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GLUM MUMMAS I THE FINAL PANT-DOWN (HUGGIES POTTY TRAINING)

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COOL BUBBAS | Huggies Potty Training Journey part deux

The first day of pre-school makes for a very nerve-wracking and emotive milestone, as your little one makes the first steps from mummy's little baby to toddler.

My stomach swirled as I thought of my little one heading off. Eating his lunch on his own (well, with his new friends) and doing all the things he'd usually do with me, without me.

But more importantly, the challenge of him being completely dry, i.e. out of nappies - I'd miserably failed at.

I worried for days if I'd be judged and how my poor little pup would feel with no mummy to sprint to him with his beloved red cars potty, and if the alien inordinate object; the cold seated toilet (complete with trailing paper bog roll) would freak him out.

You may have read our last foray into the world of potty training with the 6 Steps to Potty Success with Huggies READ HERE. We started rather late, as we had lots of wobbles due to constipation and are still tackling that blip. But now comes the huge challenge of confidence around new people.

The challenge, unbeknown to them, now became in the hands of his pre-school teachers.

Their main objective to give him the confidence to sit on a new potty, around people he barely knew. While I took the role of the co-driver, bellowing out left, right and 'put your darn foot down', armed at the finish line with car stickers whenever he romped home to victory.

Stoic and confident (ish), I sent him off a pair of cotton pants instead of his Huggies® Pull-Ups® *gulps*, knowing it was a case of 'wee or poo roulette' (i.e. if he managed to wee in a toilet rather than his pants). I am a bit naughty, but if I'm honest the thought did make me chuckle.

Fast forward 6 hours (yes, no messing about in my house), tough love and a FULL first day (none of this half day palaver) and I arrived at 3pm to collect him.

I hid behind the gate waiting nervously, and couldn't see him. Although I could hear 'plane, plane!' in a chirruping manner (his voice, obvs) - good sign, right?

I waited and waited, and spied a blonde, blue eyed cherub in shorts, tee and, well, it wasn't my son...he'd left home in a navy tracksuit?

Turns out it was.

Albie's first day resulted in him being the ONLY child kitted out in a completely different uniform because he, you guessed it, he’d had a ‘number 2’ type accident.

Practise makes perfect

I'd like to think the new surroundings contributed to Albie's little mishap, as consistency, routine and practise are conducive to winning at potty training. Repetition helps your little one feel in control, and as mothers, tantrums, tears and defiance from the offspring leave us feeling everything but.

So it's working together as a team and making every aspect of potty training fun.

Washing his hands became a routine, as it became exciting standing up on his stool to reach the sink - he soon started to ask me to pull his sleeves up as he remembered the order in which his ablutions happened.

Every time we achieved a poo (which isn't that often yet to be fair) - a car sticker was emblazoned on his t-shirt. If that's not an incentive, I don't know what is!

A couple of weeks in, I started to incorporate a bed time wee, leaving the potty by the bed and a Huggies® Night Time Pull-Up® on for extra safety (with his fave Lightening McQueen on), and explaining how his 'big boy pants' are easily pulled up and down. I never ever referred to the Pull-Up as a nappy, it isn't. There needs to be a clear distinction between pants and nappies - and the Huggies® Pull-Up® is the imperative transitional middle stage to potty training the hell out of life.

The Huggies® Pull-Ups® Daytime pants feature a unique learning liner which briefly mimics the feeling of real wet underwear - without the mess, so they're the ideal step up from a nappy without going in too brutal, too soon.

Trust me, a poo squishing out the sides of flimsy pants ain't pretty.

Learning wet from dry

Not scolding, but gently telling and reminding your child that they have wee'd in their Pull-Up, then introducing a fresh, dry one, is great for instilling confidence.

Accidents are a valuable way of helping your little one to tackle this most difficult stage. It's going to happen - be prepared to deal with it. I won't lie, there are many times I've wanted to scream as my expensive cow hide carpet spent more time wet than it did dry - but perseverance is key.

