Firstly. The 3L/Day Water Challenge.
I didn’t even last a week. Sigh. Don’t blame me, or my inability to keep to any semblance of a routine, BLAME THE KIDNEYS. Seriously. No less than three people contacted me after I wrote that post, politely expressing concern about my malfunctioning kidneys and the amount of water I was drinking, and that it might not be a great idea for someone already low on electrolytes to be flushing her body of electrolytes.
I am smart, so I replied, “Why thank you, Internets! But you forget, I am CURED!” (and by “cured” I clearly meant “in denial”, because three days later I couldn’t figure out why I wanted to do nothing but curl up in a migraine-y ball on the couch watching house of cards and crying until I finally put 2+2 together and realized that everyone was, in fact, correct. It’s always a great sign when The Internets is more aware of your health than you are, right?)
So anyway, that went well.
However. If you do not have a horrifically inconvenient kidney disease, I would greatly recommend this water thing. Even within that 5-6 days the skin on my face looked clearer and more even toned, and I could see how a month would make a huge difference. Water! Does a body good. Who knew?
Potty Training. Or not.
A lovely lady named Megan contacted me and asked for an update on the early potty training. I have to apologize to Megan, because this will be the lamest update in the history of updates.
The backstory: We started sitting Olive on the potty at 6 months (this one. It’s biodegradeable and fit her perfectly). She regularly pooped in the mornings, and usually peed when we sat her on it at other times of day. For a long time we never had to change dirty diapers. It was sublime. Then I don’t know what happened, I’m not sure if it was because she got more mobile or I went back to work but somehow the routine sort of fell apart, and because we weren’t in our house I didn’t (and still don’t) feel ok fully potty training her. I hear it involves lots of accidents, and I am infinitely more comfortable with her peeing on my floors than someone else’s.
I think if the situation had been different I would have tried to train her using the 3-day method that’s been floating around the internet, at around 18 months. As it stands, she is now 20 months and often tells us when she has to go and we get her onto the toilet fast enough it’s lovely. Other times she runs and hides, protecting her her business like it is some sort of filthy treasure and her diaper is Fort Knox.
What Megan wanted to know, however, is if early potty training is worth it. YES. Unequivocally yes. Here’s why: It gets them used to the potty before they even know what it is. By the time Olive was old enough to understand processes and procedures, she had already been sitting on the potty for six months. It just opened up another alternative for where pee and poop goes, and if your life has a little less chaos in it than mine has in the last few months I think it’s completely reasonable that a child could be totally potty trained by 18 months.
I hereby solemnly swear to do another update when I fully potty-train little miss O, I am still aiming for before she’s two years old – I am so done with washing diapers! And ready for her to fit pants normally, too. (Fluffy butts for the win!)
This ends my two quick updates.
xo.
7 Comments
You know, 20mo was exactly when it started to click for my son, and we’d been doing a lazy part-time E.C. with him since birth. I say you’re right on schedule! (We were much more gung-ho about E.C. with our daughter, and she was done at a little over a year, but I’m honestly not sure which path I would take if we have a third child. Lazy usually wins in this household, as evidenced by the state of our floors.)
Oh that’s so encouraging that I haven’t missed the boat altogether!
Not at all! Precisely as you pointed out, the main thing is getting the potty in there early enough to be an unquestioned background feature in life and not some mysterious forbidden zone that suddenly becomes foisted upon the kid right at the age when toddler resistance is at its height.
Hi ladies. I was inspired to put my little one on the toilet around 6 months. I was beyond pleased with myself when I’d read her cues and she would do her business and I would save a diaper. Then, I don’t know if it was my stress with some changes in our routine, or the changes in her regularity and cues as she was eating more solid food and was generally more aware of things. She’s 12 months now and only goes on the potty occasionally. So, interesting that our patterns are slightly similar, even without a move. I would love to hear your upcoming choices and how it goes!
That video was fantastic! I think you did a great job!
annnnd I’m obviously commenting on the wrong blog post 🙂 this is in reference to the MamaMatra vid
Thank you, Kelly! That’s so kind of you to say.