Childproofing Potty Training

[Anonymous]

Okay, I need some mommy expertise. I need advice on two questions:

1. Most of our cupboards are childproofed, but Isaac has learned how to unlatch them! What do you do once they learn to do that? Yes, he’s old enough to know better, but he doesn’t always obey when I tell him to stay out of certain cupboards. Any ideas?
We have cupboards without handles and these latches:

I have a problem with them getting into the fridge. I’m sure there are fridge latches too, but I’m afraid they would just learn how to open them.

2. Next Question: Isaac just turned four, and has been potty trained for quite some time
– during the day. But I still put a diaper on him at night. I’m just
wondering how I go about training him at night? He doesn’t wake up at
all during the night, but wakes up in the morning with a wet diaper.
I’m afraid if I put him in underwear at night, he won’t wake up and
will end up wetting the bed. Any ideas?

[Anonymous]

Okay, I have absolutely no ideas, just empathy. Kaelyn figured out how to get past our door locks in a very short amount of time and we haven’t found anything better. We haven’t found any cabinet locks that work on ours. So… we just try to keep anything breakable out of her reach and listen for the sound of running water so we can run and get her out of the bathroom. We also routinely find all sorts of random things “put away” in the fridge. Honestly, I’m torn between being frustrated that she gets into everything and impressed by her problem solving skills.

[Anonymous]

I don’t have any answers for you…sorry…I was just wondering how you were able to get that picture into your post? I know there’s an “add image” button but it goes to an http: address thing…???

[Anonymous]

I ended up putting dangerous stuff in high cabinets and safe stuff like rubbermaid containers, pots and pans, etc. in the lower cabinets. I haven’t found a safety latch that my little “geniouses” can’t figure out either.

The “Appliance Lock” works great on the fridge and you can install it up high and out of reach. I forgot who makes it but I think it’s “Safety First.” I get them at walmart.

As for night time training, what I did with Liza is start talking to her about it. I’d say, “You know, mommy and daddy get up at night when we have to go wee-wee. You can do that too. And then you’ll be really grown up, and you won’t have to wear pull ups anymore.” I started limiting how much she drank after 6 pm, and for a few weeks I’d wake her right before I fell asleep for the night to go potty, or I’d wake her if I woke up some time in the night and bring her to the potty. All those things combined got her to be dry at night.

I’m working on the same plan with Ellie right now. In addition to the strategies I used with Liza I am thinking of adding a reward for her to look forward since she doesn’t seem to be as motivated as Liza was. A little bribery does no harm, right?

[Anonymous]

I know nothing at this point. I am trying to potty train my 2 1/2 yr old and he just won’t go on the potty. If it were me though I would try doing something were they feel wet. Diapers usually pull the wetness away. I would try either underwear and plastic pants or the pull ups were the child feels wet. I could be wrong though. I tryed just underwear and plastic pants for Luke to try to get him to go potty, but of course, he had dirreah (sp) the day I tryed. I didn’t know he had it. I just thought he kept going in his pants, but after the 4th or 5th diaper I knew for sure. I could only handle one poopy pair of underwear before I gave up. He also pooped the tube. He didn’t even know he went. It scared him when he saw it in the tube.

[Anonymous]

Duct tape, seriously, I have all of our cabinets (also without knobs) duct taped closed!!! Cheap yet effective, not the most eye catching child-proofing method however, but Aidan can’t get it off, he tried for literally 20 mins when I first put it on, and finally just gave up and walked away.

Austin wet the bed for a while after he was potty trained, probably til he was almost 5, but still had a few accidents here and there til he was 6, I always put him in underwear with a waterproofing thing under the sheet, very annoying for me to have to change, but it made him aware that he needed to go potty at night too!

Aidansmom792007-2-6 14:20:18

[Anonymous]

Is your fridge a side by side? If so, I’ll try to find the picture of what works great for us!

As far as diaper at night, Dylan is only two months older than Isaac and we still do a pull up at night. Sometime he is dry in the morning and sometimes not. I don’t know when we are going to switch him. We did invest in a pretty decent water proof allergy mattress pad, so when we do make the transition, we can save the mattress. I kind of think you just make the switch at some point and maybe they have an accident or two, and then they will learn. We do try to taper the fluids to less and less at the end of the day and those are the days Dylan seems to wake up dry the next morning. I am curious if there are any other ideas???

[Anonymous]

Jill, LOL about the duct tape.. but the question is, can YOU get into those cupboards!

I really like the magnet locks. We keep the magnet up on the fridge and the kids can’t reach it, and then we use it to open the cupboards that we need to. Took a bit of getting used to, but the kids quickly gave up on getting into them. Also, if your cuboards are side by side (i.e. two with handles near each other, you can get these things that you thread through the handles- you need to push a button and pull another part at the same time, so I doubt that a 4 year old could do it).

