Potty Training

To eat, to sleep, to speak… AND one must teach them to use the toilet!  When they have all the other bodily functions down, then THIS??!  Why can’t it just be… instinctive?  Do cats have to teach their kittens, I mean, seriously???

If you can’t already tell, this potty-training is not my favorite stage. :/  But it is time.

How I know it’s Time

Thing #1 –  I can’t do 3 or 4 year-olds in diapers.

I know this is the trend nowadays, to wait until the child is “ready” and then they train themselves in a couple of days.  Call me impatient, but back a few years – or more than a few, past my lifetime – children would be trained by age 2.   (Children with special needs and other special cases excepted.)  So it must be possible.  Maybe with subsequent children, but right now it seems awkward/weird changing a growing 20-month old “big kid” whose only piece of babyhood left is that he still wears diapers.  Especially when out and the restrooms do not have changing tables.  Moving on…

When the kid can run into the other room and hide in a corner to do his business (while wearing a diaper), the way I figure it, he’s fully capable of running to the toilet and learning to do it there!   He was actually doing this closer to 18 months, but I had a new baby then. 🙂

I am home, and will make the time because I prioritize it.  We have a stable life.  (Not in the process of moving, traveling, new baby, other crisis or major change in the family.)  I realize it is work to potty train at 2.

My Method

First, you must know the second thing about me.

Thing #2 – I can’t do naked children.

It doesn’t seem decent.  Your house, your thing, and I’m happy for you.  I see so. many. things. that say “leave the kid naked,” and I just can’t do that.  I want to teach my children to be modest, decent and appropriate, and I’m not sure how letting them run around naked (bottom half) could accomplish that.  I’m ok if it takes a little longer, as long as they learn to leave clothes ON.  This goes for swimming too.  I like to have my babies swim in a swimsuit/trunks, not just a diaper.  It’s in the same category as ‘there are appropriate places to pee’ which I hold to EVEN THOUGH we live in the country!

In my experience, the kid realizes what he’s wearing – underwear, cloth or disposable diaper – and adjusts his behavior accordingly.  And underwear he treats like most people say a naked kid acts.  So I think it will work!

I do think it makes more sense to potty train in the summer when they are wearing less clothing (no layers).  That also factored in to my planning the timing… this is maybe slightly early as he will just be turning two, but next summer he’ll be three and that seems too late (see above :P).

These great boxer underwear look like he is wearing little shorts, which I think is really nice for around home, and even appropriate when some friends come over.  We also got these fun Disney underwear!  {As a side note, I was a little worried they’d be too big since they are 2T/3T, but both kinds fit a 2 and a half foot tall, 24lbs boy just fine!}

We had introduced the potty chair and the sign “potty” some time before, but at a little over 22 months all of a sudden he started using the sign and showing interest in using his potty.  So I jumped on it and we had a great week, mostly successful during the day at home!  On the next shopping trip we bought underwear!  Armed with little boy underwear and carpet cleaner, we were going to do this thing!  Weekends we had a lot going on and went back to disposables and kind of took a break.  The next week (week 2) was… horrible.  It was like he forgot everything and/or didn’t care.  Or was just being lazy.  I literally had him on the potty every 15-20 minutes (I was writing the times down to see if there were patterns) and he would not go, and then promptly have an accident or wet his diaper.  I was exhausted!  And then I had a thought.  Maybe LEARNING a new skill is exhausting too.  

We relaxed a bit, reminded him of the treats for when he did go (one skittle, gummy bear, chocolate chip or blueberry have all been used at various times), wore more diapers for my sanity in an almost-all-carpet-house, and sure enough the next week we were back to more consistent.  In order to keep myself from getting stressed-out, impatient or burnt-out I made up a rule that has really helped.

The One Rule that keeps me sane

I observed that by the third change of underwear, potty training was all chore and no fun, so I decided

my limit is 2 accidents per day.  

After the second one I don’t have to feel bad/guilty about putting him back in diapers and not working on it anymore.  Sometimes we are done at 10am, and other times he makes it the whole day.  If I am feeling especially patient, of course we can go over that.  It takes the pressure off because instead of trying to keep him in underwear all day, the goal is SO MUCH MORE MANAGEABLE; in underwear until the 2nd accident.  For you it might be a different number – I know a lot of you moms are so much more patient and gracious than I am!  If some part of the potty-learning process is frustrating, making up your own version of this tip might be the trick to get you through.  For me I am relieved knowing that I don’t have to scrub out the carpet or clean up accidents an unlimited number of times! 😛

*      *     *     *     *

We’ve been potty-training a month and a half now.  Last week we didn’t do anything at all because life was crazy as we weren’t home for a lot of the time.  There was a little regression (to be expected, I figure), but we’re back in the swing of things.  He is mostly potty trained during the day and at home and he wears diapers for naps, nights and going out.  He is more successful keeping cloth diapers dry during those other times as I think he can feel the wetness more.  He is a couple days away from turning 2 and we have several more months of warm weather to get to being 100% potty trained (or as close to it as possible)!

Are there any other moms out there who are clean freaks who don’t like accidents, can’t wait till they’re 3 and can’t do naked???