Three weeks down, I was amazed at how Albie refuses to wee in his Pull-Ups, and shouts for the potty. In fact one evening I heard him shuffling about and turns out he had a poo, confident in his safe environment and pulled them up and down all by himself. So proud and amazed was I!

I am pleased to report a few weeks in and we've had very few accidents - none at school, aside from getting over-zealous with yoghurt.

The children are regularly 'toileted' so the routine at pre-school is certainly having a positive effect.

We've given the poo's he finds so painful and hard to pass fond endearments.

We have the slithering snake. The circle (said in an American accent, as Albie watches too much Bob train), or the rather fetching rocket.

I said you had to make this fun, right?

We're struggling a bit with the night-time routine, I've tried a few evenings Pull-Up free, but found myself a little friend sharing my bed at 3am - and inevitably sharing a warm sensation too....

But next week it'll be full on military fun tackling this stage (Step 4 of the 6 Steps to Potty Success).

I do wonder what his teachers will make next time he tells them they've got a snake down the loo?

Are you ready to start your journey? If so, have a look here HUGGIES POTTY TRAINING STEPS

Lauren x

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Practising with his Pull-ups

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COOL BUBBAS | Huggies Potty Training Diaries

Our potty training journey has been eventful, to say the least.

My son was ready before two; he showed a lot of interest in my toilet habits (a bit like my cat who insists on sitting on my lap whilst I go for a wee).

We were on track. I was so proud, he poo'd and wee'd in his potty - a few accidents here and there but it started VERY well.

There was mainly a cheeky poo in the trouser leg whilst playing with his trains, or a nice 'present' after his bath and clapping himself for his achievement on the mat rather than a nappy. Well, what can you say?!

We also had the standard floaters in the bath, and me fishing them out with his £1.99 stacking cups (best purchase ever).

Then it all went HORRIBLY wrong.

My son, Albie, 2, suffered from horrendous constipation - screaming and crying through a poo, rushing to the furthest corner of the house if he ever felt the rumble of potential movement.

It then got the point of refusing to push and holding his toilet movements in.

Three to four days later he'd have a temperature, be irascible, refusing to eat - I can only imagine how I'd feel if I was clogged up, but for a little baby - it's far more traumatic.

Picture this; It got to the point when I saw him bend over and go bright red, I’d end up throwing him onto the floor and having to manipulate (pull) the poo out of him, then after the hard bit would follow a few days of 'slurry'.

It was so heart-breaking to see - we realised then we had a problem, and he associated the potty with pain.

Now, he has to take a poo softener almost every day to help him go; Movical is prescribed by the doctor and is an osmotic laxative for chronic constipation. It relieves constipation because it causes the water it is taken with to be retained in the bowel, which help soften the stools and make it easier to pass them.

So we're at a very tricky point. He's just starting pre-school (and meant to be fully dry) and I'm sure I'll be frowned upon for my ‘poor’ job.

So, we started our potty training journey again with Huggies^® Pull Ups^®and are using their six step potty training success guide.

Step One - Readiness

Check if your little one is ready. You'll know. They'll start to tell you if their wee'ing or need a poo. Do not base your decision on age.

My little one started telling me quite early, but we're at a stage now where I have to ask him.

A small percentage of children are fully trained before 24 months old, but most make the leap around their third. Girls seem to be much easier to train than boys (we've seen in my NCT circle this) due to the sitting down aspect, but if you are worried and they get to 3 and there's nothing and no signs - visit your GP.

Visit this helpful link below for the 8 signs of readiness.

Huggies Potty Training Steps

Step Two - Say goodbye to nappies, hello to Huggies

Whether you go straight to pants, and probably experience a lot of accidents and washing, or opt for the Huggies option - this is your imperative step two.

