Potty Training

All of his new underwear from Nana and Papa!

Well I took the plunge and decided to give potty training a go before baby #2 makes his appearance at the end of August.  Buying 2 sizes of diapers is NOT in our budget and his poopy diapers were seriously AWFUL smelling. I wanted to do it at the end of June but things just kept coming up during the weeks and I didn't want to have anything interfere with the week of house arrest.

We put out a potty chair around Christmas time to kind of introduce it and make it apart of everyday life.  He would sit on it to brush his teeth or while Scott or I was going to the bathroom.  It took him awhile to even sit on it without a diaper on. He even went pee in it a couple of times.  About a month ago he started not wanting to sit on it at all and I figured the novelty of it was wearing off and I put it in the closet.  He would ask for it and want it, but I would always say "When you're ready to big boy and use it we will get it back out".

So we finally found a week we didn't have anything planned.  The weeks before we prepared by picking out big boy underwear (Cars) and also some training pants, which is special underwear with cloth diaper absorbent pads sewed into them.  Making it less messy if they had an accident.  I had planned on using these for when we go out of the house so it's not too messy and embarrassing if there was an accident.  Jackson was so excited to wear the cars underwear we picked out!

I already had a potty chair and a seat to put on the toilet.  I also bought a foldable portable potty seat for public bathrooms and a piddle pad to put on his car seat. We also went to the dollar store and picked out 8 potty treats and some M&M's.  I made this Potty Train to help him stay excited about using the potty and to help keep track of how he was doing.  I put a star on the first day (to get him super excited) and then every 5 times going in the potty.  When he would go pee in the potty he would get a sticker and 2 M&Ms.  If he went poop he got 3 M&Ms.  When he landed on a star he would get a big potty treat.

Day 1:  I decided we would stay in the kitchen since it's tile and would be easy to clean. I brought up toys from the play room and got some towels to sit on.  Jackson wore a shirt and was naked on the bottom.  I had him drink as much water as possible so he would get lots of practice.  I set an alarm.  Every 20 minutes he would sit on the potty for 15 minutes.  ALL day! The first 7 times (out of the 9) he would pee a little on the floor and then finish in the potty. He was really good about noticing it and running to the potty when he had a little accident.  I could tell he was kind of figuring out how to hold it because at the end of the day he would sit on the potty at the timer and then let the pee out! No poop today though.

Day 2: Jackson was naked on bottom again but we were down in the play room (the floor being the squishy puzzle piece tiles).  He woke up with a diaper FULL of poop (holding it in the day before I guess?) We started out at the same timing but he wasn't going potty every time so I upped it to 30 minutes play, 15 minutes on the potty. Today he had NO accidents!! I realized when he would have to go he would start acting REALLY crazy and saying "owie owie" or "OOOH OOH OOH" .  I would have him sit on the potty and he would go! He also told me once that he had to go potty, went and sat down, and went! This day he also went poop.  He had NO idea that it happened though.  When I pointed it out to him he was kind of confused... I acted super excited but I still don't think he got it.

Day 3: Morning diaper full of poop again! Today we did the first half of the day naked and the 2nd half with underwear.  I upped the time to 45 minutes of play and 15 minutes on the potty.  He was starting to show that if he had to go he would go when he sat down, so if he didn't go I would only do about 10 minutes.  We didn't pound the water today so that made the day pretty slow on the potty train chart.  He did have an accident today but it was my fault.  I could kind of tell he had to go but I was hoping he would tell me like he did yesterday. So he had a little accident and we had to change his underwear.  No big deal.  It happens.  He was super cute in his big boy underwear though! OMG.. LOVE it!  It made him crazy though! He was jumping off the walls, thinking he was the coolest kid ever!

Day 4: Pretty good day! We played outside, he went to the bathroom when I asked (didn't ever tell me he had to go though).  I would ask him every 20 minutes and then if he said no 3 times in a row we would go sit on the potty. If he didn't go, I would take him a little bit later. After nap I decided to venture out. We sat on the potty, got dressed, and headed to the mall.  We went to the bathroom while there since he didn't go when he woke up, played a little and went home.  While I was cooking dinner I hear Jackson yell "MOM I'm WEEEEET".  He peed everything he had in him out.  It was my fault for not taking him (it had been an hour and half since he woke up from his nap and hadn't gone since).  I could tell from the mess that he went a little, ran a little closer to the stairs, went some more, and then got closer, and then let it all go.  Bummer.  After dinner he started tooting a lot and it smelled.  I could tell he had to go poop (didn't go during nap time).  So we went upstairs and he sat, pushed, and out came poop.  He popped up and was so excited to see it in the toilet!

Because baseball is essential to play when running around in your underwear with bubbles.

Day 5: Good day again.  We stayed around the house and played outside some more.  He didn't tell me he had to go to the bathroom ever but I have learned if I ask him if he has to go and he says no, it usually means he doesn't.  If he says yes, he does.  Today I was in the kitchen on the phone and he was in the next room playing.  He then runs up to me starts saying "OH OH" and pointing to his bum. We run upstairs and he goes poop!

Day 6: Today we took an hour and half trip to Louisville to attend the temple.  On the way there I put Jackson in a diaper since it was nap time and he hasn't been waking dry from nap or bed time yet.  We kind of limited his water but not completely.  He took a nap, and when we got there he had a dry diaper and went pee! Before we left he went pee and he stayed in his underwear. We got home and he was dry!!!

Day 7: Church. The ultimate test since he is in nursery for 2 hours with someone else! He went potty before I brought him to nursery and I also took him during and he went.

I am seriously so proud of this kid.  I know we still have work to do and he still isn't officially potty trained.  This week I will try to step back a little bit to see if he will tell me he has to go because that is when they are officially trained.

Things that worked for us
- Rewards: Stickers, M&Ms, potty train, being a big boy.  I was worried what he would do once we were done with the potty train and M&Ms stopped but all the times he has gone when we have been away from the house he hasn't said anything about it.  I also made it a point not to make that the reason to go potty. (If you go potty you will get a treat). We talked about getting our underwear clean and dry and becoming a big boy a lot.
- Patience: It's hard to keep a boy sitting and entertained while on the potty.  We read a lot of books and sang songs.  I also never got mad at him when he had an accident.  I just said, that's okay, next time we need to get it in the potty.
- Talking it up:  We had been talking about the potty for about a week or two. How he was going to be a big boy and not a baby anymore.  We made a BIG deal out of it whenever he went pee pee in the potty (now not so much).  We also let me call some people after he would to tell them the good news!
- The drinking lots of water the first couple of days.  Eventually he got sick of it so we gave him a straw and who doesn't like drinking water out of a straw better?? We also did some juice/water to help. This really helped with practicing!

Now, we just need to keep it up.  Baby is due to come in about 6 weeks (probably earlier) and we are hoping that won't make him regress!