Goal: Potty training in a day.
Reality: This is going to take some work.
8 AM
Today was day one of potty training Asher. I decided he's ready (and so am I), and today's a good day to stay home and do it. We started out around 8 or so, and I slipped some brand new "big boy" underwear onto Asher, Elmo ones to be exact. He went potty (yeah!) and I set the timer on the microwave for 15 minutes. After eating breakfast was interrupted a couple of times by a buzzer going off, and a few successful trips to the bathroom I let Asher down to watch some t.v. That was my first mistake, and one that I didn't learn from as quickly as I should have. There is no way he is going to take a break from watching his favorite shows to use the bathroom, even if he does get M&M's for doing it. Hence, accident #1 ensued.
10 AM
We are on our 3rd pair of Elmo underwear. Apparently, 15 minute intervals are too presumptuous. We need a 5 minute timer. I have also realized that we are out of some things we need and have to go to the grocery store. I put a diaper on Asher and we headed off to the store.
11 AM
Back from the grocery store. I begrudgingly purchased another pack of diapers and think to myself, I should have bought stock in Pampers. I also stopped on the aisle with all the cheap toys and bought a few as "poop" prizes, figuring I better one-up the M&M's to get results on every level. Asher did point out where the bathroom was at the store. That's encouraging.
12 noon
Back to the underwear and timer. Asher is playing with his cars, and I walk over to ask how he's doing when I smell my answer. As I begin clean up I realize I need the patience of a Saint to do this. I have some work to do. We eat lunch.
12:30
I decide to let Asher go "Commando" for a little bit, which doesn't seem like a wise choice on my part since he's never proven that he can handle that much freedom in the past. Soon thereafter, I decide "Commando" may be a good idea. He keeps saying "don't pee on the floor" and is doing little potty dances. After another successful trip to the potty, Asher earns a "poop" prize! We called Daddy at work with the good news. He didn't sound as excited as I thought he should...I guess he has some work to do too. I am pretty sure if Dad's had to do this, kids would wear diapers until they were 10.
1:30
Asher is diapered and snoozing soundly. I just can't fathom letting him sleep without a diaper yet. He can hardly make the decision to head to the toilet when he's awake. Right before he went down for his nap we tried one last time to go. Nothing happened, to which Asher replied, "Maybe next time." I couldn't help but laugh. He's right, there is always the next time!
4 PM
Asher wakes up and we have to drive across town to give Corey some papers he "has to have." So, I concede for the day knowing that being in the car for an hour or more is no way to potty train. Plus, we are in and out of the house the rest of the evening, Asher in diapers. I guess we've had more successes than failures during our half day attempt. I am proud of him for giving it a good starting try! This has to be such a new concept for him that his diapers are no longer the safety net. I need to remember that. Transitions aren't always easy and this will take a little time. Tomorrow should be exciting to say the least. And I better start doing laundry until I get a chance to go and buy 20 more pairs of underwear. I am such a rookie. Is it really true that they'll have accidents for a year before this whole process is perfected?
I salute mothers everywhere. Any kid wearing underwear is now something of a miracle to me. Wish us luck, we'll need it! Oh, and any suggestions would be welcome too!
You can do it Asher!
4 years ago
12 comments:
Way to go! Sounds like a great beginning! Potty training is like taking two steps forward, one step back. You guys will get there!!
I feel your pain. Potty training is so hard. The only good news is I think that your first child is the hardest to potty train because they don't have any older sibilings to watch that they want to go potty with. My best advice is to bring over a friend that goes in the potty and let them run to the bathroom with them because it makes them want to do what their friend it doing. Good luck!!!!
Hey Michelle! I've potty trained 3 kids and I honestly still have no idea how I did it, but here are some websites that sound interesting.
http://www.thepottybootcamp.com/
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Books/story?id=2029062&page=2
Way to go Michelle! And Asher!
I had it so easy with Kallyn. She potty trained herself at 18 months. I thought Allison would be just as easy! However, my girls are exact oppisites in every way including potty training. I had her potty trained in May, but we took a week trip to DC and I was worried about not being able to find bathrooms nearby when she needed to go, so I put her in a diaper just in case. By the end of the week she realized how nice it is not to have to go to thebathroom all the time and absolutley refused to be potty trained again. But when we moved to the new house and she unpacked her princess panties she got a little excited again. Her Dr. gave us this great advice that worked wonders with her this second time around.
