Well, we’ve decided to attempt potty training….

This is something I had not realised everyone and his dog has an opinion on. It’s really hard to navigate when you are a first-time parent and you hear these type of comments ALL THE TIME…

• “Oh god it was horrendous, one of the worst things we’ve ever had to do”
• “Isn’t she potty trained already? Shouldn’t you be doing it now?”
• “Just wait til they are ready, then they just do it by themselves, and it’s easy”
• “Most of the other kids her age are already potty-trained…”
• “With boys it’s so much easier”
• “Oh you don’t need to read any books about it, they don’t need to be “TRAINED” – when they are ready they’ll just know how to do it and you won’t have to do anything”
• “Good luck – that was the hardest 6 months of my bloody life”
• “No but really, when are you potty-training her?”
• “Don’t rush it, I see so many parents trying to do it before their kids are ready, and it takes ages”
• “Don’t bother about all that – just let them run around naked for a while and accept that there will be piss and shit all over everything”
• “Seriously though, when ARE you going to potty-train her?”
• “My kids were potty-trained at 18 months….”
• “My kids weren’t potty-trained til they were 3 or 4”
• “My kid learned in 2 days and it was easy”
• “My kid took 7 months to learn and it was hell”
• “If you’re having to read a book about it, or ask for advice then she’s probably not ready yet, and you should wait”

and so on…. Continue reading →