Potty Time

I think the potty bug finally caught up with me. So many of our playgroup friends have taken the plunge, and I've put it off as long as possible. I didn't want to send Tristan to school in diapers, but having been around kids and having helped potty train before, it wasn't something I was in a hurry to do.

But, I told myself I'd do it before the new baby, and with time for him to be used to it so when the baby does come, hopefully there is minimal regression.  And, everyone says to look for the window of opportunity, and that definitely has hit.  He wakes up dry from naps and in the morning, he has told me a couple times he needed to potty and actually went, and he won't do his business anywhere but home (most of the time), etc, etc.  I figured it was about time.

So, we started this last week.  I bought him a new ball for a reward, lots of juice, new underwear, some Rolos for the big deuce, and some skittles for every time he peed.  At breakfast I explained what the plan was and let him have some of each candy so he knew the goodies were worth it.  He was pretty excited about the candy.  The morning went well.  We went every 20 minutes, which I found was about 2 minutes too long, but we had some successes mixed with mishaps.  Thank goodness for the Bissell cleaner we have...

Day two went better.  I moved the timer to about 15 minutes apart.  He actually told me a couple times when he needed to go, and then a couple times right after he had gone.  We did praise and hugs and phone calls for every success, and for every mishap I just suggested we try again.  He has such a good little personality that I think rewarding success is key for him.  I have always, always been careful never to be mad at him for going to the bathroom. Even changing poopy diapers I've never made it a big deal. I will say I think it's hilarious though that he knows poopy is gross.  When he doesn't want something he has been telling me, "No want it.. it's yuck. It's poopy!"  Cracks me up.  I got a little shopping break when Jeff came home and it was fun to not be the one home with him when his big mishap happened on the carpet :) Darn.  I missed that.

Jeff has been big on wanting him to be able to get on the potty himself... he keeps saying if we have to hold him the entire time, what is the point?  So far, he's doing great. He wears a t-shirt and underwear, and we have the stool by the potty.  He can take his underpants off and using the stool, sit on the toilet himself.  He thinks he is pretty awesome when he balances with no hands holding on. He is used to sitting on the big potty anyway.  Ever since he was about one I would put him on every time before he took a bath, and like most kids, loves flushing.  I decided to skip the mini toilets for two reasons.  One, that's gross. I am not cleaning that crap.  And two, I don't want to retrain him to sit on a big potty.  That simple.  I also decided that if we were doing underwear I wasn't wasting money on Pull Ups.  Love you, Huggies, but they're just glorified diapers... and diapers are cheaper.  And, we still have a bunch.  Pull Ups wick away the wetness so why does a kid care if he pees in them?  A mom online suggested just putting a diaper over their underwear, that way they feel when they're wet but the mess is contained. No one wants a mess on an outing, so sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.  They also recognize they're still wearing their underwear.  We tried it tonight and he did great.

Day three he didn't have one accident, although he still hasn't done the big deed yet and I'm a little concerned.  I know he is holding it. But, he did tell me a couple times he had to go before I took him, and he goes through nap time totally dry.  I don't put a diaper on for naps.  I just start sweating profusely after he has been asleep for an hour and cross my fingers.  So far, all 3 days he has been dry.... but he can't make it to the bathroom quick enough after he wakes up.  Today I was sweating it because he slept for almost three full hours.  Every time he moved I swear I was at the door seeing if he was awake or not, I just wanted him to be successful all day.  Finally he woke up and I immediately took him to the potty where he went right away.  It was pretty exciting.  Probably more so for me.   We also went to a friends house for dinner and my munchkin used their potty a couple times as well.   I still stuck a diaper on him at bedtime, but he normally wakes up dry so lets hope that trend sticks and we'll let him go all night without back up as well.

And that is our potty training so far.  Just thought I'd share it.  We'll see how day four goes-I expect regression and won't be surprised if we have lots of accidents... but you never know.