Tag: "potty training"

Heads Or Tails 98

This weeks Heads Or Tails theme is HEADS - “Spin”. Heads or Tails is actually played on Tuesday. I intended to play earlier this week but got sidetracked Tuesday night packing my son up for his trip across country. Sorry I’m late Skittles!

The first thing I think of when I hear the word spin is the Music And Lights Sit And Spin my youngest son CJ had. He just turned ten and I just retired it in the last three or four months. He would have kept on spinning forever. Anyway. We’ve been potty training for a while so it isn’t uncommon to find my son in underwear, and before that in a Pull-up. One day he was on the Sit And Spin and a little turd slipped out of his Pull-Up. That’s the day that we renamed the toy the S*it And Spin. Yes, we can be silly that way.

If you want to learn more about this fun meme or play along, visit Heads Or Tails.

Jul 09, 2009 | 0 comments | View Post

The Story Of One Cheek

For this week’s blog blast the Parent Bloggers Network asked us to share how we feel about potty training.

My experience with diapers and potty training actually began before I had children. I helped my Mom take care of my younger brothers. LB2 is the child responsible for teaching me to always keep boy’s privates covered. I’ll never forget the shock of urine spouting upwards into my cheek or the amazement that anyone so small could have so much pee.

I’ve been changing my own children’s diapers and dealing with potty training for more than thirteen years now. My son TJ potty trained in rather short time. Not a lot of fuss, muss or mess. My son CJ is an entirely different story. CJ is nine and we’re still potty training. He does well in underwear during the day and can usually make it to the potty to pee. Pooping is another story entirely. It’s the story of One Cheek.

CJ is a tiny boy. At almost ten years old he’s still in sizes 6 and 7. He’s in a size 4-5 Pull-Up. Even though I’m still mad at Pull-Ups, they are the only brand we use at night, during long rides or when he’s under the weather because they fit better than Easy Ups and they don’t leak. Back to One Cheek. CJ has no butt to speak of. For some reason CJ’s right butt cheek is frequently found to be sticking out of his Pull-Up. We used to find this amusing until the incident.

The incident. It was a dark day. Literally. CJ was a little under the weather. He was playing, traveling back and forth between his room and the living room where RB and I were watching television. RB got up to get something from the kitchen and asked me why there was pudding all over the floor. I hadn’t made pudding so I got up to look. It didn’t look or smell like any pudding I’ve ever had. I followed the trail. As it turned out, CJ had developed a bit of diarrhea and it had escaped courtesy of One Cheek.

For those of you just starting your Potty Training journey, I’m sure you’ll have your fair share of funny stories. Pull-Ups has created a series of webisodes called The Potty Project. Check out how six families handle potty training, as well as the helpful tools and resources.

So. What’s your funniest or worst potty training story?

May 22, 2009 | 4 comments | View Post

Pissed at PullUps

My son CJ is thin and tiny and at 9 years old only weighs 49 pounds. I have used PullUps since CJ started potty training. (Actually, I also used them for TJ.) I’ve tried a couple of other pull up training pants but always come back to the real PullUps. They have the velcro sides, which I think are great. This past week I went to the PullUps site to look for coupons. Hubby’s been out of work for a while now and things are really tight. While I was on the site I saw they had a newsletter and decided to sign up for it.

My understanding of newsletters is that they’re free and their purpose is to share information and even occasionally specials in an inexpensive way. To signup for the PullUps monthly newsletter you just type in your name, email and child’s birthday and you’re good to go. Or so I thought. I typed in my info, expecting to get a little confirmation message on the screen or something. This is what I got.

I honestly couldn’t believe what I was seeing, nor could I understand it. I tried again and got the same message. I wanted to understand why they were purposely stopping people that actually wanted their newsletter from receiving it. I mean, I’d been trying to sign up because I wanted to spend my money on their product. My money is just as green as the next girls. I sent the following email, trying to understand.

“I have used PullUps for quite some time. I tried signing up for your newsletter and it won’t allow me because my child is over 7. May I ask the reason you’re excluding parents from receiving your newsletter? Sure, I could lie about his age on the sign up form but why should I have to?”

I was surprised to receive a reply quickly, later the same day.

