Evan is now 2 and we've moved. All in all, we are doing well now. But 8 weeks ago, we were not in the same boat. Let me back up.
When we moved (Evan 22 months), Evan was fine. He was totally trained in the house and out. He would tell me when he had to go, and even though I had to help him with his shorts, he could hold it for 2 to 3 minutes, so we never had any accidents.
And then we moved.
It wasn't so much the changing of surroundings for him, it was more the fact that Scot and I took the easy way and kept him in a diaper too long after him getting up in the morning. And we weren't consistent with him at all, and he started having accidents. We, on the other hand, were running errands like crazy and trying to unpack a house. Oh yes, and did I mention that we had a new little guy around?
So about 4 weeks ago, I had about had it. I knew Evan could do it, it was my fault for not being consistent with him. We were having a bout one accident a day and after months of very few accidents, I was getting discouraged with 4 weeks of hit and miss. We'd have good days, and we'd have not-so-good days So I took one day, and we just 're-potty-trained' him. I hovered, I looked for 'the signs', and I encouraged him. And that's pretty much all it took. We have been 4 weeks now with NO accidents inside the house. I still put a diaper on him when we go in public (although I've started to be brave depending on where we're going and for how long), and he still sleeps in a diaper, but we are back to being 100% potty trained in the house. He either tells me he has to go, or he just goes by himself. He poops and pees in the potty (I got potty seat for him which helps SO much for the big potty) and we're all back to normal.
So that's the update on the "potty training", if you will. A little relapse, but we're all better.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Outing #1
We had our first outing today and it was great!! 2 and half hours and no accidents. He didn't tell me had to go, either, but that's ok. When it hit the 2 hour mark of him not going, I just plopped him on the potty and he went. This all happened a little sooner than expected, but like a lot of things that happen in parenting that stretch us and make us move out of our comfort zone, it was good. My folks came by but had to be somewhere. My mom hadn't seen Evan in a week and was really bummed to not be able to spend more time with him. So into the car we went so she could have some time with us. And it was a great experience! I was nervous, but thankfully our first 'public' outing wasn't very public at all - it was outside and not many people about.
So that's the update!
So that's the update!
Friday, January 22, 2010
I think it's official...
...while at home, Evan is potty trained. We've had 5 days in a row with no accidents and him initiating going both pee and poo. He has demonstrated that he can hold it, and he no longer lets just a little out at a time - it's all there at once. I do make him sit on the potty before naptime, and sometimes before a meal if he hasn't gone recently, but otherwise, it's all him!
I have yet to take him in public without a diaper on, and I'm sure that will come just like this did. For now, I'm excited that it's official, even if it's only in the house!
Good luck to all you potty training parents out there. Potty training early is possible. Don't let anyone tell you it's not. It takes patience. It takes discipline on your part to keep going and not give up when you feel like it's a hopeless task. It takes time - and sometimes longer than you think.
Some tips looking back:
I have yet to take him in public without a diaper on, and I'm sure that will come just like this did. For now, I'm excited that it's official, even if it's only in the house!
Good luck to all you potty training parents out there. Potty training early is possible. Don't let anyone tell you it's not. It takes patience. It takes discipline on your part to keep going and not give up when you feel like it's a hopeless task. It takes time - and sometimes longer than you think.
Some tips looking back:
- Mark off a week to do nothing but potty train! This means no one coming over to the house while the little one is awake - it's distracting.
- No treats. We tried that, but for him, he would sit, pee a little, get his sticker, then pee a little more - not what you want to do!
- Don't stress about it - they feel that
- I would advise being down to one nap by the time potty training begins. 2 naps just really disrupt things
- Patience!!!!!!
- Consistency!!!!!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
At the end...finally
We are at the end of potty training. Since Thursday last week, the days seem to look the same. Sometimes we're better after a nap, sometimes, not, but we typically go all morning and most of the afternoon after nap-time with no accidents. Same way today. No prompting to go on the potty and several times where I would look up from my seat and he'd just be sitting down to pee (or poo) or just be getting up!
I admit, it has taken longer than I expected, but the majority of the time with 2 naps in a day and with so many interruptions of having places to be or having people over, while very fun for me, was not very conducive to consistent training. I looked, and I have not had 3 solid days of nothing in a row since I started this. So I blocked Thurs/Fri/Sat off this week to really seal the deal. He does great at home, but I've been too nervous to take him out without a diaper on. And maybe we'll keep doing the 'diaper while out' routine for a while, who knows. I just want him able to play with other kids and still pay enough attention to what's going on and not make a mess. Maybe that's high hopes. For now, I'm so excited that he's at least 95% potty trained when we're at home.
I'll let you all know how the three day boot-camp goes!
I admit, it has taken longer than I expected, but the majority of the time with 2 naps in a day and with so many interruptions of having places to be or having people over, while very fun for me, was not very conducive to consistent training. I looked, and I have not had 3 solid days of nothing in a row since I started this. So I blocked Thurs/Fri/Sat off this week to really seal the deal. He does great at home, but I've been too nervous to take him out without a diaper on. And maybe we'll keep doing the 'diaper while out' routine for a while, who knows. I just want him able to play with other kids and still pay enough attention to what's going on and not make a mess. Maybe that's high hopes. For now, I'm so excited that he's at least 95% potty trained when we're at home.
I'll let you all know how the three day boot-camp goes!
Monday, January 11, 2010
Day....what day is it?
Waiting and readingYesterday, Evan came to us and told us he had to pee. Three times! There are 5 stickers on the chart from yesterday, but the other 2 are because we sat him on it because he had started to go in his pants (but we knew he hadn't gone all the way) and we wanted him to finish on the potty. Right now, this is the most frustrating battle. Sometimes he'll start to pee in his pants, but then stop when he realizes it. The frustrating part is not the wet pants or his whining that he's wet. The frustrating part is that he still has to learn how to release ALL the pee once he sits down. We'll sit him down and he'll grunt and push and out comes 3 little drops. Yeah - not the rest of the pee. The good news is that he has the control to stop the pee and hold it. We're just working on getting him to go all the way at one time. We'll get there. Just like we got here. Slow and steady.
