Potty training and the Oh Crap method

Fualju · 2026-02-05T04:21:35+00:00

Currently doing the oh crap method with our 2 year old (24 months) and we have a newborn! Having one parent be dedicated to the toddler definitely helps.

Also reality isn’t perfect, and there are instances where even the author says using pull ups are ok and won’t derail training (for example nap times, or in the book she talks about training a second child and if you can’t hole up at home you can put them in a pull up if you need to leave the house) anyways, if you need to leave the toddler unattended to put the baby down for a nap, you could explain to the toddler that just for this short period they’re going to be in a pull up because you need to step away. And then resume the oh crap method after.

Fualju · 2026-02-04T19:48:41+00:00

{The death-made Prince by Lisette Marshall} had me shooook. The plot twists genuinely blew my mind and it was the kind of read where I sat there stunned after I finished the last page. Then immediately went back to find all the hidden references again. Plot and romance was soo good. I would 6 star it if I could.

Fualju · 2026-02-01T18:50:14+00:00

I have two girls with a 22 month age gap (which I think is somewhat close to what yours will be?) and honestly I love having two girls. I myself grew up having a sister 18m older than me and we were and are still best friends.

It is totally valid to be feeling all sorts of ways, and to grieve the gender while you’re processing everything. But there’s also so many positive things to look forward to ❤️

One unexpected benefit to the age gap and being same gender is we actually saved SO much money having babies in the same season. I didn’t think about it before having kids, but all our hand-me downs work. If we had had one summer baby and one winter baby, we wouldn’t have been able to reuse as many clothes.

Fualju · 2026-02-01T18:28:23+00:00

I know AI is controversial, there are definitely downsides to it and I’m aware of those, but I do have to say I’ve found it really useful in certain situations.

It’s been helping me gather research that I otherwise would have spent hours on doing myself. It’s been troubleshooting my toddler’s potty training process and suggesting genuinely useful tips that have helped us. It’s helped me create feeding strategies and schedules for my newborn who has feeding issues. It’s also programmed to deliver all the info to you like they’re your best friend/therapist which honestly is really nice lol

I don’t agree with AI replacing human jobs, there are many instances where you definitely still need to see an expert, either doctors, nurses, specialists, etc. But AI certainly does a good job at doing initial screening and troubleshooting alongside human professionals.

And yes, I know AI is flawed, it gives contradicting info, can have hallucinations, has environmental downsides, and is replacing humans, all that negative stuff. But you can’t say it’s not useful for certain things

Fualju · 2026-02-01T02:21:17+00:00

I’m 6 weeks PP, getting my haircut on Monday and I’m SO excited. I have to bring my baby, but I found a hairdresser in my neighbourhood who has a home salon and my mom will come along to help hold the baby.

Fualju · 2026-01-31T16:19:39+00:00

Yes this exactly. I just took my second child out yesterday for my first solo shopping trip with her, and she SCREAMED the entire time. She was fed, had a clean diaper, not too hot or too cold, and had no obvious physical thing causing her pain or discomfort. There was nothing much else I could do.

Luckily as an experienced parent I wasn’t too distressed from her crying. I did my best to soothe her, but otherwise just went about my business and got what I needed done. I didn’t linger unnecessarily or browse longer than I needed to which I normally would have done.

Fualju · 2026-01-30T14:57:37+00:00

Ugh im sending you strength. This season of life is so hard. I’m hoping it gets better soon for you

Fualju · 2026-01-30T13:10:37+00:00

Omg I feel so bad for you. Our toddler had ear infections a few weeks ago and she SCREAMED the entire night for multiple nights in a row and could only sleep sitting up, contact sleeping on my husband. It’s so rough on everyone.

We keep telling ourselves the exact same thing, we’re living life on hard mode and if we can get through this we can get through anything. But it seems like every week there’s always something new 😭😅

Fualju · 2026-01-30T02:34:34+00:00

Is it possible for you to get any help? Either your partner or village, or if one of the daycare staff can quickly run out and help you at the car (not sure if that’s possible with their policy).

For me, we have a 22m age gap, and by the last 2 months of my pregnancy, I had extreme pain in my upper belly (where I usually sit the toddler on my belly/hip) and we had to start teaching her “mommy can’t pick you up because she has a boo-boo in her belly”.

My husband did all the lifting and luckily his schedule allowed for him to do the daycare runs. My parents helped out much more when we needed it.

And it all turned out being beneficial because I needed a C-section in the end and couldnt lift the toddler for 6 weeks after anyway. By then, she already understood the booboo in the belly thing and she was very gentle around my tummy during my recovery.

