Calton Corner: Potty Training

This is a long post. It's all about pee and poop. You've been warned. Keep reading if you'd like. I just wanted to write it all down so I could remember this process.

Back in October, my friend Amanda told me about a 3-Day Potty Training method she was using with her daughter, Adah. She had really good success with the program and so did several of her other friends, so I decided to look into it. I ended up reading the entire 50+ page ebook back in October and thought it sounded pretty good. The author says she thinks 22 months is the ideal age to potty train. I thought that seemed a little young, but decided I'd see if I thought B was ready after his second birthday. According to the book, all the child needs to be able to do in order to "be ready" is communicate his/her needs and wants. Brennan can certainly do that!

The 3-day method requires you stay at home for at least three days. A couple of weeks ago at our library story time, the teacher told us there wouldn't be class the week of March 14th. Once she made that announcement, the wheels started turning that it might be the perfect opportunity to potty train. I figured if I started on Monday we'd have the whole week to work on it without any interruptions. I reread the ebook to make sure I was ready and then started getting prepared.

Brennan, this is story of how you were potty trained!

We already had a potty chair for you. We got it right around your 2nd birthday. You've sat on it a few times, but have never pottied on it. I took you shopping with me one day and we bought 22 pairs of big boy underwear. You weren't interested in them at all, so Momma picked the boring cheap pairs. The week before P-Day, I took two of your favorite stuffed animals (Scout and Carlos) and put big boy underwear on them. I made a sticker chart for Scout and one for Carlos and that week we potty trained them. I showed you how to check if they were dry, then we would take them to the potty to sit (I'd have to put water in the potty chair ahead of time), and then you'd get all excited when we picked them up and they had peed! It was really the cutest thing ever. Then we'd dump the "pee" into the big potty and wash their hands. Then they'd each get a sticker. I only showed you this process once and you were hooked. Without any prompting from me, you would go through this process usually three times/day. The way you cheered for them when they were dry made me believe a little cheering for you the next week would go a long way.

The Sunday before P-Day, I went out and bought a potty seat for a big toilet too, so you'd have that option. That night I made your sticker chart and got out brand new stickers for you to use. I had your rewards (Mickey and Minnie Pez from the clearance Valentine's section) ready to go. I also bought a few bigger presents for moments I was really proud of you. I even spelled out "Go Potty Brennan" on the bathroom door because you love letters so much. I knew you'd be excited to spell out the words with me while sitting on the potty. I had been pumping you up for Monday by telling you that Monday was "Big Boy Day". If I asked you, "What happens on Monday?" you'd say, "Big boy." We also had dinner planned for each night of the week. Either something I could easily throw in the oven or else Daddy was in charge of it once he came home from work. My job was going to be to watch you like a hawk every waking second. My last step of preparation was to have Daddy and Auntie Lala records videos for you celebrating you peeing in the potty.

Day One:
On Monday morning, you slept really late due to the time change the night before. Once you got up, I started undressing you and when I took your diaper off, I put big boy underwear on you. You cried. I had you come into the bathroom with me so I could show you everything was set up. You peed through your underwear onto the floor while looking at the potty. The program I followed wanted you in big boy underwear and no pants so I could see each accident that occurred. Every time you started going, I was to scoop you up and put you on the potty and remind you to "tell Mommy when you need to potty". So we got a quick start to that method. After cleaning up your first accident, you came into the living room and threw away all your diapers. This was another component of the program. You were excited to do it. According to the program you are supposed to literally throw them away so the diapers aren't there as a crutch. We put them into a clean trash bag and will be giving them away.

On Monday you had a lot of accidents. Obviously I was expecting that. We just followed the same procedure each time. You were never out of my sight, so as soon as you started going, I'd grab you and take you to the potty. I also asked you 8-bagillion times if you were dry in between these accidents and you'd check and scream "Yay!" every time you were. Most of the time you had accidents, you'd be finished before we got to the potty. A few times on Monday you did get some pee in the potty and you would get really excited. On those times you'd get lots of praise from Mommy, a pez candy, and maybe a sticker. You usually love stickers, but didn't really dig the sticker chart. You did place some stickers around in random spots in the bathroom. I also gave you your first "big" present on Monday; a Mickey watch.

All in all, I was happy with how Monday went. I felt encouraged by the results. That night you didn't pee in potty before bed. I put you in a Pull-up overnight (we are still doing that now), which is technically against what the 3-Day method says, but you still need it. We will keep working on overnight training.

