We dove into potty training with Connor on a random Monday morning in October. (10.22.12 for my record keeping purposes) He was approximately 2 weeks past his 3rd Birthday and on this particular morning he was getting upset about a diaper change that needed to happen. In the midst of him crying & flopping around over "not wanting a new diaper" I threw out the alternative option; "Do you want to wear your undies today?" He had refused them many times during my previous offers, so imagine my surprise when he quickly responded "YES."
And so it began................................................
Our typical Monday at home suddenly became a whirlwind of big boy undies, trips to the potty, setting the timer, m&ms (rewards!!!), and battles. I was not mentally prepared to dive in the way we did, but like many things in the world of children and parenting it may have been for the best that I didn't read too far ahead into what might possibly be in store. The first day went by in a literal blur of 15 minute intervals where I would set the timer and then bring him to the potty chair to try and go after every 15 minutes. The first hour of this went on without much fuss from Connor, but not long into the second hour I started sensing resistance. He was getting irritated with the constant trips to the bathroom and my constant inquiries about dry undies. The m&m's weren't a hit in the treat department (I just went with what I had on hand!) and in typical Connor fashion, he was getting irritated with all of my EXCESSIVE excitement at his potty achievements!! Don't get me wrong, he loves to be praised and encouraged....but he also doesn't warmly accept BOLD, OVER THE TOP applause and excitement...goofy kid! By the end of the first day I was counting down the seconds until 7 PM rolled around so I could slap a diaper on his skinny little butt & put him in his PJs. I was mentally exhausted and possibly even physically tired from wrestling Nolan away from the toilet while his big brother figured out how to sit nicely on the big boy potty chair. Rick woke up to get ready for work and all I remember saying was "It has been a LOOOONG day." Connor had actually done really well considering it was our first day. He had 3 accidents and I had anticipated the possibility of using up his entire stash of undies...not bad if you ask me ;)
Day 2 of our adventure we were at my sister-in-law's house watching her youngest daughter while she went with her pre-schooler on a field trip. Obviously I wouldn't have planned to leave our house on day #2 of potty training but I figured we better keep on track with things. Connor can be so stubborn and I had a feeling that if we backed out of potty training and left him in a diaper just because we went somewhere he'd take advantage and possibly refuse to get back on the potty train again. The allure of 1 child in diapers was too strong and I am just a little stubborn myself so I knew it was now or never! So we survived our second day with just one or two accidents and we spaced out our trips to the potty a little bit. It helped to have some other "fans" supporting Connor later in the day once his Auntie & cousins were home from school. He didn't seem to mind them cheering him on the way he sometimes did with me (he is only 3 and already it isn't "cool" to have your mom gush over you...oh boy!).
By the end of Day 3 I was literally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. There was significant spacing between trips to the potty and he actually started to tell me when he had to go!!!!
3 weeks or a month into all of this I decided to just get rid of the diapers all together and started putting him to bed in his undies too. He had been waking up dry anyway so we might as well just really get this done.
I am so proud of him!
I still have to remember to ask him about going because he will have an accident if he doesn't stop playing for a potty break (when does this end??) He has kept things interesting for us by occasionally acting out by going potty in his pants (ie; if he is overly tired and not behaving....the entire week after daylight savings time was ROUGH...lots of accidents that week.) He also will sometimes find very....very.....random spots to pee. So far he has pee'd while standing on top of the Little Tykes Cozy Coupe Car. Poor little brother was sitting in the car seat while the pee ran down the roof and dripped onto his head and then ran into the seat he was sitting in...ugh...what a mess! He also climbed into my clothes dryer and went pee in there. Thankfully it was empty but still...who does that?! And just this evening I walked into the kitchen and found him standing on my kitchen table in a puddle of pee. After I had cleaned him and the mess up I was talking to him about why he can't do that, his response "It's just water." Unsanitary isn't in his vocab quite yet ;)
At times like that I am thankful that he only chooses to wet his pants & seems to have a good handle on going #2 where it belongs!!
Way to go! I also didn't train Tommy until a month after he turned 3 and it sounds like a similar experience of him basically getting it in a week. He will still have accidents when he's playing hard....and he's 5....never at school or out in public, always when he's just playing at the house...weird I know :)
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