We were provided with big boy pants, Huggies Pull-Ups Day Time and Huggies Night Time, rewards such as stickers and toys, a couple of potties dotted about, a few bathroom toys for use while waiting on the potty for the magic to happen.

Huggies Pull-Ups teach little one that they are making the step to a big kid, and have boy and girl Disney designs to help make potty training fun.

What's great about them is they have the right amount of protection to manage accidents whilst your little one is getting the hang of things, and they have soft, stretchy sides to enable them to be pulled up and down easily like normal pants. Reseal able sides help make them easier to remove in the case of BIGGER accidents, which we're all so familiar with....

Step Three - Start Practising

For us, it's differentiating the difference between being naked and wearing pull ups/pants and the fact you need to pull them down in order to do your wares and obviously being naked is just a mad sprint to the potty.

Practise certainly makes perfect. I guess it's like driving a car (which I still can't do) and it's being aware to go, pulling down pants and bottoms, sitting on the potty, washing hands - there's a lot to remember.

Try to make potty time fun, like we do - and turn all the mini activities into a game, praise where due, or my tip - keep highlighting the fact my little one is such a 'big boy' and clever. Although the other day he didn't want to do something so he became a 'big boy, little boy, big boy'. Ok.

As part of our kit, Huggies sent us stickers, a potty which plays music. Whenever he wees into it, it plays the Lambada in an odd birthday card tinny kind of tune (you know the ones that blast into happy birthday when you open them).

He spends the next two minutes discombobulated saying; 'what’s that noise?!'

So we've just opted for the simple praise, a sticker for a number two (which really hasn't happened very often of late) he's so frightened to go - that he'd rather do it into his pull-up and sit in it, than alert me and have to sit on the toilet/potty and push it out. Luckily I now know the sign to look out for; him lying on his front and/or hiding under a table, in a corner so I whip him onto the potty, but it doesn't always work...

Step Four - Learn from Wet to Dry

This is probably the hardest part.

If you're my son, you'll be happy to hide the fact there's a nugget in your pants in order to get out of being changed/touched, sat on the potty.

Wee's - we've mustered very well, and the easiness of the pull-up has helped him make the transition into pants very quickly. However, the step backwards is, overnight we put on the night-time Huggies, because I know at some point in the night/early hours of the morning the inevitable poo will start making its way down the colon ready for his 'regular man' morning poop.

As with everything with children, routine is key.

Teaching them the difference between wet and dry and showing them they have wee'd in their pants and it's much better to do it in the potty - and being dry is best is a way of helping them understand the end achievement.

We play the pour the wee/poo down the toilet and my little one gets to flush it down - games, fun, routine - for us, it's the most important thing to make a child feel confident about their wee and poo achievements.

Step Five - Be Consistent 24/7

We're just getting to this stage - wee's, we've mustered. We do our last wee before bedtime, but I'm just that little bit frightened to leave him completely pant/Huggie-free due to impending poos.

I actually forgot to put a Huggies Pull-Up on a few weeks back, and heard shuffling about upstairs. I ran up thinking he may be being naughty and not in bed, but the clever little bean had got up, found his potty and done a poo on it!

The nerve pathways between the bladder and the brain must grow strong enough to awaken a child from a deep sleep (gluten regularly does this to me) but not only that, your little one has to be alert enough to haul themselves out of bed to get to the loo before the inevitable accident.

To help with potty training success, it's best to take a consistent and relaxed approach. Accidents are very normal - so they should be handled patiently, and with support. Not like me last night going mad because the potty was near him yet he decided to have an accident all over my cow hide carpet.

Step Six - Keep up the Good Work!

We're Stuck between the first four steps at the moment, we have good and bad days, but every child is different when it comes to potty training.

It could be the fact my son goes to his nanny and grandad who have always been consistent and great when it comes to his toilet movements. But then as a single mum he seems to play me up and push my buttons, and may have a slightly different routine at his fathers (despite me drumming in what needs to be done).

