We knew Turner was ready to potty training right after he turned 2. We, as his parents, just weren't ready yet and it wasn't the right timing. I didn't want to do it before Maddox was born and there wasn't a single 3 day stretch we'd be home with him to do it.
We bought a little potty for Turner when he was around 18 months old. It just sat in the bathroom and we just wanted him to see it and become familiar with it. The first few months he sat on it and played with it...but never went potty on it. I don't remember the first time he went pee on it, but he did at one point and we jumped for joy for him. Eventually he was using the potty every night before bath time. He'd sit, pee and then he would take a bath. It just became a part of the routine.
Besides having the little potty, I also bought a little Elmo toilet seat that sits on top of the big toilet seat. I wanted him to not be afraid to sit on the big toilet seat so that when it came time to actually potty train, he would go on there too knowing that when we are out in public or at someones house...he would use the toilet there too.
So now that we had gotten the 'supplies', we had to find a time to do it. Our last 'trip' of the summer was Labor Day weekend so we knew we wanted to wait until then. Then I learned that Turner's daycare provider was taking a few days off after Labor Day so I thought that would be the perfect time. We were returning on Sunday and we would start potty training on that Monday as our daycare provider took off Tuesday and Wednesday. That would give us 3 days of boot camp potty training.
About a week before we started, I purchased 10 pairs of 'big boy undies'. His 'treat' for going potty on the toilet was going to be a few Reese Puffs.
The day before we started, we talked up that tomorrow he was going to be wearing 'big boy undies'. Turner is at that age where he remembers EVERYTHING. So all day he talked about that he gets to wear big boy undies. He was SO EXCITED!!!
As for our plan, I read a few other bloggers posts about what worked for them found through Pinterest. We decided to just take it one day at a time and see how Turner was doing after the day.
Day 1:
I set a timer and put him on the potty every 30 minutes. We did this ALL DAY. I constantly asked him if his big boy undies were dry and if he had to go potty. He would respond with a big NO. He did however go pee every time I put him on. He had one tiny pee accident that day.
Day 2:
After day one was successful with minimal accidents (1 tiny one), I knew I had to take a different approach on day 2 in order for him to know and tell me he had to go. So I prepared for myself for many accidents. I also decided to not ask him if he has to go or if his undies were dry because I learned that just frustrated him. Turner is a child that likes to feel in control, so by me asking him constantly, he hated it. I just said all day, 'Tell Mommy if you have to use the potty' which I would get a reply of 'OK'. He had 4 pee accidents that morning. Each accident became a smaller one, meaning he stopped when he started and he finished while on potty. He did use the potty successfully that morning one time but only because I put him on there knowing he had to pee. I was catching on to his cues and knew he had to go. He had another pee accident in the afternoon. While finishing in the toilet, I asked him where his pee goes. He pointed to his big boy undies and said 'in there'. I said no, when you pee, it goes in the potty. I believe this was the turning point for us. He then repeated what I said and I asked him again where his pee goes and he pointed to the toilet and said 'in there'. I then asked where his poop goes, and he pointed to toilet and said 'in there'. I praised him for getting the answer right. By end of day 2, he still had not told me yet he had to go potty and I was feeling like he wasn't getting it.
Day 3:
By day 3, I knew I was going to keep him home from daycare on day 4 because he still hadn't caught on and I was not going back to diapers. Day 3 was going to be a repeat of day 2 in our method. No asking him and hope he tells me. Day 3 was a VERY GOOD day. Every time he had to go pee, he would stand up, look at me and grab himself. I knew what it meant and we went to bathroom. He would go pee on potty and I cried the first time it happened. I was so so so happy that he caught on and knew what to do. He did have one pee accident mid morning. I just explained to him that he has to tell mommy. Day 3 also was the day that Turner went POOP on the potty for the first time during potty training. I learned though that until it's almost coming out, he wont' go on the toilet. He told me poopy, we went to the bathroom, he sat down, peed and got up. He did this one other time before actually pooping. I at first thought he was calling his 'pee' poop but learned he really does have to poop, but won't stay sitting unless it's pretty much flying out of him...haha. I made the biggest deal out of him pooping on the potty. I praised him like no other and he even got a lil' present for doing it. He was so proud.
Day 4:
Was a repeat pretty much of day 3 in that he had one pee accident in morning. He told me every time he had to go (besides the accident of course). He did not poop at all during the day on day 4.
Day 5:
Another day we kept him home because we were moving forward with this potty training and I didn't want to regress at all. I learned this day that he will hold his pee trying to avoid telling me he has to go and get frustrated. I know he has to go so I just keep waiting for him to tell me, but he doesn't. He will start to act out which involves biting or hitting. As I am taking him to time out for this behavior, he tells me 'potty'. (I secretly this whole week avoided putting him in time out because I didn't want him to pee while in time out. Turner hates time out so he usually is saying 'sorry' while we are going to time out...so we avoided it by talking with him what behavior is unacceptable, etc). Since he told me 'potty', we went into the bathroom and sure enough...he went. Turner went poop again on the toilet. It took the 3rd time going on the potty to have it actually happen just like the first time. He did go pee both times before the 3rd time when he actually pooped. When he woke from nap, I took him to Target to do a test run of getting out of house and to see how he did. We bought more big boy undies and picked up a few things. We were only gone an hour and he stayed dry.
Day 6:
This was the real test day. We had a birthday party to attend that was an hour away. He told us when we were about 15 minutes from the house that he had to go, so we stopped @ gas station and he went. He told us at the birthday party every time he had to go and even went poop there. On the drive home, he told us he had to go 2 different occasions so we stopped 2 different times. He had ZERO accidents on this day. His first day of accident free and it involved a day full of activities. We were so proud!!!
- This coming week we will see how he does because he will be going back to daycare 3 days a week.
- I know there will still be accidents as he continues to learn.
- He still wears diaper during nap and bed time.
- We don't get mad at him when he does have accidents. We explain to him that he has to tell us he has to go and have him tell us where pee and poop go at which he will tell us 'in there' while pointing to bathroom.
- Now we are back to 'normal' life. We don't watch him like a hawk anymore and trust that he will tell us when he has to go. We leave the house and play outside again :)
- When traveling long distances, we do bring the portable potty in our hatchback in case he has to go and a gas station is not nearby.
- He is still getting Reese Puffs as a reward at home whenever he asks for one. Sometimes he remembers, sometime he doesn't ask. We will stop once he continually doesn't ask or they are all gone.
This was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be and I have to say it was because Turner was ready. He showed all the signs that I read about that he was ready. I'm super excited to only have one kid in cloth diapers.
Now can someone hold me because I can't handle that my baby is growing so fast...he's potty trained and using full sentences. Before I know it...he'll be off to college :(