Today has been great. Lots of changes in one day, but we're making it. I guess I forgot to mention that up until today, Evan has been on a 2 nap schedule. It dawned on me yesterday that if I switched him to just one nap, we'd have the entire morning to work on things and only one nap to interrupt us. So today, I pushed him until 12:30 before I put him down (he'd been fighting the 2 nap schedule for about a week now...) and he did great. Not a very pretty pre-nap time, but we'll get the hang of that, too.
This morning, though, was wonderful! He initiated 4 times on his own, and the accidents we had were due to being upset about being told no, or banging his head on the table edge - both brought tears, which in turn, brought out the pee. The other accident we had was totally my fault. I decided to go put the mail out by our front door. Well, I checked him to see if he was wet on my way to the front door. When I started to unlock the door, he started calling for me, but I just went ahead and kept opening the door to stick my letter outside for the postman. He, of course, was still calling. When I turned around, he was standing in the kitchen patting himself. Bummer. But at least he was trying to tell me, right?
All in all, we're getting it. He's able to hold it. He's starting to tell us he has to go, or like today, he just picks up a book and sits on the potty. I have to be watching for this since he'll sit down with his pants on. To help this, I hae only been putting him in his underwear, and he pulls that off pretty easily. It's so cute to watch him tug at them to get them up and then even funnier still is watching him pull them up - covering his front and totally leaving his little butt cheeks hangin' out. :)
Thursday, January 7, 2010
General Update
So I've decided that when you potty train, you really do need to have an entire week or two blocked off completely for this to work. Tuesday and Wednesday this past week were tough days. Fun for me, tough for the routine. We had people in the house the majority of both days and while Evan peed in the potty, of his own initiative, when the house was empty in the morning, I was changing wet underwear and pants the rest of the day due to the distractions. Lesson learned. If I am to have people over, it needs to be during nap time.
The good news is that every day seems to be better. Today, we had 4 times where he came to me or where I saw him give me the sign (him holding himself and then trying to pull his underwear down) and we went and sat on the potty! I started doing a sticker chart today. The praise was working fine, but I wanted something a little extra that was NOT food related. This is purely a pet peeve of mine and I don't judge anyone who uses food as an incentive, I just feel that our society is already centered around food enough that I don't need to encourage it as a reward when something else will do. Anyway, the sticker chart actually seems to work. He was a little confused at first why he couldn't just keep putting stickers on the sheet, but by the end of the day, he got it. I think.
So here's hoping that tomorrow is better. I looked at my tracking sheet this morning and was discouraged because it said "Day 11" on it, but then I had to remember that it was only really Day 9 for this new method, and considering the 2 days of company, we're doing really well.
I'll update more when there's another turn of events - hopefully a good one. :)
The good news is that every day seems to be better. Today, we had 4 times where he came to me or where I saw him give me the sign (him holding himself and then trying to pull his underwear down) and we went and sat on the potty! I started doing a sticker chart today. The praise was working fine, but I wanted something a little extra that was NOT food related. This is purely a pet peeve of mine and I don't judge anyone who uses food as an incentive, I just feel that our society is already centered around food enough that I don't need to encourage it as a reward when something else will do. Anyway, the sticker chart actually seems to work. He was a little confused at first why he couldn't just keep putting stickers on the sheet, but by the end of the day, he got it. I think.
So here's hoping that tomorrow is better. I looked at my tracking sheet this morning and was discouraged because it said "Day 11" on it, but then I had to remember that it was only really Day 9 for this new method, and considering the 2 days of company, we're doing really well.
I'll update more when there's another turn of events - hopefully a good one. :)
Monday, January 4, 2010
Day 8 - Breakthrough
Today is day 8 of potty training, but day 5 of the 'new plan' and today is the day we had our first breakthrough. I'm writing this right after the event, so maybe we'll have more today, it is only 10 am, but for now, I'm just so excited I had to come down and write about it!
At about 9:45, we had already had 2 'accidents' - no big deal, par for the course as of late. I've figured out that he goes about ever 60-75 minutes, and that he grabs himself, or puts his legs together, before he goes. Still hasn't made the connection that getting wet happens after he feels the urge, but I think we're getting a little closer.
So today, his last accident had been at 8:30 and I was just waiting for the next one. I ask him off and on if he has to pee and he usually just shakes his head no. I hadn't asked in a few minutes, and all of a sudden, he went to where his books were, picked one out, and handed it to me. Instead of sitting next to me where I was, he walked over to his potty and sat down. I quickly took his pants and underwear off and asked if he had to pee. He just looked at me and reached for the book. So I sat and we read and within 5 minutes, out came the pee!
Not sure if this is just coincidence, or him actually realizing he needed to go, but either way, it gives me hope and the encouragement I needed. Further updates to come as we have more breakthroughs!
ADDITION as of 7:30pm:
We had one more time where Evan was on and off the potty of his own volition (I don't tell him to get on anymore unless I think there's poop involved!) and he went! We did this yet again at about 3 and he peed on the floor while up. (He had tooted and thought he had done something, so he stood up and out came the pee!) We had an accident after dinner, and then one again about 30 minutes ago, but with the last one, he came to me patting himself and saying 'pee pee' - so that was a first and encouraging. Tell you what, I was really hesitant about all this yesterday, but I totally swear by this method today! You just have to give it the full 5 days! I'm excited to see what tomorrow brings. All I can do is hope at this point. :)
At about 9:45, we had already had 2 'accidents' - no big deal, par for the course as of late. I've figured out that he goes about ever 60-75 minutes, and that he grabs himself, or puts his legs together, before he goes. Still hasn't made the connection that getting wet happens after he feels the urge, but I think we're getting a little closer.
