potty trained!

whee! it's done and over. nate is day time trained!

after talking to a gazillion mom's of boys (singleton boys) i took notes, made a plan and went with it. overall it went MUCH easier than i was bracing myself for

i chose to train him by doing the "nakey butt" i was going to wait until summer but i got to thinking, the weather sucks and we are inside the house anyways, why not do it now?!

game plan

- i decided while i was away that training would start on the monday we got back. while we were away, i took nate to walmart and let him pick his undies. i even spent the extra $ and got the curious george/characters

-i talked about him being a big boy and using the toilet (i call it a toilet, not potty to keep him from getting confused)

-i packed away the diapers sunday night, nate helped me. (good thing, cause in weak moments of day 1 it saved me from using them!)

-i made the choice that there would be NO diapers

-i had nate pick out his undies for the morning

day 1 (monday)

nate peed in all 8 pairs of undies by 12 noon :)
i was frustrated and annoyed. i wanted to quit. i called chris and recouped. i got the timer out and every 15 mins i put him on the toilet. finally after nap nate almost got to the toilet in time, i celebrated and told him that he did a great job. around 4 he made it to the toilet in time. i did my crazy dance. nate got his smartie

day 2 (tuesday)

after seriously praying mon night. god showed me that i MUST get patience. that i was teaching him how to use the toilet and me getting mad would only upset him. i went into with tuesday MUCH more patient.

using the timer, reading countless books and wetting 3 pairs of undies. nate peed in the toilet. i did my funky dance. nate got his smartie. nate did 3 more pee's in the toilet and wet 5 pairs of undies :)

day 3 (wed)

nate kept his undies dry all morning AND we took him out for 2.5 hrs to my dr's appointment
nate used the toilet 3 times and wet 2 pairs of undies

day 4 (thurs)

i had a revelation this morning. nate ADORED, like ate up the praise and joy that i lavished upon him when he peed/pooped in the toilet. then i got it! nate, like any man LOVES to be praised. so i created the sticker chart. i showed him his own chart and he LOVED it. every time he goes in the toilet he gets a sticker, each day he gets a new sheet.

he had no accidents. he GOT it!

nate just finished putting his sticker on this morning

the "old" charts. he loves to go in and count the stickers.

today's sticker chart

must have this product when training boys. when they have an oops, spray, wait, wipe and clean. it leaves the bathroom smelling yummy. it saved my life/sanity!

smartie jar

it's been almost 2 wks now. he had an accident sat morning and mon morning BOTH times chris was home/around. :) ha

i also got a travel potty seat that folds up small and i use it for when we are out. takes the fear away from using public bathrooms

i have taken nate out everyday this week, some days more than once, each time he has used a public toilet and is fine!

things i have learned/discovered

-i ask nate every 30 mins or so if he's dry, he LOVES to say "YES!!!" i then high five him

-my patience level has gone way up. i am so much more patient with him

-nate wants to please me, he trusts me so much, i can not and will not toss his trust away

-i skipped the potty chair and went right to the toilet

-nate pee's sitting down and i showed him how to "aim" to keep it clean

-i am consistent. always the same, i don't change, i think this helped a lot

things that i would do different

-on day 1, do NOTHING but be with him and focus on training him. i was trying to do other things and i found my patience level was lower bec of this.

-intro the sticker chart on day 1!!!

i use a pull up, we call them "sleep undies" during nap and night time. i have noticed they are almost dry during nap and much dryer in the morning

all in all, potty training was WAY easier than what i thought it would be. just wait until you/he are ready. ditch the diapers, use undies, clean up a lot of pee, lots of praise when they do it!

Posted by mel at 2:15 PM