BLPT Guidelines

[ches]

Based on a BLW model...

1. Your toddler will prefer weeing/pooing in the toilet/potty and will make every effort to do so as soon as he/she is developmentally able.
2. Your job is as a facilitator and a guide; you make the toilet/potty available regularly and provide brief instruction in its use, then let your toddler get on with it.
3. Start offering whenever you're ready; don't be surprised if your lo does nothing with it for weeks/months.
4. Communicate with your toddler. Say "I need to wee, do you need to wee?" Or "We need to change your nappy because it's wet from when you made a wee." There's no such thing as an "accident," rather there are "opportunities" for communication and learning.
5. Assess your child's development, your daily routine/schedule, and make a plan that fits both.
6. It's not a race and it's not a competition.
7. Have a "nappies saved" not a "nappies used" mentality.
8. Don't bother with knickers until your child is approaching predictable/reliable or you can stuff them with something that saves you cleaning up puddles/changing outfits.
9. Developmental leaps that are helpful (but not essential) with BLPT are:
- nascent bladder control (e.g. waking up dry from a nap)
- processing sequences
- fledgling communication (baby signs/pointing/grunts/jargon)
- following short instructions
- mimicking
- a Blatantly Obvious Poo Face
- going to a corner to poo/wee
10. Even if all you manage with BLPT is to dump poos in the toilet and let your child watch them flush away, you are building a very early association with the toilet as the place for elimination.
11. The toilet session is over when the toddler says its over. Forcing the issue will lead to negative toilet/potty associations.
12. It's okay to take days off from BLPT, but do acknowledge all requests to use the toilet/potty. E.g. "Yes, I know you need to wee, but Mummy can't stop the car right now so you'll have to wait until we get home or make a wee in your nappy."
13. It's helpful if both parents are involved. You don't want to build a "Mummy is the only person who helps me on the potty/toilet" association.
14. Enjoy the process! The eye-to-eye, one-on-one interaction is very rewarding.

[3KiwiChicks]

What a great idea ches - Thanks!

[Rose Bud]

Thanks Ches, you are awfully good at this kind of thing, where would we be without you! I don't think Rose is there yet, I am going to wait until she can walk and also say a few words.
I will observe everyone else's attempts and cheer you on from the sidelines.

[Noir]

Well we appear to be doing well on all counts apart from the getting daddy involved one! I left Sweetpea with him for a bit whilst I went to do something and came back to them a while later to find her sopping- after I pointed out she was in knickers! Apparrently she didn't ask to use the potty so he didn't put her on it . Doesn't seem to understand she'll only take herself if the potty is on the floor and she's naked, or she'll repeat weewee at you if you ASK her if she needs one. Though probably a good thing really since he thinks "keep her on the potty" means hold her down rather than read her a book for a second. I know the man works hard for a living but sometimes I dread to think of the attitude Sweetpea is being bought up with about men and women. Daddy goes to work so Mummy does EVERYTHING else in the house and with the baby, and eventually will go to work as well (though possibly not long before I die of exhaustion!), Bitter? Me?
Oops, sorry- I went off on one didn't I? Good guidelines though Ches .

[ches]

For ages my DH liked to wrap Johnny in a nappy after he had an accident. I never could understand the logic; well, his bladder's empty, best put a nappy on now! It could be toddler SA, but about half the time Johnny screams blue murder if DH tries to sit with him and hasn't pooed for DH in ages, which is ironic as his first poo was for DH.

[Rose Bud]

Oh no, I can just see us all descending into a pit of obsession, not just over the contents of the nappy anymore, when it is produced, under what conditions, wind speed etc.
My own suggestion would be to time the digestive system using a sweetcorn marker, time in and time out, must give an indication surely.

[3KiwiChicks]

LOL!

[Rose Bud]

For ages my DH liked to wrap Johnny in a nappy after he had an accident. I never could understand the logic; well, his bladder's empty, best put a nappy on now! It could be toddler SA, but about half the time Johnny screams blue murder if DH tries to sit with him and hasn't pooed for DH in ages, which is ironic as his first poo was for DH.

Anal retentive Oedipal complex - I have a feeling that Dr Freud would have a field day on this!

[ches]

I have been wondering if we're starting a cult or a revolution, but I am now leaning more towards cult.

[Rose Bud]

hi there oh BLPT acolytes, R has been waking up in the morning with a dry nappy. Is this a good thing as it may mean she is ready for potty training, or is it a bad thing in that she may be dehydrated. She drinks loads during the night so surely not dehydration, and plenty of wet ones during the day.
Please give me a sign oh great one, is she ready?