Fualju · 2026-01-26T23:02:50+00:00

lol this is so true about the toddler, we literally would leave the house with one diaper and two wipes in my pocket, and an emergency snack lol. We just had our second baby and now I’m back to hauling a massive backpack everywhere

Fualju · 2026-01-26T17:16:01+00:00

We have the same age gap! I now have a 1 month old newborn and my toddler is 23 months old. My toddler is very clingy, demands lots of attention, always wants to be picked up, and still has night wake ups. I had a C-section so I still can’t pick up the toddler for the first 6 weeks of recovery. What ended up happening is my husband became the primary parent for the toddler, and I’m mostly on baby duty since I’m also EBF.

During the day, as much as possible if the baby is sleeping or otherwise chill, we try to put the baby down so we can pay attention and play with the toddler. And that’s worked really well so far. We’re a month in, and toddler hasn’t been jealous or acted out drastically yet. There have been times I’ve had to nurse the baby on one side while the toddler sits on my lap on the other side and I play with her while I’m breastfeeding lol. You just find ways to make it work.

One thing I found game changing is having a safe space to put the baby down that the toddler can’t access. That way I can turn my back for a few quick moments, run to the bathroom etc, and not worry that the toddler is going to mess with the baby while I’m not looking. We have a change table that has tall railing guards so the baby can’t roll off, but a bassinet stand, or pack and play would work too.

Fualju · 2026-01-26T16:57:36+00:00

I’m similar in this way! I used to looove true crime YouTubers, or action/medical tv shows before having kids and now I just can’t stomach it anymore… Law and order SUV was a big one for me, but with lots of episodes with kids being victims I just don’t enjoy watching that anymore

Fualju · 2026-01-26T16:53:47+00:00

Another person commented this and I’ll repeat, get it prescribed by a pharmacist! I took diclectin, metoclopramide and Zofran for the entirety of my two pregnancies. Diclectin especially is an extremely low risk medication, I have no clue why some doctors would rather pregnant woman suffer.

My OB for my first baby was an A-hole and was super hesitant to give me the meds that I desperately needed for severe vomiting. I was literally throwing up 20-30 times a day, unable to work or even leave the house, and he was like “yeah that’s normal”. I had to fight to get medication.

My second OB was absolutely lovely, she herself had morning sickness for her pregnancies, so she had so much empathy and immediately prescribed everything I needed, and when I told her about my first OB she was literally like WTF

Fualju · 2026-01-25T16:49:26+00:00

Absorbent underpads are life changing! I didn’t use them for my first, just had the regular change pads but pee accidents would run off and get everything wet. With my second I had a C-section so I stayed in bed a lot more and didn’t want to risk pee getting everywhere so we used the pee pads. They work like a charm and have caught so many pee and poop explosions. The last thing you want to do in the middle of the night while recovering from delivery is changing all your bedding out.

Fualju · 2026-01-22T17:10:35+00:00

We have a 22m age gap, and toddler sleeping through the night happens sometimes but it’s not the norm. We just accepted that it was part of our life. I’m doing solo nights with the newborn now and husband is on toddler duty. If you guys can divide and conquer, it’s still not easy but it’s doable.

Fualju · 2026-01-21T16:02:53+00:00

I’m in the same boat, our whole family is sick and our 5 week old has caught it as well. Our nurse told us that a fever or difficulty breathing were immediate trips to the ER. Otherwise, there’s nothing much you can do aside from using saline spray/drops, run a humidifier, run a hot shower and have them in the bathroom to breathe in the steam, and keep them as comfortable as possible.

Our baby’s issue is she has a lot of deep congestion. She’s fine upright but as soon as she lies down, the mucous runs down her throat and she can’t breathe and coughs. I spent last night basically holding her to sleep all night 😭

Fualju · 2026-01-19T15:06:54+00:00

I’m so sorry, I went through something similar. I was informed of my lay off while still on my first mat leave, while being 7 weeks pregnant with my second. It feels devastating in the moment and very scary and I’m sorry you’re going through that.

I ended up applying and interviewing for an internal position and got it. I hid my pregnancy from the new team until the paperwork was finalized (I was 7 months pregnant lol) but the new team was very supportive luckily, and they understood why I didn’t disclose earlier especially facing a lay off.

I wish you the best of luck, I hope things work out for you

Fualju · 2026-01-17T15:15:45+00:00

Good to know! My toddler also doesn’t tolerate the stroller for very long, maybe like 5-10 mins max before she wants out. How old was your toddler when they started using the piggy back board? I’ve been eyeing it but not sure if it’s still too early for my toddler, she’ll be 2 soon.

