School of Potty Graduate

Terima kasih aku ucapkan pada those yg memberi kata smgt dan tips2 utk potty training kan anak2 tempohari, bedasarkan pengalaman masing2. Mmg byk tips yg ada over the internet and buku2 parenting, tp benar lah, x semua kaedah sesuai utk semua org dan setiap anak2 itu, lain2 cara mereka mengadaptasikan diri. Alhamdulillah, I can now announce that Aisyah is now succesfully potty trained!

Aku agak terkejut bcoz I thought it was going to take wayyyyy longer. Some books even said maybe up to a year, so mmg cuak la masa mula2 start tu kan. I must say it's a joint effort between me and Hubs, maybe slightly more credit to Hubs sbb dia lebih penyabar. But in large part, I think Aisyah belajar sendiri. We realized that bawak dia ke toilet frequently and paksa was not working. She just would NOT go wee wee. So the early part of the training mmg byk accidents kat ruang tamu, even sampai dkt sedozen sepender sehari pon ada, tp gigih la jua meneruskan training.

After about a week and half or training, she can go to do her business on her own, tinggal kena cebuk kan aje, but nak letak toilet seat and stool, plus tarik tisu dan lap diri sendiri dah pandai. Flush masih kena tolong lg sbb berat sgt nak tarik, dan kemudian tolong basuhkan tgn. Masih dikira assisted la kan, but happy sbb improvement yg sgt besar. On Saturday kitaorg keluar ke town, and we put her in a nappy, but bila balik umah tgk masih kering (keluar x lama, dlm 2-3 jam). Serta merta lps tu dia ke toilet. Mmg dah pandai tahan la rupanya, and no longer berminat utk kencing dlm nappy walaupon dipakaikan.

Even buang air besar pon dah bole kat toilet jg, this must be her very own self-learning sbb aku x masuk lg ajar bab berak2 ni. Tau2 je dia dah buang sendiri. Siap bercerita lg lps tu, 'My tummy hurt, poo poo toilet. I'm better now' (translate: saya sakit perut, pastu berak kat toilet. Skang dah ok). Except for yesterday dia leka tgk Little Einstein sampai terberak dpn TV, it has been nearly accident-free. Siap suruh 'Stay there' (menunjuk ke arah luar toilet), suruh Mummy tunggu kat luar, privacy lah konon.

Alhamdulillah jg, Aisyah has somehow trained herself to wake up at night as well, utk buang air kecik. A lot of books say night training takes time, kena master phase-by-phase dulu, but tau2 je dia dah bole bgn, even during sleep, baik nap time di siang hari or tido mlm, which really, really surprised me sbb aku ingatkan nak start train mlm tu dlm 3 bulan lg ke mcm tu. Apapon aku sgt2 bersyukur. Mungkin jg sbb aku bgn sahur (posa ganti) dan sbg nya kelentung kelentang kat dapur menyebabkan Aisyah terjaga just in time for potty kot.

Terima kasih pada K Wanni, sbb byk share idea2 yg berguna, psl Bloo, Mothercare Potty Pants, psg laptop masa potty, etc. Walaupon kami x sempat nak amalkan all of them, tp saya amat2 berterima kasih sbb akak share citer yg potty training ni bole amik masa hingga 4-5 bulan. It shifts my mental attitude, sbb nya, when you get books like, 'Potty Training in 3 Days' di pasaran, mana la x stress parents2 baru spt saya ni. Kan ke lps dah habis 3 hari dan x berjaya, terasa diri spt failure. Telling it more honestly that it can take months adalah lebih tepat dan realistik.

Terima kasih K Nida and Emma, for letting me know that yes, it is a very meticulous and tiring process. Repetition after repetition after repetition. Begitu jua, Mrs Adam, anonymous, Eti, K Anis, Yatie, Mast dan Si LabiLabi for the thoughts and personal advice. Eti, aku rasa betul la, kat Msia lg senang kot, sbb kat sini kan toilet nya pon carpeted, mana la nak bole suruh go je atas lantai dan siram air mcm tu je. Mmg from the start kena bertempat terus, atas toilet, which takes longer, but I believe is more disciplined. Spt juga mkn di meja or atas high chair, which Aisyah is accustomed to since baru2 srat mkn solid food lg, hasil pengaruh health visitor kat sini la suruh mkn atas meja with sudu garfu apa semua, and not berkejar2an satu rumah like a lot of mothers in Msia tolerated. Yg mana baik drpd negara org tu, bole la diambil ilmu nya dan apply.