<backs away bowing>

[ches]

My friend said, about a decade ago, that the first time they wake up dry, they should never wear a nappy again. I can't say necessarily that I agree, but I do think that it shows a physiological readiness of sorts. Certainly it shows that she's no longer weeing in her sleep (which should've happened around 9 monthsish) and that the hormone has kicked in that reduces her body's production of urine while she's asleep. I think it shows that she's ready to learn to hold it in, or indeed, that she prefers to wee on a potty if that's where she's going first thing in the morning.

[katyasmom]

[quote="ches"]Based on a BLW model...
- mimicking
- a Blatantly Obvious Poo Face

K is ready!!! hahaha!
She will follow my *cult* and do BLPT...
When she does poo faces should I rush her to toilet to help her associate at a young age?!

[Vix]

Certainly it shows that she's no longer weeing in her sleep (which should've happened around 9 monthsish) and that the hormone has kicked in that reduces her body's production of urine while she's asleep.

9 months? Is that true for boys as well as girls? As I heard somewhere that boys take a while lopnger to learn bladder control (and forever more seem to find it more difficult to hold in than us girls it seems!).

I think my DS is discovering about weeing, the last couple of nights he's had a nude cruise around the living room before bedtime and been mightily fascinated by what's going on 'down there' when he's ended up weeing whilst stood up. Could I introduce a potty to him at this age just to see what he makes of it?

[TwinklinGDecorations]

Oh gosh, the Monster still wakes up with fairly wet nappies and he is 26 months, but he does drink a lot of water overnight.

BUT the Pickle woke up with only a really small wee in her overnight nappy and then sat on the potty to wee and poo. She then had breakfast and a very early nap after which she still had a dry nappy and did a big wee on the potty.

The pickle started sitting on the potty after naps at 9 months, she can't crawl yet so does stay put which makes it easier. We have been going 2 weeks and she rarely poos in her nappy now (except at nursery as her sleep is different there so the timings are all out). I just give her something to keep her interested whilst on the potty (today it has been putting happyland people in the Monster's little washing machine and taking them out again, and putting them in and taking them out........) although I have noticed in the last few days that if she is going to do something it is in the first 2 minutes or so. She now has a little cry/grizzle that means "I'm ready to get off now". She currently has a potty in her room and one in the living room - think I will start moving the downstairs one to the bathroom as the next step.

So in my limited experience of waiting till they are 2 or 3 (I'm still waiting) vs starting at 9 months, I'd say start early if you can.

[Noir]

Sweetpea has had a few dry nights- around 5 or 6 over all I think, and has been dry at nap times for ages, from around 8 months. I also panicked at the beginning that she was dehydrated but I don't think that was the case. TBH I think she's only just getting ready to start being potty trained now- though it's going to be a slower process than the gina fords of this world dictate- but I am really glad that we started getting her introduced to the idea of a potty very early. Sweetpea is really happy to use the potty when we put her on it, apart from the occasional firm "no" that she gives us sometimes when she obviously doesn't want to use it- not necisarily because she doesn't need a wee, but I'm not pushing the issue. TBH I've been fairly lax about it all- not so much BLPT as putting her on the potty ocaasionally at nappy changes if I happen to remember, not be in a rush, be feeling ok and be bothered, and happen to see the potty to remind me! And at bath times and before bed, and first thing in the morning always. So yeah- not exactly hardcore- but she's still got the idea pretty well so it's just a case of waiting until she can tell before she's going rather than just getting her on at the right times. She learnt the sign and word for poo recently so she's been using the potty far more as she's very exited about her new skill- and she's been tellin gme before she starts going which is brilliant. Since I'm feeling better I've put her in her training pants (not too sure why we have them- we have knickers anyway, but MIL bought 3 pairs and I may as well put them to use- they're just thin towel material knickers really!) today so we'll see how it goes. Either she'll pee in them about ten minutes after her waking up wee (the usual!) and I'll end up putting her nappy back on, or we'll manage to keep her dry. I don't really mind which. I'd definatly say that starting early but without too much earnest so you don't get disappointed can't be a bad thing. I'm sure Sweetpea is only so good with it as the potty has been around for a while and she's probably been weeing on it since before she can remember so it will be natural to her that at some point all her wees go in the potty or toilet not in the nappy.