behavior or milestones. Since I originally started this as a toileting blog, I thought I should update this to determine if taking her to the potty so early in life was successful in leading her to independence.
She turned two on March 27th, and has been potty trained and only in underwear for months! She initiates and is also taken on a schedule just in case. She earns a fruit snack for peeing in the potty and a lollipop for pooping in the potty. We are very happy we made it a routine early in life so it’s always been a part of her life. We didn’t have to do much training to teach her to be independent because she has been so accustomed to sitting and going from a young age. Yesterday we went to DC to the zoo all day and went to Dave and Busters for dinner until 9pm. She stayed in the same underwear all day—she peed in the potty each time we took her and pooped twice in the potty! I was so amazed and proud of her. She surprises even me with how good she is getting with toileting successfully. This morning was another time where she requested to poop in the potty without just going on a schedule. We are very happy with our decision to toilet her as an infant and to make sitting in the bathroom part of her regular routine. It made my day to see her so successful with toileting, especially when in public all day. She has generalized beautifully.
On the metro on the way home from DC, Jackie was talking to her relatives on the train, saying hello to everyone, singing, and speaking sentences. The woman next to me asked how old she was and I said she just turned two. The woman continued to tell me that she was a Speech pathologist and very impressed with Jackie’s language! That also made my day yesterday! It’s always nice to hear her accomplishments aren’t all in my head because I am her mom!
2 year appointment: As you know I am a board certified behavior analyst, so I have been working hard to help build communication and independence in Jackie. We went to the 2 year pediatrician appointment on her birthday, and the pediatrician was very excited to hear Jackie talking and laughing in the room. They asked me to get her down to her diaper, and were shocked that she was in underwear. I expected her to be shy and not demonstrate her language skills, but she was talking in full sentences to the doctor during the session. To top it off, in the middle of our appointment, she independently went toward the door and said “I have to go sit down potty, mommy” and started opening the door. When we came back from the bathroom, the pediatrician asked for my business card :)
Milestones by her second birthday: She has a very big vocabulary and usually speaks in 5-8 word sentences. We hardly see any tantrum behavior and I believe her language is a big reason for that, because she has learned using her words is easier. She can count in order from 1-13. She knows basic shapes and she does now know her colors yet. She is potty trained and is only in underwear during the day. She only wears a diaper at night (although she often wakes up dry.) Eventually, wearing underwear at night will be our next step in this process.
Happy Second Birthday, Jackie!
Great post Colleen! I am glad to hear that potty training her so early is working out well for you. With both my boys potty training had been something that they did on and off but not on a regular basis. But when I did do the hardcore one week of training with my oldest he was already so familiar with the potty that it was a breeze. My 2 year old is also in underwear but sadly he doesn't really care if he uses the potty or his pants. I keep him on a pretty good routine though and I expect he will come around in time.
ReplyDeleteI, too, love getting nice comments about my boys. Even though I know each child is different and whether they do something early or later doesn't really matter I just love to hear any good points about them from others.
Congratz to you and Jackie!