As I have mentioned quite a few times in recent posts we are currently in the process of potty training Grayson. We have been using an ABA/parenting method of setting a timer and having him go at specific intervals. We aren't using pull ups unless travel requires it and all in all he's been doing really good. That being said, we have certainly had our ups and downs.
I know that there are a lot of different methods, I know that some people believe in waiting till the child is ready. Grayson has been waking up dry from naps and bedtime for quite a while now. Some believe in letting the child run freely naked and letting them figure it out (sorry but my finances don't allow me new living room furniture or carpets). I am a firm believer in I'm his mom, Wally is his dad and if we say this is what we're doing this is what we're doing.
Currently Grayson is up to 50 minute intervals, no accidents in school unless they have been poops and is working on asking to go. It's a totally different experience trying to potty train someone who in all reality, doesn't make independent requests. Grayson is getting good at asking for things, but if you give him a choice between two words he still always repeats the last option. So while shopping or running errands we like to take him to the bathroom as soon as we get into the store, and then keep a timer running while we're there so no one loses track of the real task at hand.
Have you ever really listened to the sounds of a public bathroom? I don't mean the guy in the next stall. I mean the automatic flusher, the automatic hand dryer, the echo from the walls etc. Public bathrooms are TERRIBLE! Now try taking a sensory child, who has issues with loud noises into a public bathroom and explain to him that as much as I don't really think you need to flush the small amount of pee you managed to produce, we don't have a choice. Yes we have to wash your hands, but we can't dry them because the trauma of the actual dryer will be worse then you having wet hands for the next 20 minutes. No I can not make the 3 girls who are playing around with the toilet in the next stall stop flushing because you are having a total breakdown while I hold your ears.
Grayson all in all is really good with noises, especially since he's started school and has gotten used to bigger groups of kids. However, this is the one place in the world that he really stands out. I have learned that as soon as we tell him it's time for the potty he will run through a store saying "No Flush" until we reach the bathroom, until we leave the bathroom and probably 10 minutes after. I know that there are people in the store who think I'm gross because he will walk to a sink and say "No wash" and I don't force him to wash his hands (we use sanitizer when we get to the cart) because he's too traumatized by the 9 different flushes and hand dryers that were going.
What happened to paper towel dispensers?? Toilets that you flush yourselves? I'm not saying I want the world to cater to my child but...it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world would it? In reality, I am aware of why these new items have been created. I know that automatic flushers use less water, I know that hand dryers produce less trash. I also know if I want Grayson to function in these spaces we need to start looking into headphones for him to wear that will help block out the sounds. That doesn't mean that I don't cheer when I find a store with a 1 toilet bathroom option, or a family bathroom that I can lock the rest of the world out of.
At the end of the day, I know this is something we have to work on with him. I know this is a part of his life now. It doesn't mean that I won't get really excited when I see that family bathroom sign.
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