Light at the end of the potty: Potty Training Day 3

I'm just going to say it: as occasionally gross and always exhausting as potty training can be, it's still better than changing the diapers of a 36-pound person saying, "Yeah, I'm really gross."

Two and a half days after my "set" date, and I'd say progress is certainly being made. The Big One had just three accidents today, and one is more my fault than his.

He kept his pants nice and dry all morning, but at 11:45 (ten minutes after using the potty) he ran up to me and said, "Mommy, use potty!" I told him to go for it, followed 20 seconds behind, and walked in just in time to see him carrying a pair of loaded poopy pants into his room. Whoops.

The second accident was my fault. I put the kids down for a nap, and decided to rest myself. Well, around 2:30 I heard something in the hall, but didn't give it much thought ... and fifteen minutes later I realized I should probably pay attention to small noises since I'm potty training a toddler. Sure enough, the Big One was hanging out in the hallway, completely wet. My guess is that he went not long after he went down, and just didn't know what to do with himself.


Three is certainly better than eight, which is itself better than the 20+ he had over the summer. I'm hoping things will only get better from here.

We did make a decision about night-training: it's going to wait. Both Saturday and Sunday morning the kiddo woke up completely soaked and miserable. He has yet to wake up dry in the morning, so despite being ready for daytime training I just don't think he's ready for night training. Tonight we're giving pull-ups a try, and hopefully he'll sleep better, and continue to make progress.

Oh The Exhaustion! Aka, Potty Training Day 2

Oh man, today was tough. After our inspiring start I thought for sure potty training was going to be a breeze, and today proved me wrong.

I will say this: Big One is definitely ready now, and he definitely was not ready at 2.5. Last time around he had no idea what I was trying to get him to do, and this time he seems to find that the basic concept makes sense.

All told, he woke up soaked, and had eight accidents throughout the day. Five of those accidents happened between 9:20am - 11:45 am, and I think our Saturday morning cartoon ritual had a helping hand in those accidents. Most of those accidents were very small, and he was able to use the potty when asked as I stripped off wet pants. If I didn't notice right away he'd even ask to use the potty after he started going, so the basic concept is there.

At noon he was dry and actually pooped in the potty for the first time, to our mutual delight. He appreciated mommy's cheering and dancing around, I think. Our one terrible mess also included poop - ten minutes after using the potty I caught him squatting while playing, and found really wet pants and poop. Awesome. We didn't get mad/raise voices/react strongly, but I made sure he knew that it was really gross, and that he should always use the potty.

The constant asking and running around and generally trying to get other work done as well (not optional, and not part of the original plan) has left me feeling completely exhausted.

THE BIG HIGHLIGHT of the evening: He is able to go through his potty ritual without any aid, and with complete confidence! The last two or three times he went he'd come to tell me he had to go, and I cheered and said, "Go for it! You know what to do." And he did. I stood in the doorway while he pushed his stool into place, pulled down his pants, sat down correctly, used the potty, pulled his pants up, flushed, and washed his hands. We were both very proud of him.

Now, if only we could get this timing thing down...

Potty training day 1

Potty Training Day 1/2, really.

I didn't intend to start potty training until after his nap on Friday, but he left me no choice: he popped in his last diaper after lunch, so I changed him into his big boy pants at 12:45.

By 1:15 he was down for a nap ... in underwear.

I'm keeping track of his accidents only, so I can identify what's harder for him.

I've also decided to encourage him to do as much as possible himself. I walk to the bathroom with him and stay with him, but I encourage him to pull his own pants up and down, and to sit on the potty himself. He loves flushing the potty and washing his hands, and only gets stuck with his underwear every once in awhile.

3:30 - Small accident when he first woke up from his nap. We went to the potty where he finished and pulled on a new pair of pants.

5:40 - Accident playing with his favorite toys after dinner.

6:00 - Stopped fluids, accident watching his daddy play games.

He took a shower at 7, used the potty, and then went to bed in his underwear! We'll see what the morning brings.

A Terrifying Adventure: Potty Training

About a week ago, as I hefted my 36-pound, 38-inch newly three-year-old onto his changing table to change yet another horrendous diaper I realized that I had had enough. It was time to potty train.

Six months before I had tried with absolutely no success; after a week of running through over twenty pairs of pants a day it dawned on methat my son just didn't have the bladder control for it to work. So, we shelved the idea, and the "big boy pants," and I figured I'd revisit the idea sometime around three.

Well, on January 19 "three" arrived, and a week before the event itself I set a day to start potty training: January 28. I told my partner what I had planned, and we agreed that we'd spend a quiet weekend at home to work things through. I'd handle the constant trips to the potty and the laundry, and he'd handle the fifteen-month-old.

In the week leading up to the 28th the Big One surprised us by showing a sudden interest in the potty; on the 26th I caught him peeing in the bathtub, and told him that he couldn't pee in the tub, but he could pee in the potty. "Ok," he said, "potty?" So we set him on the toilet and he successfully peed on the potty for the very first time. We were shocked and thrilled and rewarded him with plenty of praise and a few M&Ms. He thought it was a pretty sweet deal, so the next day he asked to use the potty three times, and did so successfully each time. He really was ready.

The Plan:

• Switch to the stash of toddler training pants, and never look back. No pullups, no sleeping diapers, just underwear - and the promise of cool dinosaur big boy pants if he learned to keep them dry.
  
• It's January, so we'd keep a space heater running in the living room to keep him warm without wearing jeans.
• Ask him every thirty minutes if he had to use the potty, and rush him with smiles and an excited voice when he said yes. I didn't want to make him try if he said no, because I'd rather he learn to listen to his urges than the clock.
  
• When he pees successfully we'll reward him with 2-3 M&Ms and plenty of praise. Eventually we'll switch to a treat only when he poops in the potty.
  
• No potty chair. Personal opinion only: I find them revolting, and I don't really want him to learn to pee anywhere but the "proper" place. In one bathroom we have this step-up seat insert, and in the upstairs bathroom we have this Cars seat insert. He uses both very comfortably, although he certainly favors his "Cars potty."

I'm going to keep a running journal throughout the day to help me keep track of when he has problems. Wish us luck!