The main thing for rewarding good work is praise. I find this every day in work - when I get praise I'm buzzing. I want to do more and achieve more. So I can only hope this is the same with my toddler.

The Huggies six steps guide advises to not just yell out 'wow, clever, great job!' etc, but to make an observation about the skill your child just demonstrated. Perhaps, 'Well done, you held your wee so you made it to the toilet." or "You pulled your trousers/pants down all on your own."

Finding the right praise is a great way of being respectful of your child's growing up and independence without any pressure from your end.

www.pottytraining.co.uk

* Sponsored Post*

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NEW MUMMA I IN THE CLUB - & THE VERY LONG JOURNEY THERE...

Hi, I'm Cat. I'm new to this site but here to stay.

After a short hiatus and a mini makeover, we've both (myself & Lauren) put our heads together and decided to rebirth the baby (URbeautiful baby), so to speak.

I'm going to regale you with my very long tale of how it took me to become part of the 'club' I hankered after for so long.

When I first toyed with the idea of blogging on Baby Ur Beautiful, it was going to be from a slightly different perspective – it was going to be for the baby-less; the women that apparently don’t hold a stake in societies future according to some failed leaders.

After years of peeing on sticks at various times in a month, faddy diets and the, “You’re leaving it a bit late” comments (which forced me to bury my head deeper into that cheeky bottle of Marlborough/gin and end the night sobbing on my friends shoulders).
I remained the taboo one – the one without a child, and it's hard to forget these comments as my story eventually got its happy ending.

Don’t get me wrong. There were rays of hope. I got pregnant fairly quickly after we had decided to “start trying”.
Six months after getting married I gagged at the smell of broccoli (which I love) shouted a lot at my husband, and suddenly it dawned on me – I was pregnant!
I basked in my smug secret, idly looked at baby clothes and drank ginger ale from a champagne glass clad in my bridesmaid gear at my BFF’s wedding (theoretically I was an Usherette but that takes too long to explain!)
It was to be short lived, however.

Two weeks after the giddy delight of watching two blue lines pop up on a stick it all went horribly wrong. In hindsight I’d ignored some key signs that it was about to. I’d searched chat sites for reassurance; brown discharge = normal, right sided cramping = normal, morning sickness miraculously disappearing at 8.5 weeks = normal.
Hospitals don’t deal with miscarriage very well – in fact they are fairly useless.
On one level I can understand why; there’s nothing they can do and you are not ill.
On another level I question the motives of some health care professionals for choosing such a vocation.

It was a Bank Holiday and we had gone into London to support a friend who had organised a fun run in aid of Leukaemia Research. I woke up that morning and didn’t feel great, but I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what felt wrong so I brushed it off – if Rich could run 10km whilst waiting to see if his treatment had worked and he was in remission I could get my backside into London to support him.
We met everyone at the pub post run. I had the most expensive pint ever. Two bottles of Becks Blue poured into a glass so no one would know - oh the irony!
A couple of hours later we were finishing up; congratulating runners, saying our goodbyes to friends and planning to leave for along leisurely lunch to finish the afternoon.
As a matter of course I popped to the toilet before we left. I’ll never forget that moment as I glance down and looked at the toilet bowl that was a sea of red. I froze. What should I do?
I quickly pulled myself together told P (husband) we needed to go straight home and in a hushed whisper on the street outside I explained what I’d just seen.
We decided to head home and go straight to the hospital. Once on the tube I changed my mind. I needed answers now - not in 40 minutes.
We headed to the nearest hospital in East London. We were seen quickly. They did the standard urine and blood tests and discerned what I already knew – I was pregnant. More than that they couldn’t tell me.
The nurse asked to see my panty liner and declared (with a glimmer of patronisation) that with such a small amount of blood on it I was experiencing a standard level of bleeding that for some unexplained reason happens to a lot of women within pregnancy.
The doctor readily agreed that I was looking and evidently feeling far too well to be experiencing a miscarriage.
I was packed off home and told that unless I experienced signs of an ectopic I was to wait until Wednesday and return for a scan.I went home.
I continued to bleed. I returned on the Wednesday to the Early Pregnancy Unit(EPU) where after a 90 minute wait I was given an internal scan (with the wand that is now affectionately known as dildo cam in our house). The Sonographer, a lady of Polish origin, foraged about for a while and then said “Are you sure you were pregnant? There’s nothing there!” and that was how I learned that I had definitely lost my baby.

