Two to Kiss, Two to Love: Potty Training...Again...

If you remember, I tried to potty train my 20-month-old twins. WHAT WAS I THINKING? Oh, right...that they were probably ready and I was good to go. I'm here to tell you, sometimes waiting has benefits (but maybe don't wait until they are a teenager).

If you recall, I potty train with a method by someone who refers to herself as "the potty training queen." The queen says to wait until they are 22 months old, and they are ready to be potty trained at any point after that. She also includes that they should show signs of readiness: being able to communicate their wants and needs, and being able to go to bed without a drink for 2-3 hours before bedtime. My twins can do both of these things. So naturally, you'd say they are probably ready. Or are they?

My one twin, Colette, the same one who was super interested last time, was absolutely ready. There's no denying that it was just time to potty train her. Even though both twins have the queen's signs of readiness, Colette requests to go on the potty all the time, tells me when she is pooping or peeing in her diaper, and WANTS a new diaper immediately. My other twin, Delilah, has some of these same signs, but she just doesn't show as much interest, and doesn't mind staying in a wet diaper. So, I decided I would potty train one twin at a time.

But when I started with Colette, the other twin, Delilah, of course, wanted to follow suit. So I let her. And then she had two accidents; peeing a puddle under herself, then looking at me, and saying, "oh, I peed." And according to the queen, "If your child is over the age of 22 months, I can tell you that he’s old enough to be potty trained. Period!" But instead of making myself feel bad that I didn't want to deal with a A TON of accidents when Colette was mostly getting it, I decided I just wasn't ready to let Delilah try, while also training Colette.

I knew that if I tried, it would just make me more frustrated with the one I was training, and stress me out. However, during this process, Delilah would go potty in her diaper, then run and say, "Mom! Potty!" So I'd take her to the potty, she'd sit down and not do anything. So I kept potty training Colette, and threw diapers back on Delilah.

So is Delilah ready to get potty trained? Sure. Do I need to have the patience? Yup. Do I have that right now? Nope. Ha. Do I feel like a failure a little bit? Yeah...but I'll address that more in another post.

Can you potty train both twins at the same time? Absolutely! And if it works for you, and them, go for it! More power to you girlfriend! Taking just a few days to deal with both of them sounds like it could be easier in the long run; less time you have to spend doing it! Ever heard the phrases "two birds with one stone" or "two for the price of one"? This is where those phrases could really apply!

But, for me, lesson learned--it's okay to wait and let your kids be a little more ready. I just keep telling myself we both need to be ready for this. Sometimes I feel like I'm cheating Delilah, but waiting a month will probably be easier on all of us. So if you're completely overwhelmed potty training your twins, it's okay. Take it one twin at a time, and go be super mom!