Monday, April 25, 2011

Potty trained = much easier for parents, more difficult for TEDDY stool collection

Initially I thought I’d be writing this blog a year from now. My son potty trained very early, he was completely potty trained the month before he turned 2 years old. My husband and I realize how lucky we are, the whole process was so easy with my son taking the lead and only a little encouragement from us. If you have a potty trained child you know how fast you want them to stop going in the little potty chair and do their business in the toilet. Well my son even jumped that hurdle in a matter of days. He now prefers the toilet so where does that leave us with collecting TEDDY stool samples?

I think this could be our TEDDY Achilles’ Heel. Blood draws have been easy so far, there has to be something challenging with our participation and getting my son to poop in the collection device may be difficult. My son is willing to try almost anything new for fear of missing out on something fun but is very particular and wants to be alone with the door shut during that time. I don’t think having the hat under the toilet seat is going to work for us at this time. He is still using a potty seat on top of the toilet seat and the hat won’t fit under it or under the toilet seat as the directions describe. I have some unconventional ideas for how to collect the sample including just floating the bucket below in the toilet bowl and hoping to catch something.

Hopefully we will find a rhythm with potty trained stool samples and be able to continue collecting monthly samples. Fortunately, he’s still letting me know when he needs to go and wants help after going. I hope to blog again in a few months once we have worked out the kinks and maybe learn a few tricks that could help others. Wish us luck!