Day Two:
You had several accidents on Tuesday morning. You were obviously trying to figure the whole thing out. I'm sure peeing in big boy undies feels different than peeing in a diaper. Tuesday morning you kept peeing in your undies a little bit every 15-20 minutes. Still, we just kept following the same procedure. After those morning accidents, you stayed dry for 1.5 hours and then peed in the potty before nap! I was so proud! For whatever reason, you never slept during your nap. I went in and checked on you 1.5 hours into nap time and you were still dry. I got you out of bed and had you try to potty, but you didn't. I rocked you for a few minutes and put you back to bed. You still never slept, so after 30 minutes I just went in to get you. You were a little wet, but did pee in the potty right after you got up.

Right before 3:00 on Tuesday is when I saw big progress. We were sitting on the couch together (you were sitting on a towel) and you said, "No!" and touched your underwear. I looked and you had a tiny dot of pee on them. It seemed as if you could tell you were starting to go and stopped yourself. I took you to the potty and you peed in it! 45 minutes later you were grabbing yourself again and I asked if you needed to potty. You said "yes" and peed in the potty again. I could tell we were making definite progress!

Tuesday night you still wouldn't pee in the potty before bed. That night before Daddy and I went to sleep, I told him I was feeling really good about potty training and was hopeful that Wednesday morning would be better than the previous two mornings.

Day 3:
Oh boy oh boy was Wednesday morning better! You had an accident-free morning! You told me twice before 9:30 that you needed to go and went in the potty both times. You told me again at 11:45! You had no accidents all morning and even woke up dry after a 2-hour nap! You peed on the potty after nap and then said "pot" just before 4 and peed in the potty again. Before that time, you had been saying "no" as your cue so "pot" was an improvement. When Daddy got home from work, we got to tell him you had stayed dry all day!

You did end up having one accident that night. We were all in the basement playing after dinner and it had been awhile since you had gone potty. I kept saying, "Tell Mommy if you have to potty", but I think you were just in play mode. You were jumping on your trampoline and just couldn't hold it anymore. I was still super impressed though. It was only Day 3 and you only had one accident the entire day. You made the day even better when you willingly peed in the potty before bed!

{Side Note}
You may have noticed that I haven't mentioned anything about poop so far. For quite some time now, Brennan has been a every third day pooper. I knew he pooped on Friday and thought Monday would again be the perfect day to start because I should be able to catch a poop. Well I think he must've pooped while in his 2's and 3's class at church on Sunday because Wednesday came and went and he still hadn't pooped. I could tell he needed to because he had bad gas and was super whiny. He even asked to sit on the potty a few times on Wednesday and didn't do anything. I think he was a little scared. All week we had been trying to make sure he was eating high fiber foods, but so far it hadn't worked. I was super hopeful Thursday would be the day.

Day 4:
Thursday started a little rough, but ended up being an awesome day. You refused to sit on the potty first thing in the morning and ended up having a little accident during breakfast. The entire rest of the day was accident-free, though! You continued using the word "pot" to tell me you needed to go. Starting around 10am, you said "pot" several times and tried with no results. Most of these times you were trying to poop, so I had a good feeling today was going to be the day. Up until this point, you had been using your little stand alone potty chair. I moved you up on the big potty to see if you liked that and you ended up pooping just a little bit. I was pretty sure you needed to do more, but it was a start so we made a big deal out of it. You got another present; a Mickey book!

After a few more successful pees in the potty, just before noon you said "pot". That's when it happened! You pooped! And not just any poop. Two giant, adult-size turds! You were saving those up for several days! I sang and danced and got super excited! I was so proud of you! After that I let you stay up a little longer before nap. When it was nap time, you willingly peed in the potty for me. You took a good nap, a little over three hours, and woke up dry! You peed in the potty right after nap.

You had had such a good day and Daddy was home by this time, that we decided to venture out of the house. I literally had not been away from the house since Sunday. I was about to lose my mind! We went to the mall from 4-5 and you stayed dry the whole time! You peed in the potty at home, we ate dinner, then all went to church for praise team practice. You peed in the potty at church and then peed in the potty at home before bedtime.

At this point I was ready to call you officially potty trained! I know we'll still have some accidents as you gets more independence and I'm not watching you like a hawk. I know Sunday will be a challenge because you're in your 2's and 3's class from 9:30-12:30 and will have tell other adults if you need to go. But I am a huge fan of this 3-Day method. It worked like a charm for you!