All Aboard the Potty Train!

Friday, November 3 was a very big day in our house...we removed a diaper from Sam's body for the very last time.

Although we'd been practicing whenever he wanted, we hadn't pushed it or talked about it much before that day. And he didn't really know it was coming. But I did, and I was scared. So I prepared and I prayed...a lot. I am not generally a parenting book reader (I find much more value in talking to other mothers, and I feel the books are like the line from the sunscreen speech, "Do not read beauty magazines they will only make you feel ugly!"), but I read several on potty training. I ended up combing three methods into something I thought would work for us.


When he woke up on Friday morning the bathroom was ready. Potty chair in the corner, potty ring on the toilet, incentive poster (what two year old doesn't love stickers?!) on the wall, a stack of books and DVDs about going potty, a bag full of cleaning supplies and a stash of candy. He had already seen his underwear - 20 pairs of licensed character 2T briefs to be exact - and was pretty excited about those. I explained that each time he went in the potty he'd get a jelly bean and a sticker. I handed him a cup of "special juice" so we'd have plenty of practice and we sat on the potty. All morning we read books, watched the DVDs, and ran to and from the potty every time the timer went off. If nothing came out he got an "I Tried Candy." I wonder how old he'll be when he figures out they're actually called Skittles?


We actually had more success than I anticipated on day 1. By the end of the day he had 6 stickers. Several accidents, yes, but he learned quickly that he didn't like the feeling of being wet and cried every time it happened. Since I removed his diaper he has yet to have an accident during nap, and had only one the very first night. He is night trained!

Learning to go outside of the house has been exciting, too. His first day back at preschool (day 4 of training) was an epic failure. At that point we had to take the little potty chair away so that he was more comfortable on the big potty. He's doing much better now, and I think feels proud to be part of the crowd using the potty. He now goes at church, and he's gone at McDonald's (they had a little potty in the play area bathroom!). I was concerned when he announced at Pei Wei that he needed to go, as I knew they would have no little potty and we had no potty ring, but Daddy came up with a brilliant "stand on the potty rim" solution. I'm not sure my female mind ever would have come up with that one.

Here we stand two weeks later. He hasn't had a pee accident in 6 days. He has no interest in going if he doesn't need to, but will always ask when he feels the need! That is success enough that I will not be turning back in spite of the fact that in these two weeks he has earned only 3 poop stickers (they are puffy and "better" than pee stickers). Every single Mama I've talked to - including his teachers - say that poop takes longer with boys. I don't love the clean up, but I am so pleased with the other half that I mind it a little less. And he knows it should go in the potty - yesterday he danced around for 6 hours trying to hold it in, then running to the potty where he couldn't let it go, repeat, until finally it was in the underwear. I do give him special privileges to encourage him sitting on the potty to try, but that hasn't work yet. I am open to suggestions on this one.


He did, however, finish his first incentive chart with a poop sticker. We were quite proud. It took him 10 days to fill it. I'm thinking the next chart will be for poop only. With the chart full he received his new toy, the Little People Nativity Set. So now we're potty training and learning about Baby Jesus.