So today, his last accident had been at 8:30 and I was just waiting for the next one. I ask him off and on if he has to pee and he usually just shakes his head no. I hadn't asked in a few minutes, and all of a sudden, he went to where his books were, picked one out, and handed it to me. Instead of sitting next to me where I was, he walked over to his potty and sat down. I quickly took his pants and underwear off and asked if he had to pee. He just looked at me and reached for the book. So I sat and we read and within 5 minutes, out came the pee!
Not sure if this is just coincidence, or him actually realizing he needed to go, but either way, it gives me hope and the encouragement I needed. Further updates to come as we have more breakthroughs!
ADDITION as of 7:30pm:
We had one more time where Evan was on and off the potty of his own volition (I don't tell him to get on anymore unless I think there's poop involved!) and he went! We did this yet again at about 3 and he peed on the floor while up. (He had tooted and thought he had done something, so he stood up and out came the pee!) We had an accident after dinner, and then one again about 30 minutes ago, but with the last one, he came to me patting himself and saying 'pee pee' - so that was a first and encouraging. Tell you what, I was really hesitant about all this yesterday, but I totally swear by this method today! You just have to give it the full 5 days! I'm excited to see what tomorrow brings. All I can do is hope at this point. :)
Friday, January 1, 2010
Day 4 and 5
Not much to update. The new regime is going well. I think. He pees. I ask him if he's wet. He says yes. I change him into clean/dry clothes. Repeat.
Hopefully in a couple days he'll start to realize why he's wetting himself and he'll be coming to me to let me know he has to go. For now, I'm about to start load #3 in 2 days...it is a lot of laundry - especially if you don't have all that many sweatpants (what I found best with their fitted pant legs, and they soaks the wetness up so they feel it and you don't have to clean it up off the floor!) - but I'm hoping that it's totally worth it. The good news is that he knows he's wet and has just started to be bothered by it!
I think that the 45 minute schedule that I had him on earlier is ideal for an older child who knows what the feeling is and just has to get the hang of going on the potty. But for younger kids, when they need to learn what the urge actually is, this method, logically speaking, seems like it's the better deal. More cleaning, yes, but honestly a lot less stressful since I'm not having to entertain him on the potty or watch the clock the entire day. Obviously, I may change my mind on that in 4 days if this doesn't start to work, but I've been assured that it's worked with every child it was tried with. I'm hoping I can add Evan's name to that list soon!
Until a breakthrough happens...I'm off to clean!
Hopefully in a couple days he'll start to realize why he's wetting himself and he'll be coming to me to let me know he has to go. For now, I'm about to start load #3 in 2 days...it is a lot of laundry - especially if you don't have all that many sweatpants (what I found best with their fitted pant legs, and they soaks the wetness up so they feel it and you don't have to clean it up off the floor!) - but I'm hoping that it's totally worth it. The good news is that he knows he's wet and has just started to be bothered by it!
I think that the 45 minute schedule that I had him on earlier is ideal for an older child who knows what the feeling is and just has to get the hang of going on the potty. But for younger kids, when they need to learn what the urge actually is, this method, logically speaking, seems like it's the better deal. More cleaning, yes, but honestly a lot less stressful since I'm not having to entertain him on the potty or watch the clock the entire day. Obviously, I may change my mind on that in 4 days if this doesn't start to work, but I've been assured that it's worked with every child it was tried with. I'm hoping I can add Evan's name to that list soon!
Until a breakthrough happens...I'm off to clean!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Day 3 - Hard Descisions
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:
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Day 2
Today went really well. I think I have the schedule thing down, now it's just going to be the challenge of getting him to realize he has to go. He knows to pat himself (if you know what I mean) when he has to go, but it's not consistent at all...in fact, it's only happened a couple times. So I think I'll start working on incorporating the 'sign' for that in the next few days.
I did solidify a thought I had yesterday, though. As you'll see, we had a day of almost no accidents. And the accidents we did have, we're really full on accidents. Just little dribbles in the underwear. My reasoning? All because he got 'scared' out of finishing peeing. We inadvertently were checking his potty (with him sitting on it) while he was mid stream and that was that - he stopped. So during dinner, he went a little, and then when he went in the potty later on, it was only a little amount. And then 30 minutes after that, there was more dribble in the underwear (although, that could be due, too, to him running into the table and him crying...) Anyways...I now firmly hold to the idea that if he pees on accident and doesn't fully empty his bladder, we're due for some clean ups.
The other 'big thing' that happened today was he pooped on the potty! He has done this before, but it was still neat to have it happen today. We worked with 45 minutes intervals today, and I think I'm moving to hour intervals tomorrow - and there are a few reasons why. 1) We sat longer today than we did yesterday for him to go and when he peed, it was all about an hour apart. 2) Maybe cutting it closer to the 'go' mark will allow him to really feel what it feels like and give him an opportunity to tell me. More clean ups guaranteed with this method, but I think it may work out. And if it's too much trouble, I'll go back tot he 45 minutes since that's easy and it works.
Here is what today's 'charting sheet' looked like:
7:30 - on the potty after breakfast
7:35 - peed! M
8:20 - on the potty
8:30 - peed! H
9:20 - on the potty
9:50 - peed! H
10:15 - back on the potty before nap just to try and see if anything else came out - no go.
10:30 - nap. Woke dry!!
12:15 - up from nap, on potty right away, and rewarded with a bowl-full!! H
12:20 - lunch. dry.
1:00 - on the potty.
1:03 - pee and POOP
1:50 - on potty
2:05 - peed! H
2:50 - on the potty
2:55 - peed! H
3:00 - nap. woke dry.
5:00 - up from nap, on potty right away, peed right away! H
5:45 - on potty.