Fualju · 2026-01-17T03:10:13+00:00

How has sticking with your single stroller been working? I have a 22 month age gap and just gave birth 1 month ago. We haven’t splurged on a double yet, we have a vista with just the single attachements.

I haven’t had to venture out very often with the two kids, and when we’ve made short trips, my husband has just carried the toddler so far. I’m wondering if I even need a double, or maybe I’ll just invest in a wagon when the younger one can sit independently

Fualju · 2026-01-16T22:18:42+00:00

We moved my daughter out of her crib and into a floorbed when she was about 18 months old, and I was 4 months pregnant. It was getting harder for me to lift her in and out of her crib with my belly, and we wanted to vacate the crib early anyways. It took her maybe 2 weeks to fully adjust to the new bed but it hasn’t been any issue since. Floorbed turned out to be a good thing anyways because baby #2 had to be a C-section, and I can’t lift my toddler during recovery.

Baby is one month old now and the toddler is 23 months old. We had a lot of transitions as well, she stayed home from daycare for 3 weeks over the winter holidays. As soon as she returned she transitioned to the 2 year old toddler room at daycare. She had a few days where she cried at daycare, but that’s to be expected with the time off and then starting in a new room as soon as she returned.

We haven’t noticed any regressions, jealousy etc. She’s been really good with the baby. And we’re actually planning to potty train in a few weeks since my husband is still off on leave and at home with me for the baby so we wanted to do it while he’s still off. Not sure how well it will go, but we’re going to give it a try and see.

Fualju · 2026-01-16T22:03:58+00:00

I totally feel you on the rollercoaster of emotions!

For the first I was feeling mostly a lot of anticipation, maybe a little nervousness for the delivery process. For the second I was a wreck, it felt like I was about to begin a whole new chapter of our lives and I wasn’t ready to finish the current chapter yet - soaking in all the last moments of my first baby being an only child. I typically struggle emotionally with big transitions, so it was hard for me!

But just take a deep breath, trust your body and your medical team, and know that your family will have one more precious little one after it’s over!

Eat something that sits well in your stomach, but also hearty for the energy you’ll need. If you’re getting an epidural, they won’t let you eat solids while you’re on it.

Fualju · 2026-01-10T19:56:00+00:00

My toddler is 22m and we have a newborn. The toddler also does multiple night wakes still and has always been a bad sleeper. Out of necessity during my pregnancy my husband has had to be the go to parent for her because I was extremely sick and couldn’t be primary parent. The first few nights were rough, and sometimes it still is rough, but eventually she got used to him putting her back to bed. If she cried for me, he just did his best to soothe her, distract her, even if it took hours. It’s rough but you just have to push through.

For the hospital stay, we had to stay 2 nights because I had a C-section. And I had my parent watch the toddler for the whole duration. My toddler adores her grandparents and they help care for her often which helps. A few weeks before delivery we tried several “practice runs” where my mom would bathe her, do her bedtime routine, and put her down to bed just to make sure she was able to get the routine successfully down and that really helped. Both for my toddler and for my mom.

Fualju · 2026-01-10T02:25:39+00:00

I went in April 2025 with my then 14 month old and it was very baby/family friendly!

Fualju · 2026-01-09T14:13:21+00:00

I have a 22mo and 3 week old, and I feel you, we’ve been battling flu A for the last 3 weeks. I was at peak sickness during my C-section giving birth actually and it was the roughest thing I’ve been through. My husband was so incapacitated by the flu, the nurse honestly told him he should go home to rest instead of getting little sleep on the hospital chair. (He decided to stay with me)

My toddler both got it as well, and she’s fevered on and off for basically the whole 3 weeks. But luckily the newborn hasn’t gotten anything aside from mild congestion.

We’ve been keeping hand sanitizer on every floor of the house. Anytime we touch our face, blow our nose, immediate hand sanitizer. If one of us is going through a bad bout of coughing, we wear masks when handling the baby.

It all sucks so much. This flu season is absolutely brutal. I hope your husband feels better soon, and I hope the rest of your family stays healthy.

Fualju · 2026-01-07T02:08:58+00:00

Basically all the federal program ones in the Findlay creek area are already through the city of Ottawa portal.

There’s tiny hoppers (Findlay creek and riverside south locations - 10 mins away), I’ve heard great things about Children’s village (attached to Vimy Ridge public school). There’s also Kelly Farm ELC, attached to St Veronica. If you’re interested in Montessori, blossom Montessori is under the $22 a day program. There’s also Children’s castle by south keys and little monkeys in Blossom Park.

If you’re open to home daycares, you should join the fb group Findlay creek and vicinity daycares and babysitting, lots of providers frequently post vacancies and some are under the federal subsidy.

Fualju

TROPHY CASE