Miscarriage is much more common than people would think but it still remains a taboo subject. I am fairly open about most things in life so told people it had happened and many then opened up and shared their stories with me.
Then there is the other side of the spectrum the people spouting the hard facts and the 1 in 10 pregnancies end in miscarriage. Slightly tactless, you think?

The one thing everybody assured me was at least I knew I could get pregnant.
That it would happen again very soon. It didn’t.

After a year where nothing happened I asked for a referral to fertility clinic. We were both “textbook perfect” for everything with the exception of me having fibroids and these seemed to be of little concern.
There followed a year’s treatment of various medications. Some that stimulated eggs, others that released them and we were sent home to perform mechanical sex 18 hours later - still nothing.
The Consultant decided that IVF was our only option and we agreed, attended an introductory lecture and planned to begin at the end of the year. Three weeks later I discovered I was pregnant.
This pregnancy was much shorter lived than the first. In fact I could have blinked and missed it.
I discovered I was pregnant on the Friday evening and by 7am on Monday morning I was sitting in A+E wedged between a lady who appeared to be suffering a nervous breakdown and a surly looking boy cuffed to an accompanying policeman. I had no doubt this time I had miscarried. The clots of liverish sludge, the agonising stomach cramps that were forcing me to try and curl into a foetal position as I unashamedly sobbed.
This time the news was broken in a slightly different way. A very harassed Indian doctor with a plethora of ear stubble simply said to me, “you were pregnant but now you’re not”.

IVF had to be delayed as a result until the start of this year. I decided to throw everything I had at it. My Friday night tipple became peppermint tea. I had acupuncture, reflexology and took up yoga.
I meditated. I reacted quite sensitively to all drugs. It was hell on earth. I felt tired, sick emotional and as though my body didn’t belong to me – it didn’t. All seemed to go quite well. They harvested 11 eggs, 10 fertilised. Then 10 fell apart. They thought the drugs might have been too potent. They weren’t quite sure. At my follow up appointment I was told that it was only worth one more go. We agreed to pay an extra 1k for various drugs; anti rejection drips, Clexane to thin the blood, steroids (which would ensure a hefty weight gain on top of all the hormones). This all came with a health warning though – I was old (38 to be precise) and therefore I was probably not getting pregnant because my eggs were old. If round 2 didn’t work my next option was egg donation.

After a long chat we decided to give my body a break and delay round 2 until the beginning of August.
So here I am. I should be preparing for round 2 of IVF. Instead I am preparing for a 20 week scan!

My initial reaction was “How did that happen?", apart from the obvious answer!
Typically and almost annoyingly as everyone says it’s when you are not thinking about it that you fall *coughs Lauren* – I had become pregnant in a normal month where I had eaten whatever I fancied, drunk more than a little (I’d been on a long weekend to Ireland – enough said) and generally had fun.
I’m naturally delighted. I’m also petrified.

The first weeks after I found out were the worst. There was no excitement when I saw two blue lines – I didn’t dare feel excitement, but when I saw a heart beat on a grainy picture in our local hospital I felt a surge of love I’d never felt before. I felt it was important to acknowledge the struggle it has been to get to where I am today – and I am mindful it is a long journey ahead.

Future blog posts will therefore have to be about the here and now – all the bits that no one tells you and I promise they won’t be as long as this (within reason!)