5:50 - peed! M (this is where he was interrupted mid-stream)
Dinner - little wet afterward, but not much
6:30 - on potty
6:50 - peed! M
7:10 - dribble in underwear directly after walking in to the kitchen table. We sat him on the potty to reinforce that peepee goes in the potty
7:20 - peed! L
8:00 - on potty. Peed. M
I did solidify a thought I had yesterday, though. As you'll see, we had a day of almost no accidents. And the accidents we did have, we're really full on accidents. Just little dribbles in the underwear. My reasoning? All because he got 'scared' out of finishing peeing. We inadvertently were checking his potty (with him sitting on it) while he was mid stream and that was that - he stopped. So during dinner, he went a little, and then when he went in the potty later on, it was only a little amount. And then 30 minutes after that, there was more dribble in the underwear (although, that could be due, too, to him running into the table and him crying...) Anyways...I now firmly hold to the idea that if he pees on accident and doesn't fully empty his bladder, we're due for some clean ups.
The other 'big thing' that happened today was he pooped on the potty! He has done this before, but it was still neat to have it happen today. We worked with 45 minutes intervals today, and I think I'm moving to hour intervals tomorrow - and there are a few reasons why. 1) We sat longer today than we did yesterday for him to go and when he peed, it was all about an hour apart. 2) Maybe cutting it closer to the 'go' mark will allow him to really feel what it feels like and give him an opportunity to tell me. More clean ups guaranteed with this method, but I think it may work out. And if it's too much trouble, I'll go back tot he 45 minutes since that's easy and it works.
Here is what today's 'charting sheet' looked like:
7:30 - on the potty after breakfast
7:35 - peed! M
8:20 - on the potty
8:30 - peed! H
9:20 - on the potty
9:50 - peed! H
10:15 - back on the potty before nap just to try and see if anything else came out - no go.
10:30 - nap. Woke dry!!
12:15 - up from nap, on potty right away, and rewarded with a bowl-full!! H
12:20 - lunch. dry.
1:00 - on the potty.
1:03 - pee and POOP
1:50 - on potty
2:05 - peed! H
2:50 - on the potty
2:55 - peed! H
3:00 - nap. woke dry.
5:00 - up from nap, on potty right away, peed right away! H
5:45 - on potty.
5:50 - peed! M (this is where he was interrupted mid-stream)
Dinner - little wet afterward, but not much
6:30 - on potty
6:50 - peed! M
7:10 - dribble in underwear directly after walking in to the kitchen table. We sat him on the potty to reinforce that peepee goes in the potty
7:20 - peed! L
8:00 - on potty. Peed. M
Monday, December 28, 2009
Day 1
Here is how today went.
7:30 - Evan woke up and we had some breakfast.
8 - Changed out of jammies and started to sit on the potty. For over an hour. I knew that it would take him a while to pee since he had probably gone as soon as he was awake, but I didn't want to have him just playing and then pee, so I sat him until it came. Well, we sat there for an hour and 15 minutes. He would get up here and there, but then he'd come and sit back down. We read, sang songs, put pieces into a puzzle, pushed a dump truck back and forth...it's amazing how he knows how to scoot around on his little potty without getting up. He was over all pretty content.
9:15 - He gets off his potty. He walks over to the oven and does something I have never seen him do. He not only touched, but pushed in the knob/dial for one of the burners. I clapped my hands together to get his attention and told him "no touch". And then it happened. Out came a nice long stream of pee. So then I was faced with a decision. I didn't want to scold him for peeing since that's what I'd been trying to get him to do, but I didn't want to praise him for going on the floor, either. So I did something in the middle. I excitedly told him that he was peeing, but that it goes in the potty. He seemed to know that he hadn't peed where he was supposed to since he didn't clap or anything like he normally does when he pees in the potty.
9:16 - I cleaned up and put his 'big boy pants' on. He played for an hour and I wrote thank you notes for Christmas gifts.
10:20 - Back on the potty, this time only for about 3 minutes! He peed right away and we clapped and praised him and he was so excited!
10:30 - nap time with a diaper on...and he woke up dry 90 minutes later!
12:05 - After he so nicely peed for me, a big full potty-full, we ate lunch. Sometime during this time, he peed (to be expected, I think), and I'm very thankful I had put the plastic cover on over his underwear! For some reason, I thought it would be good to pump him full of fluids...mistake #1.
1:15/1:55/2:15 - he wet himself while playing. At first, I just thought, "ok, so I need to put him on the potty sooner after he finishes lunch. no big deal". The second time around, I thought, "hmm...ok, maybe we need to go to 30 minutes instead of 45", the third time, I realized maybe 20 minutes was the magic time...
2:30 - on the potty just in case he peed before the 20 minute mark, and bingo, he went within minutes.
2:55 - On the way to the potty, as in, we're about to sit down and the potty is only a mere 2 inches away...he pees. Not sure why this happened. Maybe it was because I was talking about it. Maybe it was a fluke. I don't know, but I'm not counting it as a full-on accident, that's for sure.
3:00 - Nap time for him with a diaper. Down time for me -- away from the kitchen/dining area. The plan now is to go back to letting him drink like normal, which is NOT as much as he's been drinking this afternoon, and try to sense his schedule from there. The whole on-the-potty-every-20-minutes thing is not going to go over very well. At least not until he gets a better grasp of what 'the urge' feels like!
4:45 - Woke up wet, but that was ok. We chilled for a little bit (he wakes up slowly) and then..
5:00 - Sat on the potty. Had to wait a bit just like this morning. But...
5:20 - He peed!
5:30 - Since he was 'empty', I decided to go ahead and feed him (with the plastic pants on, again!) He ended up staying dry (partly due to the fact I didn't give him liquid until after he was done with his meal....
6:10 - Back on the potty.
6:30 - He peed!
7:15 - Back on the potty for one last time...
7:20 - Out came the pee!!
Total Score: Accidents: 4. Times on the potty: 6. Halfways ("accidents" that ended up making it in the potty): 2
Overall, I would say today went well. The Lord was good and I didn't get frustrated. Let's hope this keeps up...it is only day one. I learned a lot, was totally blown away by how well he did for the first day -- I wasn't honestly expecting him to pee in the potty at all today -- and realized what makes him 'go'(as in, when he's surprised, he pees). Today was just supposed to be a day of figuring out what his little rhythm was, and I think I've found it -- 45 - 60 minutes. For us, pumping him full of fluids isn't going to be the way I go. I'm going to treat the liquids as though it were any other day, but just put him on the potty every 45 minutes. It worked this morning and this evening just fine, so that's what I'm going with for now.
