Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Potty Training: Our Own Way, Our Own Terms

After D's circumcision, I thought that we'd have a short vacation from using our stash of cloth diapers (and when I say stash, I mean his 60++ cloth diapers). Since the surgeon advised open dressing, he was basically "bottom"-less during his recovery stage...the first two weeks anyway. So, naturally, we just stayed home and didn't go to any social events or mall trips. The scabbing became more and more evident when we were on Days 10 and forward of his recovery which meant that his wound is healing just fine. I'm sure it was itchy because during the night he would be scratching it while sleeping. And yes, that meant bed wetting as well because of the "bottom"-less deal.

We already noticed from the beginning of his recovery that he was able to hold his pee for a longer period of time, let's say an hour to an hour and a half, before he would go. Out came the towels and rags to wipe off the mess but I was slowly keeping a cycle of how he would pee. During the third week of his recovery stage, he was a little braver in a sense that he would pick on his scabs. I think he also noticed that part of his anatomy more because he had no bottoms on. His first obvious signal to us was that he would cry and it did take us some time to get the message during that week. Also, we noticed that as long as he would pee before he'd sleep and right after he'd wake up...we would have dry nights.

We also noticed during the third week of his recovery that he HATED wearing bottoms! Well, he hated his cloth diapers and he certainly hated being dressed up! Two weeks at home and that's what happens! After a battle royale, we did get some clothes on him and managed to attend our weekly playgroup. I was careful and made sure to change his pull-ups every hour, when Yaya Wilma and I changed his pull-ups, it was actually dry and he peed on the sink! We were then aware that he didn't want to pee in his pull-ups or bottoms and would rather pee in the bathroom.

Now, it's been a month and a week since his circumcision. His wound is all healed and he's all well, though there's still his VCUG pending (I still hope this is unnecessary and can be cancelled). He signals that he wants to go by pointing at the bathroom door and calling out to us. Before he sleeps at night, we make it a point to head on over to the bathroom and pee (no matter how small the amount of the pee) and I am rest assured that he can hold his bladder until early morning. Or, if he stirs in the night and would start crying and holding his groin, L carries him to the bathroom and he pees. Of course, as soon as he is beside me...he goes back to the breast for a quick drink and then snores back to dreamland.

He hasn't stopped his night feedings and I know that he's not ready for that. But I am quite proud that he has the ability to control his bladder at 19 months. That was a journey that I hope to not experience anymore (we're crossing our fingers that his urinalysis would be clear) and we have learned a lot. I understand that circumcision is a choice of a parents especially when the child is not aware and I know we have made the best decision for him because it was for his health.

Did we actually potty train him? I'd say not. Are we still potty training him? Yes, we are. We look at his signs and cues from him, and we keep a schedule in such a way that we head to the bathroom once every hour and a half or two hours so that he can empty his bladder.

I'd say that we did the "potty training" in our own way and our own terms. Do we have a goal that he be potty trained when he reaches a certain age? Weird as it may sound, no. I'd say that we're taking it all in stride and what amazes me is that we leave it all up to D.

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