So yesterday was easy. Too easy. Even though I loved the fact that I didn't have to clean the floors once, I knew that easy was not the way to go - it doesn't teach him anything. I can put him on the potty at the 45 minute mark, or like today, the hour mark, and reach the end of the day with almost no accidents, but putting him on the potty doesn't teach him what peeing feels like or give him a chance to initiate heading to the potty himself.
So today, I made a hard decision. Hard, that is, for my knees and my sciatic nerve, which in turns means hard for my body. (Doing this while being 7 months pregnant is not the ideal time, but I'm hoping it's easier than doing it with a newborn.) Starting at about 3 this afternoon, and all day tomorrow (and from then on unless I figure out it's not working), I'm letting him just go when he wants. This goes against the fibers of my being (I'm a very scheduled person) but it just makes the most logical sense to me. This is how I came to my decision.
Seeing as there is next to nothing out there on potty training early (yes, there's ton of evidence that it happens, but the exact how-to manual seems to be missing) I've been going at this with just my thoughts to guide me and a few tips here and there. But today, I got a tip that I really liked. And the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. The tip/advice came from a woman who has 4 children, 3 of them boys, and had them all potty trained early. This is what she told me she did:
"My theory that always worked(4 x's) was going cold turkey! No pull ups, no diapers, just underwear and clothes...And then they realize when they go and get the connection. It took about 4 or 5 days of saying 'that's ok next time go in the potty chair!' Lots of washing, but it worked! Matt was 18 mths! Basically I just let him figure it out on his own."
So this is what I'm going to do. It's going to be lots of washing, I know, but hey, if it gets me to where I'm wanting to go, I'll do it! There are a few thoughts that come with this...the first being - why didn't I start out this way?! I could be on day 3 of 5 right now!! But then I realize that this is all a learning process - both for him and for me. I had to have the first 2 days to figure out his schedule and to realize what little things did and didn't work. So now I know that he pees about every hour. And I know that he knows that pee is supposed to go in the potty. I also know that he hasn't made the connection between feeling 'the urge' and actually peeing yet. Hopefully that will come with this new regime.
So here is how today went. You'll notice most of the 'accidents' pretty much happened after the 3:00 mark...
8:30 - on the potty and peed.
9:50 - peed on the floor - L - sat him on the potty for 5 minutes
10:50 - on the potty
10:58 - peed M
11:00 - nap. Woke dry.
12:35 - up from nap, on the potty, peed right away M
1:30 - peed some point during lunch
2:10 - put him on the potty because he started to strain (and we all know what that means...)
2:15 - pooped in the potty!
3:00 - on the potty again and he peed right away M
4:06 - first accident that I knew was coming. He just stood there once it happened. I think I needed to have him in more clothes for it to be effective instead of just underwear.
4:30 - nap. Woke dry.
6:20 - wet himself. This was the hardest part for me. Knowing he was going to pee since he was newly up and dressed in clean/dry underwear and sweats...
7:35 - wet himself again. He knows it, too, which is good. When I asked him if he was wet, he put his hand to his crotch area and said 'yes'.
Tomorrows time line, if I even do a post, will probably just reflect the times that he wet himself since I'm not going to be putting him on the potty. The next big post will be when, Lord willing, he initiates going on his own...hopefully that will come sooner rather than later!
A nice thing about this whole 'clothes on' method is that none of the pee gets to the floor, it's all soaked up by the training pants and sweats!! :) (It's the little things, right?)
So this is what I'm going to do. It's going to be lots of washing, I know, but hey, if it gets me to where I'm wanting to go, I'll do it! There are a few thoughts that come with this...the first being - why didn't I start out this way?! I could be on day 3 of 5 right now!! But then I realize that this is all a learning process - both for him and for me. I had to have the first 2 days to figure out his schedule and to realize what little things did and didn't work. So now I know that he pees about every hour. And I know that he knows that pee is supposed to go in the potty. I also know that he hasn't made the connection between feeling 'the urge' and actually peeing yet. Hopefully that will come with this new regime.
So here is how today went. You'll notice most of the 'accidents' pretty much happened after the 3:00 mark...
8:30 - on the potty and peed.
9:50 - peed on the floor - L - sat him on the potty for 5 minutes
10:50 - on the potty
10:58 - peed M
11:00 - nap. Woke dry.
12:35 - up from nap, on the potty, peed right away M
1:30 - peed some point during lunch
2:10 - put him on the potty because he started to strain (and we all know what that means...)
2:15 - pooped in the potty!
3:00 - on the potty again and he peed right away M
4:06 - first accident that I knew was coming. He just stood there once it happened. I think I needed to have him in more clothes for it to be effective instead of just underwear.
4:30 - nap. Woke dry.
6:20 - wet himself. This was the hardest part for me. Knowing he was going to pee since he was newly up and dressed in clean/dry underwear and sweats...
7:35 - wet himself again. He knows it, too, which is good. When I asked him if he was wet, he put his hand to his crotch area and said 'yes'.
Tomorrows time line, if I even do a post, will probably just reflect the times that he wet himself since I'm not going to be putting him on the potty. The next big post will be when, Lord willing, he initiates going on his own...hopefully that will come sooner rather than later!
A nice thing about this whole 'clothes on' method is that none of the pee gets to the floor, it's all soaked up by the training pants and sweats!! :) (It's the little things, right?)
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