Another thing I learned was that when Evan had an accident, he would stop peeing once I either made a sound or he realized what was going on. This was insightful for 2 reasons. It showed me that he could stop his stream, and it also clued me into the fact that he wasn't totally emptying his bladder - hence the multiple accidents one right after the other this afternoon.
Some things that were really helpful today:
7:30 - Evan woke up and we had some breakfast.
8 - Changed out of jammies and started to sit on the potty. For over an hour. I knew that it would take him a while to pee since he had probably gone as soon as he was awake, but I didn't want to have him just playing and then pee, so I sat him until it came. Well, we sat there for an hour and 15 minutes. He would get up here and there, but then he'd come and sit back down. We read, sang songs, put pieces into a puzzle, pushed a dump truck back and forth...it's amazing how he knows how to scoot around on his little potty without getting up. He was over all pretty content.
9:15 - He gets off his potty. He walks over to the oven and does something I have never seen him do. He not only touched, but pushed in the knob/dial for one of the burners. I clapped my hands together to get his attention and told him "no touch". And then it happened. Out came a nice long stream of pee. So then I was faced with a decision. I didn't want to scold him for peeing since that's what I'd been trying to get him to do, but I didn't want to praise him for going on the floor, either. So I did something in the middle. I excitedly told him that he was peeing, but that it goes in the potty. He seemed to know that he hadn't peed where he was supposed to since he didn't clap or anything like he normally does when he pees in the potty.
9:16 - I cleaned up and put his 'big boy pants' on. He played for an hour and I wrote thank you notes for Christmas gifts.
10:20 - Back on the potty, this time only for about 3 minutes! He peed right away and we clapped and praised him and he was so excited!
10:30 - nap time with a diaper on...and he woke up dry 90 minutes later!
12:05 - After he so nicely peed for me, a big full potty-full, we ate lunch. Sometime during this time, he peed (to be expected, I think), and I'm very thankful I had put the plastic cover on over his underwear! For some reason, I thought it would be good to pump him full of fluids...mistake #1.
1:15/1:55/2:15 - he wet himself while playing. At first, I just thought, "ok, so I need to put him on the potty sooner after he finishes lunch. no big deal". The second time around, I thought, "hmm...ok, maybe we need to go to 30 minutes instead of 45", the third time, I realized maybe 20 minutes was the magic time...
2:30 - on the potty just in case he peed before the 20 minute mark, and bingo, he went within minutes.
2:55 - On the way to the potty, as in, we're about to sit down and the potty is only a mere 2 inches away...he pees. Not sure why this happened. Maybe it was because I was talking about it. Maybe it was a fluke. I don't know, but I'm not counting it as a full-on accident, that's for sure.
3:00 - Nap time for him with a diaper. Down time for me -- away from the kitchen/dining area. The plan now is to go back to letting him drink like normal, which is NOT as much as he's been drinking this afternoon, and try to sense his schedule from there. The whole on-the-potty-every-20-minutes thing is not going to go over very well. At least not until he gets a better grasp of what 'the urge' feels like!
4:45 - Woke up wet, but that was ok. We chilled for a little bit (he wakes up slowly) and then..
5:00 - Sat on the potty. Had to wait a bit just like this morning. But...
5:20 - He peed!
5:30 - Since he was 'empty', I decided to go ahead and feed him (with the plastic pants on, again!) He ended up staying dry (partly due to the fact I didn't give him liquid until after he was done with his meal....
6:10 - Back on the potty.
6:30 - He peed!
7:15 - Back on the potty for one last time...
7:20 - Out came the pee!!
Total Score: Accidents: 4. Times on the potty: 6. Halfways ("accidents" that ended up making it in the potty): 2
Overall, I would say today went well. The Lord was good and I didn't get frustrated. Let's hope this keeps up...it is only day one. I learned a lot, was totally blown away by how well he did for the first day -- I wasn't honestly expecting him to pee in the potty at all today -- and realized what makes him 'go'(as in, when he's surprised, he pees). Today was just supposed to be a day of figuring out what his little rhythm was, and I think I've found it -- 45 - 60 minutes. For us, pumping him full of fluids isn't going to be the way I go. I'm going to treat the liquids as though it were any other day, but just put him on the potty every 45 minutes. It worked this morning and this evening just fine, so that's what I'm going with for now.
Another thing I learned was that when Evan had an accident, he would stop peeing once I either made a sound or he realized what was going on. This was insightful for 2 reasons. It showed me that he could stop his stream, and it also clued me into the fact that he wasn't totally emptying his bladder - hence the multiple accidents one right after the other this afternoon.
Some things that were really helpful today:
- Knowing ahead of time I would be in one area of the house and leaving things for me to do in that area to keep me busy
- Having only a few toys out for today and then changing them out for tomorrow so they're all 'new'
- Only looking at a few books at a time while on the potty
- Getting really creative for the sitting on the potty time
- Charting our progress!! I can't stress this enough. Each child will have their own natural schedule and it's best to go with that. It will also be nice to see patterns day after day, and be able to took back and see how far we've come!
- Charting when he drank - doing more of this tomorrow!
- Charting the amount of pee by L, M, or H (Low, Medium, High) to clue me into how much he's gone and if he has fully emptied himself. IE: all the times he peed on the potty, he peed a lot - that's an "H". All the accidents were very small - those were all marked as "L".
- Soup week!! I knew when I would be starting to train (generally speaking) and so I've been doubling soups I make for the past 6 weeks and putting the other half in the freezer. makes dinners really easy when there's not a lot of time to make it!
Sunday, December 27, 2009
And the journey begins...
