Potty Training: Day five (morning)

I’m on day 5 of potty training our 19 month old triplets. Is it easy? No way! It is really hard and the mess is unbelievable but I see improvements everyday, so I know we are doing the right thing. I wish it was over but I know it is a long road but a great reward at the end. The one thing I wish is that I knew what our parents did (exactly).

The generations before us had their kids potty trained BY 18 months on average. It has only been in the last 20-30 years that the mentality (mostly in the US) has changed to “wait until they tell you their ready” which tends to be closer to 3 years old. So how did we go from 18 months to 3 years old as “normal” for potty training? Did you know that around the world the average age for potty training is 18 months NOT 3 years old, as it is in the US? Has it just become easier to leave the kids in disposable diapers until they are old enough to carry on a conversation about it? Have we as parents become too busy to take on the amount of time it takes to help the younger toddlers to master this skill? Is it because a lot of parents both have to work to make ends meet?  These are all questions in my mind as to why this is so different here in the US. Here is my biggest question though: Why, if a parent chooses to try to potty train at this age, do other parents make comments like “your pushing them too hard”, “It’s WAY too soon to be trying”, “you shouldn’t be trying”? Now let me clarify here, I am not saying that waiting longer is such a bad thing either. Everyone needs to chose what is best for them, their family, and their toddler. There seems to be advantages and disadvantages to both, but please be supportive to other moms no matter which one they chose. Potty training is hard enough without other moms being judgmental. Anyway on to our updates: Caitlin pooped in the potty today! She came over and wanted to sit on the potty and then did it. I am so excited for her. She still hasn’t peed there yet but she goes to her potty often and sits on her own. I am pretty sure she feels it because when she stands up she goes. Just need to convince her that she needs to sit longer..lol. Criton: Early morning went good. He even sat and peed on the potty before starting to do the peeing on the floor. He is really good about starting a little on the floor, stopping the moment I grab him, and finishing in the potty. So there is definite progress. Haley: Surprisingly she is the furthest along (had thought it would be Caitlin). She only had one partial accident this morning, the rest were in the potty. She still cries at me when she needs to go instead of just going and sitting on the potty by herself but it will come with some time. Well it looks like our nap has ended early due to some outside noise…. so it is back to the grind for me! Right now I feel like my life revolves around the potty but I know in time it will get better and I am super proud of the progress they are making.