“Dear Valerie,
Thanks for your e-mail about the age limit for the PULL-UPS® newsletter.We are sorry that you are disappointed in the terms of this offer and have forwarded your comments to those involved with our promotions for consideration in future promotional offers.
For older children we have information on our GOODNITES® web-site (http://www.goodnites.com) that you might find helpful.
Thanks again for your interest and for visiting our web site.”

As you see, they didn’t answer my question. Some people might confuse their reply with an answer but I’m not one of them. To me that reply just blows me off and tells me that they found my question insignificant. So I sent the following response.

“Thanks for the reply. Goodnites aren’t what we use. That site is about bed wetting, which isn’t relevant to us, so no it isn’t helpful. Goodnites have fewer to a package, are more expensive, aren’t designed the same and are not what I need. We’re potty training and have always used PullUps. We’ve used PullUps even when EasyUps throws good coupons at us like crazy and PullUps hardly ever offers any. I wasn’t as disappointed that I couldn’t receive the newsletter as I am to see that your company assumes all children have the same needs.”

Of course I have received no further communication. I am so mad at PullUps. I actually see this as a form of age discrimination. I don’t understand it at all. It’s a shame they don’t value their customers enough to at least offer an explanation. From what I’ve read from other Mom bloggers they’ve had good experiences with Pampers. Maybe it’s time for me to try EasyUps again. I was able to sign up for their newsletter with no problem, and able to tell the truth about my son’s age when I did it. I’m not ashamed of my son, which is why I won’t lie about his age.

Nov 01, 2008 | 5 comments | View Post

Potty poetry

CJ’s got the pee pee thing down pretty pat now, he just needs reminding. My hubby RB is a very creative guy. Since we met, one thing that has always amazed me is his ability to come up with alternate lyrics to songs within seconds. Some of my favorites are very much off color so I won’t write them here, but one of the cutest is something that some of you other parents might relate to. It’s appropriate for any age and is something we’ve been singing often. It’s a potty song, sung to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Tinkle tinkle, in the bowl
I am learning self control.

To the bathroom, oh so fast
Til this feeling starts to pass.

Tinkle, tinkle, til I’m done
Using the potty’s so much fun!

Not being one to enjoy being outdone, I sometimes come up with my own little songs. Here’s my answer to RB’s Twinkle Twinkle song.

Tinkle, tinkle, here’s the key
Every 30 minutes you must go potty.

Staying dry feels good and clean
Please don’t be a pee pee machine.

Stinkle, Stinkle, try to go poopie
Mommy dreams of a day that is pullup and wipe free.

Both of us think our own rhyme is better, so help us out and leave me a comment telling me which one you like best. While you’re leaving your comment, I’d love to hear any little songs you’re created or rewritten, or what songs you sing to or with your kids.

“This post was written for Parent Bloggers Network as an entry for a contest sponsored by Bush’s Beans.” If you’re good at rewriting lyrics check out Bush’s Beans Magical Veggie Challenge, where entrants are rewriting the Bean chant.

Oct 05, 2008 | 1 comment | View Post

Vusion ointment, getting to the bottom of diaper rash

My children may not be babies any more but I still contend with the occasional bout of diaper rash. CJ is doing great with potty training but still has the occasional accident. The rashes he gets from time to time now are nowhere near as severe as some that he had when he was younger.

Some children get a type of diaper rash involving a type of yeast infection. This type of rash looks very different than a typical diaper rash. It happens when the yeast Candida comes into contact with an already irritated skin area. There’s now a product available by prescription only called Vusion that is formulated for just that type of rash. It is the only prescription ointment ever approved by the FDA approved for treatment of a specific type of diaper rash involving a yeast infection. It is steroid free and can be used on babies as young as four weeks old.

According to surveys, 67% of people that used it reported having an excellent experience with Vusion, and another 28% reported having a very good experience with it. 100% of caregivers said they’d recommend it to a friend. I haven’t used this product myself but after seeing the statistics on it I’d certainly ask the doctor about it if my son had a severe diaper rash.

Thanks to MomCentral, for the heads up on this product.

Aug 25, 2008 | 0 comments | View Post