I have just finished prepping my main floor (the only floor in my house with all wood or tile) for our first day of potty training tomorrow. All my rugs are up. The potty is in the corner. My kitchen table is against the wall to give us more play room (amazing how much extra space that gives us). The newly upholstered kitchen chairs that he so loves to climb on are in the living room. The baby gate is ready to go up in the hallway so he can't get to the living room because I didn't want to take up that rug or worry about my furniture. All his board books and wood or easily cleanable toys are within very easy access (thank you, Santa!). I have my bottle of Green Works and cleaning cloths handy, too. The house is ready. Am I?
All day, I've been thinking to myself: am I crazy?! And no, I know I'm not. But right now, the eve of the first training day, I'm a little nervous. There are no books out there to practically tell you how this is supposed to go because it seems like no one does it any more. All I have is word of mouth accounts, and older people encouraging me by telling me that they all had their kids trained early. Yes, I know it's possible, but it's not much help when I have questions like "Do I leave him in underwear or with nothing?"
So here is the plan. And as we parents know, even the best laid plans are sometimes futile. I want to have him get used to the underwear, so I'm going to have him wear them unless we're in the 'sitting on the potty every 10 minutes because he hasn't gone in over an hour' stage. He doesn't like things around his ankles when he's sitting anyways. But, once he goes pee, I'm going to put the underwear on, I think, and then we'll just play by the potty for 45 minutes until I have him sit down again. I'm not going to pump him with salt so he drinks more, but I'll tell ya what...he will be drinking more than normal I'm sure.
Hopefully by this time tomorrow (at which point I hope to update again on how we did) I will still have hair. I know in my head that this will all be fine, but right now, I'm just wondering how I'll get to the end. When I swam competitively, my favorite race was the mile. Crazy, I know, but I loved the even strokes, the rhythm, watching the bubbles fly off my hand, the turn, the push, the glide, the first big gulp of air. I feel like I'm on the starting block and tomorrow's alarm will be the gun to get me in the water. There's no turning back. I have to just keep pushing through. Even when my lungs start to burn and my legs feel like Jello, I just have to keep kicking and pulling. Or, for our current situation, even when I've cleaned pee off the floor a dozen times, and I haven't seen anything by the 4 walls in my house for 6 days, and we're still having more accidents than successes...I have to keep being encouraging. Keep smiling. And eventually, Lord willing, he'll get it.
So until tomorrow...
All day, I've been thinking to myself: am I crazy?! And no, I know I'm not. But right now, the eve of the first training day, I'm a little nervous. There are no books out there to practically tell you how this is supposed to go because it seems like no one does it any more. All I have is word of mouth accounts, and older people encouraging me by telling me that they all had their kids trained early. Yes, I know it's possible, but it's not much help when I have questions like "Do I leave him in underwear or with nothing?"
So here is the plan. And as we parents know, even the best laid plans are sometimes futile. I want to have him get used to the underwear, so I'm going to have him wear them unless we're in the 'sitting on the potty every 10 minutes because he hasn't gone in over an hour' stage. He doesn't like things around his ankles when he's sitting anyways. But, once he goes pee, I'm going to put the underwear on, I think, and then we'll just play by the potty for 45 minutes until I have him sit down again. I'm not going to pump him with salt so he drinks more, but I'll tell ya what...he will be drinking more than normal I'm sure.
Hopefully by this time tomorrow (at which point I hope to update again on how we did) I will still have hair. I know in my head that this will all be fine, but right now, I'm just wondering how I'll get to the end. When I swam competitively, my favorite race was the mile. Crazy, I know, but I loved the even strokes, the rhythm, watching the bubbles fly off my hand, the turn, the push, the glide, the first big gulp of air. I feel like I'm on the starting block and tomorrow's alarm will be the gun to get me in the water. There's no turning back. I have to just keep pushing through. Even when my lungs start to burn and my legs feel like Jello, I just have to keep kicking and pulling. Or, for our current situation, even when I've cleaned pee off the floor a dozen times, and I haven't seen anything by the 4 walls in my house for 6 days, and we're still having more accidents than successes...I have to keep being encouraging. Keep smiling. And eventually, Lord willing, he'll get it.
So until tomorrow...
Friday, December 11, 2009
Surprised and Shocked
Today we had a little shocking surprise! About 11 this morning, Evan came to me with his little potty and looked at me with some great intent. I asked him if he had to go potty and his response was not only a yes, but he put the potty down and kept looking at me. This was all surprising because we haven't started going potty any other time than before bed! So what was I to do? I got down on my hands and knees, moved the potty to hard flooring, and took his little pants and diaper off. What do ya know, but the kid sat down, pushed, and out came pee! Not a whole bowl full, but it was an immediate response to what we were doing!! This gives me great hope. Maybe when I start the hard core training in a couple weeks (projected start date is Dec 28th) it won't be as challenging. And then again, today may have been a weird fluke...
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Pooping in the Potty
Today marks the first day of Stage 3 for potty training! Pooping on the potty! Since I haven't given my 'stages' out yet, here they are:
Stage 1: getting him used to the potty
Stage 2: having him go potty consistently at night before bed
Stage 3: pooping in the potty
Stage 4: 'hard core' training with underpants
This morning was a success! When Evan started to strain, I was ready with the potty nearby. I stripped him down and explained to him that we poop on the potty now. He sat down, popped, and got up. SOOOO much easier than a poopy diaper! Thankfully, he is a consistent morning pooper, so I think as long as I'm watchful, we'll get the hang of it and maybe, just maybe, he'll start coming to me to tell me instead of me having to grab him. I'll keep you updated.
Stage 1: getting him used to the potty
Stage 2: having him go potty consistently at night before bed
Stage 3: pooping in the potty
Stage 4: 'hard core' training with underpants
This morning was a success! When Evan started to strain, I was ready with the potty nearby. I stripped him down and explained to him that we poop on the potty now. He sat down, popped, and got up. SOOOO much easier than a poopy diaper! Thankfully, he is a consistent morning pooper, so I think as long as I'm watchful, we'll get the hang of it and maybe, just maybe, he'll start coming to me to tell me instead of me having to grab him. I'll keep you updated.