As for the potty training at night, are you using pull ups or diapers. If diapers, then I would switch to pull ups. If for no reason other than to start a “big boy” conversation. Firstly, I would cut back liquids for about two hours before bed time and make sure to have him go pee before bed. Then I’d put on a pull up, and explain that he’s a big boy now and no more diapers, so if he has to go pee then he needs to call mummy or daddy and go in the toilet. We don’t pee in the bed b/c then our pajamas and our sheets might get wet, and that wouldn’t feel good. Then I’d go over it with him again asking him questions. I might tell him that if he wakes up without making pee in his pull up then he can have a special treat in the morning (like a granola bar or something). But I wouldn’t push it. If things don’t improve, then I’d see what your ped thinks about it. He’s still young, and I’ve heard of some kids taking longer to get it then others. We were fortunate that when Sarah got the concept of daytime potty training, the nightime piece clicked for her as well. My nephew is going to be 4 in May and he still doesn’t have the daytime thing down perfectly, and they use pull ups with him at night. They’ve talked to him about calling if he needs to go pee at night, but our ped has said not to push it. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Lori,

What are magnet locks?

The treat in the morning if they are dry sounds like a good idea! I’ll have to try that with Ellie. Of course then Liza will think she’s entitled to one, and then Myles will be screaming for a treat, too. But, that’s ok. If it works it’s well worth it.

Jill,

Duct tape? Funny. They make it in all kinds of pretty colors now!! Anyway, does it leave a yucky film when you remove it? I might try it on one of our bathroom drawers since dh doesn’t want to install any locks.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the ideas everyone!

Amy – you can only post a picture that’s on the internet & has a URL. So if there’s a pic on a site that you want to post, just control click (for Mac or right click for PC) the image, then select “copy image location” then when you post, click the image icon and paste the URL in there. You can also post personal photos if you put them on a site like photobucket & just paste in the URL. Hope that made sense.

We don’t have a side-by-side fridge, so it’s a little more tricky to childproof it. I think the appliance lock that Christine mentioned might work if I put it up as high as possible on the fridge door. I’ll also have to look for the magnet locks for the cupboards. Our cupboards don’t have handles at all, so the ones you thread through the handles won’t work for us.

As for the night training. It sounds like the best thing to start with will be to limit his water intake in the evening. The thing with Isaac is it really isn’t a behavioral thing. He understands using the toilet completely, knows that he shouldn’t go in the bed, and actually wants to wear his underwear to bed. I just don’t let him yet because he’s such a deep sleeper that I’m afraid he wouldn’t even wake up if he needed to go (he doesn’t with a diaper on). So it’s not that he won’t go at night, or that he needs something like a treat to convince him. He would go if he was awake & knew he needed to. I’m wondering though, if he knew he had underwear on & not a diaper, if he would wake himself up if he felt like he needed to go?

I’ll just have to give it a try and see what happens I guess.

Bryce’sMom2007-2-6 18:15:58

[Anonymous]

Okay, I just tried the duct tape. Isaac had it off in about one second.

[Anonymous]

Yep, the locks for our cabinets only last for a short time. Alexis is Miss I will figure anything out, like her daddy. She first started to pull on the cabinets until the latched broke then she learned how to unlatch them. I gave up and just put everything that can cause problems up! I’m not how long that is going to last especially with Taylor crawling around. Potty training, the good thing about Alexis is she actually wakes up every night to go to the bathroom. Our neighbor’s son is also a very deep sleeper, she has been cutting out fluids around 6:30pm will give him small sips if needed but she has been waking him up around 10:30 at night and taking him to the bathroom. He goes potty and then goes right to bed. He told his mom the other day, Mommy Please don’t wake me up to go potty, I just want to sleep. She told him he has to not potty in his pull up and she will no longer wake him up. Amazingly that has happened for the past few days. Don’t know if you want to wake him up to go to the bathroom at night.

[Anonymous]

Heather – Thanks for clarifying. I’m going to try something really quick and see if it works…

Darn, didn’t work. I see where the image is supposed to be, but it didn’t show up. Oh well.

amy00132007-2-6 22:33:35

[Anonymous]

Heather,

I’ve babysat a few children who were like Isaac. They wanted to be dry at night but they were deep sleepers. Waking them at 10 or 11 pm did help. Have you tried that? I’m probaby going to have to do that with Ellie because she’s a deep sleepr. The few times I did take her to the potty between 10 and midnight, she woke up dry the next morning.

[Anonymous]

LOL, I didn’t look at Isaac’s bday when I gave the duct tape suggestion, I bet Aidan will be able to take it off by then! Those magnet locks really are awesome, I had them when Austin was little, however I kept loseing the keys to open the cabinet!!

Potty training and shoe tying are by FAR the hardest things to teach (well, hardest I’ve found so far, Austin’s only 7). My nephew is 27 months old and has the mental ability to be potty trained, but also the mental ability to be a little butthead about it and tell my sister “no mommy, I’m too young to use the potty, I’ll just go in my diaper”!!! She asked him once why he didn’t want to go in the potty (he knows when he has to go) and he looked at her and said “I don’t feel like walking all the way there” LOL I was there and had to bite my tounge so I didn’t crack up.

Watch out for shoe tying, I honestly believe it’s harder than potty training, I almost hired someone to teach Austin (seriously I kept confusing him more every time I tried to explain it), but one day he came home and said look I can tie my shoes. It’s kind of the same principal as the potty thing, one day things will just click and they’ll be able to stay dry.

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