Thanks also to Emma (again) and Yzma for layan-ning me on the phone dkt sejam lebih per person over this topic. Bila dapat share experiences ni, rasa ok sket, nature org pompuan kot nak kena jgk sesi luahan rasa :)

Sabb, I nak ucap terima kasih sgt pada u sbb u peringatkan I psl teknik Whispering pada anak2. I rasa in large part berjaya potty ni sbb teknik ni la. Membisikkan doa dan harapan pada anak2 semasa mereka tidur di waktu Subuh2 hening tu. Mmg dlm Islam pon ada disuruh setiap ibu bapa buat, tp kdg2 dlm kesibukan duniawi ni, cpt2 bgn dan buat segala hal, living life secara kelam kabut, kita terlupa nak buat. Hari pertama I buat mmg terkejut sbb mata Aisyah (dlm kelopak mata dia), bergerak2, seakan2 reacting and acknowledging my encouragement. Either that, or dia tgh bermimpi or in the middle of a kaw2 nya REM cycle, but SubhanAllah it works!

Seterusnya pada readers semua yg malu2 asam nak tinggalkan komen tu, serta ahli keluarga di Msia yg tahu psl Aisyah nya training ni, terima kasih atas doa2 kalian, yg nmpknya dimakbulkan Allah...

In my humblest opinion kan, potty training ni is not that hard, but can be very frustrating and annoying jgk, especially when you have a busy life to begin with. I think zaman mak2 kita kalo x kerja mungkin lebih flexible and sabar nak mengajar, tp skang rata2 semua org pompuan dah berkerjaya so it's very challenging to find the time and commit to it, without losing your sanity. And it might take longer jgk kalo kita hanya dpt train di waktu hujung minggu sahaja sbb weekdays kerja, balik pon dah lewat. Apapon, you've got to adapt la kan, lain ulu lain parang, lain dahulu, lain skang *sigh*

Keduanya, aku perasan yg setiap method tu x work utk semua org. Ada budak yg suka pakai portable potty, ada yg mcm Aisyah, suka di toilet terus. Ni aku dpt tahu drpd carer dia kat nursery, sbb di nursery ada dua2 pilihan, and when potty time, Aisyah pilih toilet seat. Also, Aisyah jenis x bole dipaksa mcm military-style. Alhamdulillah she found her own way, and x sampai part kena bribe2 dia dgn coklat or sticker lg hehehe.

Ketiganya, kalo nak train kena give a lot of notice in advance pada anak2 tu. Sorry Aisyah, Mummy main paksa aje. We needed to get you potty trained before you start your Key Stage Foundation when you turn 3 years old in June, tu yg ala2 kamikaze sket tu. I am quite nervous plak bila pikir2 psl persekolahan anak2 and their expectation in the future, sbb ni baru nak masuk a 'good' nursery pon dah ada requirement, MUST lulus potty training, mcm mana besok kalo budak2 ni nak masuk good boarding schools ke, good university ke? Parah gini... tp reality. Patut la a few of my frens already cerita psl pendaftaran kemasukan anak2 ke darjah satu when the child is only 5 (in Msia). Competitive uols rupanya! Now this, is a world that I am about to thread into, like it or not huhuhuhh. Lindungi lah aku drpd menjadi ibu yg over-kiasu!


Oh, and click here to read another true story of potty training and the stress mothers' have to go through in fear of their children not getting a place in playschool for not being potty trained in time, by Lindsay Ferrier (USA) - I love her blog! Dari dulu lg baca, tp lama x jengah, skali ada tulis psl potty, cuma it would have been more useful to me kalo aku baca 2 weeks ago masa baru2 start ngan Aisyah. Oh well, it's a good laugh now sbb Aisyah pon ada jg simptom sedemikian, nasib x sampai sembelit je (kes xnak berak selagi x de nappy) ;)

PS: I recommend buku kat atas utk parents yg nak start potty training. Quite good, and tone dia x memaksa spt yg ada satu lg buku ni.