Monday, November 30, 2009
How we Got Started
Here is what getting started on this whole potty training journey has looked like for us. (For some background and goals, scroll all the way down)
First of all, I bought the Baby Bjorn Little Potty. I chose this potty seat for a few reasons.
1) In order to eliminate, a child needs to have both feet flat on the floor. It has to do with the fact that if their feet are dangling, then their stomach is tightened and they can't relax enough to let anything out. Most potty seats in stores right now are too high for these little guys and they sometimes have a hard time getting on them without help.
2) It's one piece of plastic!! Most potty seats out there have lids, and sliding 'pots', and all sorts of cracks and crevices to keep and trap old urine - yuck! This is so simple to clean! I also bought a box of paper coffee pot liners to put in there for when he poops! Works like a charm!
3) The price was right! For the price of some of the singing and clapping potties, I was able to buy 3 Little Potty seats on Amazon! One for each floor of the house, and then eventually, one will stay in the car.
The Timeline
When Evan was 12 months old I started keeping the potty seat in the bathroom and having him sit on it fully clothed whenever I would use the bathroom. I talked about what I was doing and pretty soon, he knew that when we went into the bathroom, he sat down on his potty, too. I did this so that he would not only get used to seeing the potty, but also sitting on it.
When he was 13 months old, I started sitting him on the potty at night before bed with no diaper. We started off with staying seated for maybe a minute or two at a time and then he would want to get up. After about a month of being consistent with him and not forcing him to sit, but just encouraging him to stay there (we would sing, read books, play peek-a-boo) we were sitting on the potty for up to 20 minutes before bed. We didn't have our first success until he was about 14 and half months.
So it was 6 weeks of sitting with nothing coming out, but it was so worth it. For the last 2 months, he has pretty much gone on the potty 6 out of every 7 nights. There are times where we have 3 nights go by with nothing, but that's no big deal. At first, it would take 10 minutes to get anything out. We're at the point now where I can tell him that we're going to go up stairs (2 flights) and go pee and he holds it until we get there and then he sits and pushes and out comes the pee! It's amazing what they know to do. The nights where this doesn't happen are days when he hasn't had enough to drink, or hasn't had anything to drink the last 2 hours, or the bathtub is running and he's really distracted. We don't reward him, either, for going. Not in the tangible sense that is. Being so young, he still thrives off of doing what we want, and us being happy about it. (A plus of starting young) So we clap and and say 'yay!' and give him a high five. We dump the pee in the big toilet and let him flush it down and say 'bye bye'.
Now that we're at the 17 month point, I am going to start on the pooping aspect of training. He is very aware of when he poops and since he strains and grunts, it's easy to spot, too. I know he is aware of it because he'll come to me after he poops and I'll ask him "Did you poop?" and he he'll point to his diaper and say something that to him must sound like 'poop'. So this next month my goal is to catch him when he starts to grunt or strain and put him strait on the potty. Like I mentioned before, I bought little paper coffee maker filters that fit inside the potty perfectly. The few times he's pooped in the potty, it has made clean-up so much easier!
I also chose 18 months to start the hard-core potty training (ie: locking myself in the house for 2 weeks and sitting him on the potty every hour on the hour type deal) because he turns 18 months right after the New Year and I didn't want to have to deal with all the holiday hub-bub on top of keeping track of his potty training. Do what's best for you and your family. If you're going on a family trip, wait til you get back! If you're on the fence, but your child shows that he's ready and you have 2 weeks with nothing to do, just get started! I will be posting daily when we start that part of the process.
Things you'll need to get started.
A potty seat - preferably one that sits close to the ground
Little underwear - I bought Hanes 2T cotton underpants and just washed them in hot water and shrunk them (my guy is still on the little side of things). I chose Hanes, though, because they were shorter (length from waist to bottom of crotch area) by about 2 inches than the Fruit of the Loom kind.
Plastic covers - this is so that when your child is in the hard core potty training process, you're not stuck having to clean up all the accidents, or at least not to the extent if you didn't have them!
Patience - Kindness - Gentleness - Consistency - Someone to relieve you when you want to pull your hair out
I know this all may sound like a lot of work, but really, what is 15 minutes added into their bedtime routine to get things rolling? Just make it fun for them and they'll want to do it because you do it! Good luck!
First of all, I bought the Baby Bjorn Little Potty. I chose this potty seat for a few reasons.
1) In order to eliminate, a child needs to have both feet flat on the floor. It has to do with the fact that if their feet are dangling, then their stomach is tightened and they can't relax enough to let anything out. Most potty seats in stores right now are too high for these little guys and they sometimes have a hard time getting on them without help.
2) It's one piece of plastic!! Most potty seats out there have lids, and sliding 'pots', and all sorts of cracks and crevices to keep and trap old urine - yuck! This is so simple to clean! I also bought a box of paper coffee pot liners to put in there for when he poops! Works like a charm!
3) The price was right! For the price of some of the singing and clapping potties, I was able to buy 3 Little Potty seats on Amazon! One for each floor of the house, and then eventually, one will stay in the car.
The Timeline
When Evan was 12 months old I started keeping the potty seat in the bathroom and having him sit on it fully clothed whenever I would use the bathroom. I talked about what I was doing and pretty soon, he knew that when we went into the bathroom, he sat down on his potty, too. I did this so that he would not only get used to seeing the potty, but also sitting on it.
When he was 13 months old, I started sitting him on the potty at night before bed with no diaper. We started off with staying seated for maybe a minute or two at a time and then he would want to get up. After about a month of being consistent with him and not forcing him to sit, but just encouraging him to stay there (we would sing, read books, play peek-a-boo) we were sitting on the potty for up to 20 minutes before bed. We didn't have our first success until he was about 14 and half months.
