Oh Crap! Potty Training

right now and trying to decide if you should potty train before or after
the baby, maybe nobody told you this, but one kid plus one kid = like
five kids. You will not be coming up for air for at least two months
after the new baby is born. You may not believe me, but I’m telling
you right now. Don’t entertain the notion that you will be able to
start potty training two weeks after the baby is born. It will not
happen. Normally, a mom will come to me around seven months’
pregnant. She’ll have a twenty-four-month-old and will be vacillating
about whether she should start now or after the baby. In favor of
starting now: she’s got two months to seal the deal. But if she waits,
that’s two months until the baby comes, and then another two
months to come up for air. And then another two months before she
really feels seminormal again. Realistically, we’re looking at potty
training at thirty months with a four-month-old on her hands.
Believe me when I tell you: shoot for potty training before the new
baby. If you miss that window of opportunity, everything will be that
much harder.
Other major transitions can also cause regression. Moving and
divorce are two of the big ones. These situations are very stressful no
matter what kind of game face you have on. Don’t underestimate your
child. She feels your stress. She absolutely feels the tension in the
house, even if you think you don’t say or do anything to express that
stress or tension. Children are remarkably intuitive. They live and
breathe by our energy.
Stress and tension may be unavoidable, and I think it’s best to say
things out loud in terms they can understand. “You know, Mommy
and Daddy are having a hard time right now. Can you feel it? But it’s