The Dreaded Toilet

We haven't really pursued potty-training with Evan yet, but ask him from time to time if he wants to go pee in the toilet. He always has a very insistent NO. Evan actually is very fearful of sitting on the toilet. He isn't scared of the toilet itself. He loves to flush the toilet for Rob and I and isn't scared of that. He is just deathly afraid of sitting on it, even with his potty-seat on it. This is probably Evan's biggest fear that we know of. So a few months ago we bribed Evan that if he peed in the toilet he could have Arthur the train. This is the train he has been wanting for months!

Well this bribe hasn't even been big enough to overcome this dreaded fear of sitting on the toilet, until this past weekend that is. Friday night Evan walked into the bathroom as I was in there and started laughing. He thought the sound of urine in the toilet bowl was hilarious. So I asked him if he wanted to sit on the toilet and make the tinkle, tinkle sound in the toilet. Of course I reminded him that he would get Arthur. He said yes. I was shocked, but then again he had said yes twice before and once I got his pants off and was about to take his diaper off he started screaming. Thus I thought this time would be no different. But it was. Evan sat on the toilet and kept saying, "I want to make tinkle tinkle noise". But he just couldn't relax enough to do so. I figured we would try again another day.

Today after church Evan tried again and still couldn't fulfill his dream of making the "tinkle tinkle" sound. He just couldn't relax. How do you teach a kid to relax and just let it out?!?! Evan kept saying, "It's not working". As if he now had some problem urinating! Well we said he could try again after his nap. Thus we did and Evan refused to get off the toilet until he peed in it. He really wanted Arthur. We read books, sang songs, and drank a lot of water, but still no success. Now we were having the opposite problem, Evan didn't want to get off the toilet. We convinced Evan to get off and run around with his pants off (I never thought I would be one of those moms!) and let us know when he needed to pee. Well within 5 minutes I hear Evan say,"It's coming Mom!". So Evan and I run into the bathroom and he sits on the toilet. I notice there is a drop of urine on his shirt and realized it really was coming. But once again, Evan got stage fright and stated, "Mom, it's not working!". Rob and I felt so bad at this point because Evan really was being brave sitting on the toilet but he couldn't produce the urine that was required to obtain Arthur. So we put a Thomas movie on our portable DVD player and let him watch it while he sat on the toilet. Hoping this would relax him. Here is a picture of the set up.Rob and I were in the kitchen cooking dinner and we hear Evan scream out, "I get Arthur!". Rob and I rush into the bathroom and sure enough Evan has urinate about a teaspoon or so! It must have taken Evan by surprise and scared him enough to stop his flow. But he did it! And that is what mattered. So even though Evan will probably not use the toilet for another 6 months, he is at least not terrified of sitting on it anymore. I think Evan has a ways to go before he is really ready to be potty trained. Right now he could care less if he has a soaking wet diaper on and doesn't want to stop playing to go into the bathroom. I agree, isn't it a lot easier just to go in your pants? Well that is fine for now especially since this isn't the best time to start potty training with a baby on the way within the next 2-3 weeks. For now Evan can revel in the fact that he has Arthur and he loves to brag to everyone that "went pee pee and poo poo in the potty and I get Arthur!", even though he only went pee pee and only a few drops at that! But we are still very happy that our boy is over the fear of the toilet.