So it was 6 weeks of sitting with nothing coming out, but it was so worth it. For the last 2 months, he has pretty much gone on the potty 6 out of every 7 nights. There are times where we have 3 nights go by with nothing, but that's no big deal. At first, it would take 10 minutes to get anything out. We're at the point now where I can tell him that we're going to go up stairs (2 flights) and go pee and he holds it until we get there and then he sits and pushes and out comes the pee! It's amazing what they know to do. The nights where this doesn't happen are days when he hasn't had enough to drink, or hasn't had anything to drink the last 2 hours, or the bathtub is running and he's really distracted. We don't reward him, either, for going. Not in the tangible sense that is. Being so young, he still thrives off of doing what we want, and us being happy about it. (A plus of starting young) So we clap and and say 'yay!' and give him a high five. We dump the pee in the big toilet and let him flush it down and say 'bye bye'.
Now that we're at the 17 month point, I am going to start on the pooping aspect of training. He is very aware of when he poops and since he strains and grunts, it's easy to spot, too. I know he is aware of it because he'll come to me after he poops and I'll ask him "Did you poop?" and he he'll point to his diaper and say something that to him must sound like 'poop'. So this next month my goal is to catch him when he starts to grunt or strain and put him strait on the potty. Like I mentioned before, I bought little paper coffee maker filters that fit inside the potty perfectly. The few times he's pooped in the potty, it has made clean-up so much easier!
I also chose 18 months to start the hard-core potty training (ie: locking myself in the house for 2 weeks and sitting him on the potty every hour on the hour type deal) because he turns 18 months right after the New Year and I didn't want to have to deal with all the holiday hub-bub on top of keeping track of his potty training. Do what's best for you and your family. If you're going on a family trip, wait til you get back! If you're on the fence, but your child shows that he's ready and you have 2 weeks with nothing to do, just get started! I will be posting daily when we start that part of the process.
Things you'll need to get started.
A potty seat - preferably one that sits close to the ground
Little underwear - I bought Hanes 2T cotton underpants and just washed them in hot water and shrunk them (my guy is still on the little side of things). I chose Hanes, though, because they were shorter (length from waist to bottom of crotch area) by about 2 inches than the Fruit of the Loom kind.
Plastic covers - this is so that when your child is in the hard core potty training process, you're not stuck having to clean up all the accidents, or at least not to the extent if you didn't have them!
Patience - Kindness - Gentleness - Consistency - Someone to relieve you when you want to pull your hair out
I know this all may sound like a lot of work, but really, what is 15 minutes added into their bedtime routine to get things rolling? Just make it fun for them and they'll want to do it because you do it! Good luck!
Background and Goal
Hello! I am sitting here at my computer tonight with the goal of starting this blog in hopes that at least one other parent can benefit from it. Potty training is not something to be taken lightly. It is a task that takes effort, patience, and persistence. Once you start, there is no going back.
I have decided to potty Evan early for a couple reasons. Reason 1 - I am pregnant and don't really want 2 kiddos in diapers! Reason 2 - My aunts, uncles, parents, brother, and myself were all trained by or right around 18 months, so I know it's possible no matter what other people tell me. Reason 3 - With reason 1 and 2 in mind, I don't want to have to pay for another 18 months worth of diapers if I don't have to!
I have done extensive research on when to potty train and the 2 schools of thoughts are either early (18-21 months) or later (2 1/2 - 3yrs) - there doesn't seem to be much for the in between time frame. People who like to potty train early do so because their child has shown signs of being mature enough (more on that below), and in general, the parents want to cut down on cost or waste. People in the older camp want to generally wait until the child really shows they are interested in being out of diapers and when potty training is only going to take a couple days. There is no right or wrong time to train your child - just remember to do what is best for you and your family, and once you start, it's best to just keep on going!
There are pros and cons to both, but I took the major cons of early training (ie: it takes longer, you still have to help the child with pulling down pants and underwear) and weighed it against paying for another 18 months worth of diapers, and in my case, having 2 in diapers, and early training won out. I will say though, I have no expectation for Evan to be night time trained by the time we're done or even soon afterward.
There are some basic signs that you should look for in your child before you start early training.
Child should be able to communicate somehow the need to urinate
Child should be able to stand and walk well
Child should be at a point where his/her bowl movements are consistently at the same time each day
Child should be able to follow simple 2 step commands (ie: "Go get the brush and bring it to mommy.")
I think that's about it on that. I may come back and edit and add, but for now, I think that's a good start.
I have decided to potty Evan early for a couple reasons. Reason 1 - I am pregnant and don't really want 2 kiddos in diapers! Reason 2 - My aunts, uncles, parents, brother, and myself were all trained by or right around 18 months, so I know it's possible no matter what other people tell me. Reason 3 - With reason 1 and 2 in mind, I don't want to have to pay for another 18 months worth of diapers if I don't have to!
I have done extensive research on when to potty train and the 2 schools of thoughts are either early (18-21 months) or later (2 1/2 - 3yrs) - there doesn't seem to be much for the in between time frame. People who like to potty train early do so because their child has shown signs of being mature enough (more on that below), and in general, the parents want to cut down on cost or waste. People in the older camp want to generally wait until the child really shows they are interested in being out of diapers and when potty training is only going to take a couple days. There is no right or wrong time to train your child - just remember to do what is best for you and your family, and once you start, it's best to just keep on going!
There are pros and cons to both, but I took the major cons of early training (ie: it takes longer, you still have to help the child with pulling down pants and underwear) and weighed it against paying for another 18 months worth of diapers, and in my case, having 2 in diapers, and early training won out. I will say though, I have no expectation for Evan to be night time trained by the time we're done or even soon afterward.
There are some basic signs that you should look for in your child before you start early training.
Child should be able to communicate somehow the need to urinate
Child should be able to stand and walk well
Child should be at a point where his/her bowl movements are consistently at the same time each day
Child should be able to follow simple 2 step commands (ie: "Go get the brush and bring it to mommy.")
I think that's about it on that. I may come back and edit and add, but for now, I think that's a good start.
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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?)