You get 2 clear containers where you can see them in the bathroom, but out of reach for the little hands. One is filled with the M&M's and the other starts empty every morning. For every time he's successful at keeping his underpants dry/clean he gets to move the M&M's to the empty container- 1 for peepee, 2 for poopoo. However, if he misses then he has to put 2 back. After dinner he gets to eat all the M&M's he collected through out the day.
For us Allison was more interested in pennies and she was thrilled every night before she went to bed that she could drop all her pennies into her piggy bank she picked out at the store.
As for the errands and hustle around of some of our days I thought that what Kathy Peterson (sandia ward) did with Lydia. She kept a training potty in the car so when she wasn't home she could get it out and not worry about findng a bathroom. A friend here found a personal potty system in the baby section of Burlington Coat Factory. Its a frame that a disposable potty sack fits over, but the sack is made out of diaperlike material so there really isn't a sloshy mess to take care of. You just wrap it p and toss it like a regular diaper.
Sorry it's a lot of info, hope it helps!
Janalee
Goodness. I would have never guessed that potty training could be such a process! I can't wait to have my turn :) haha. I wish I had some advice to give you, but I haven't gone down that road yet. But I am getting lot's of ideas from you! Tell Asher good job and to keep it up!
Don't you love potty training?! I have done it 4 times and still have one more to go. I am probably in the minority, but I wait until after my kids are three before I start potty training them and they pretty much potty train themselves. The only thing with me is that once I take the diapers away, I don't ever put them back on. This takes extreme patience, but all of my kids have made it through naps and through the night within a week of potty training them, and I don't have to worry about pull ups. If they know they have nothing to fall back on, they just do it. Now, we have had our fair share of accidents from a couple of my kids, but not bad enough to regret taking the diapers away completely. Good luck! (The best advice I can give, is to do what works best for YOU!!! There are so many ways to potty train and so many pieces of advice, but ultimately it has to work for YOU!!!)
Hey, did you read about the actual potty training in a day? It is a whole big thing. You cannot go anywhere or do anything else the entire day. i really wanted to kill myself that day doing it with Dallen, but it worked for us. We waited though until Dallen 2 and a half. How old is Asher? If you want to know all about it let me know and I will email you, it involves a party, calling people, repeating 10 times everytime he makes a mistake and so forth.Good Luck
YEA!! Congrats for even getting him to go on the potty! Remember when Hannah peed on your floor? hahaha And Happy Be-lated Birthday!!! Tell Asher good job from us. Have a great day!
Fabulous post! Loved it! And we've all been there. I potty trained both my kids while Daddy was out of the country (I knew he would be a nightmare distraction). But now Daddy thinks that you wave a magic want and poof kids are in big boy underwear. I didn't get the credit I deserved! I had to keep reminding myself that I had never seen a 5 year old still wearing diapers so there was hope for me yet.
Good luck Michelle! Don't worry, I have never heard of the "it takes a year" thing before. I potty trained Austin over a weekend and then after two weeks of getting used to it, no accidents except rarely. I did still use a pull up at night for a while, but not for nap time. I agree with your friend though. Once you leave diapers do not go back! You just have to be brave or they think they have a choice. I just carried an extra pair of underwear and shorts in my purse with a bag for the messy clothes. So if he had an accident I was at least prepared. Also every time I left the house, potty, the second we arrived, time to go potty etc. Anyway you can do it! And we also used toys (action figures) as bribery for bowel movements. It was so effective he got that down in one day. :-)
What a fun post! You're a great writer. I am in the same camp as mindi b-- I've found that if I wait till after they're 3 and they really WANT to, it's a LOT easier! My philosophy was that I would so much rather change diapers than underwear that I let my kids decide when they were ready (both were right around 3 or a couple months after). I don't know why, but my kids suddenly stayed dry at night once they were wearing underwear to bed. You might be surprised with Asher. I tried that Potty Training in a Day thing and it was somewhat of a disaster, but I know many people have had success with it. Whatever you decide is best, good luck!!
Wow! You are doing a great job! Keep good notes so that you can teach me when the time comes. :o) Sounds like quite the adventure! Just reading about it makes me laugh out loud!
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