Potty Training

I've been waiting to write this post for a while now, so that I could accurately record our whole potty training experience with Joseph. I'm proud to say we started whole-heartedly potty training Joseph on Tuesday, May 29th, and we've had a great month with lots and lots of success! The first few days were much more fun for him than me, as I committed to unplugging from everything else, so I could concentrate on Joseph and helping him figure this process out. The first few days, we had about a 50% success rate during the day, which was just enough to keep us going.

I didn't follow any specific training method, but basically let him spend 3 days outside, naked from the waist down, with the potty chair hanging out in the screened porch. I wore my new apron, and filled the pockets with a variety of candy to use as a reward for each successful trip trip to the potty. To be fair, we first introduced the potty chair last October, but didn't force the training then when it was clear he wasn't ready.

This time, we read potty books, watched a few potty training videos and decided that once we started, there was no turning back! Joseph responded pretty well for the first wee - turns out he was very responsive to the alarm clock I set for every 30 minutes, calling out "clock time!" and agreeing to try and go. I'm really glad I started from the start with a loud timer, as he quickly wouldn't listen to me if I asked him to take a potty break, but the alarm clock saved us! After 4 or 5 days, we really didn't have pee accidents anymore... partially because I was still taking him to the potty every hour. I was beginning to get nervous that I'd conditioned him to go when I put him on the potty, and not when he'd need to go. Eventually, after a couple weeks, he finally started telling us when he needed to go, usually coinciding with realizing he didn't want to do whatever it is we were doing (typically sitting down to eat a meal!). Now, though, he's gotten much better about stopping and going when he needs to, although he still needs help getting his pants and undies off.

We were a little tripped up with getting him to poop in the potty, as he'd frequently go at nighttime in his diaper (we still haven't started working on nighttime training yet) or in his underpants. When he started acknowledging that he'd had an accident, right after going #2 in his pants, we decided to start making it a bigger consequence, and pulled out a tip from my sisters in law. After yet another poop accident, I took him to the bathroom, and rinsed off his backside with cold water. Which he absolutely hated. I felt bad, but figured maybe it would teach him a lesson. Guess what? One time worked! Since that episode about a week and a half ago, we have not had a single accident!

Turns out, Joseph loves telling everyone that he gets a lollipop for going poop in the potty (his only really consistent reward that he gets now, since he caught on to peeing so quickly and was going through 4 or 5 lollipops a day in those first couple weeks!) and it seems that we're on a really good path. He's not consistent about staying dry at naptime, so that's our next step. But in our numerous car trips to St. Louis, the Lake and Clinton in the past few weeks, he's been amazing at waiting for potty breaks, usually every 2-3 hours, and not having accidents in the car.

I know we've lucked out with such an easy little boy, as many moms I'm friends with have a much more difficult time with their 2 and 3 year old boys. I'm also not ignorant that we might have regression issues when baby sister arrives in a few weeks, but I'm cautiously optimistic he'll roll with the experience well!