Saturday we bit the bullet and did it. We piled up all the size five diapers and trashed them. We crossed into the world of underpants without looking back. And so far the world of underpants is, well, rather shitty.
With the recommendation of some of my wonderful readers (thanks guys!), we tried the “3 Day Potty Training” approach. First step, rid yourself of diapers. Second step, put on the undies and let the cleaning begin.
I treated this book like it was the Bible. Following every suggestion literally and feeling intense guilt for any slip up (i.e. asking Gabby if she has to use the potty, rather than the suggested “tell Mommy if you have to use the potty”). By 11 am I was so unbelievably exhausted, I didn’t think we would make it.
Now of course I have to insert the little “I have three kids” pitty party. Feel free to roll your eyes and think to yourselves that I should shut up because I chose this lot in life. This whole process was ten times harder while trying to manage the other little beings.
Let me set the stage…My four and a half year old trying to do absolutely everything to get our attention (you can imagine all the fun shenanigans he put on) while trying to focus on the subject. The baby would scream to extreme levels at the harassment of being put down. All while running through the house holding a toddler mid-stream. Next comes the appropriate, perfectly articulated (per the book’s suggestion) reward. All followed up with scrubbing down the “successful” student and trying to recover the damage to the house! I’m exhausted just retelling the story.
The most valuable part of this story is that she did great. She progressed as she should and is doing much better than she originally was, but that really doesn’t change the fact that it is downright HARD potty training. And I’m still not even quite sure that this weekend approach is the way to go. I’m not sure that putting ourselves through two-ish days (and maybe that was the problem that we didn’t do three full days) of this was anything more than torture for us. But back to my point, she is doing great.
When do you start to feel secure that they won’t have accidents? Um…not for awhile I guess. When do you feel that they are fully potty trained? Um…not for awhile I guess. When do you feel that you don’t need to remind them? Um…not for awhile I guess. So is the reward that we are out of diapers? I am being rewarded with frequent visits to public toilets. And I still have a child that needs their diaper changed fifty times a day. How do you measure success with this one?!?
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It’s funny you happened to post this because someone sent me the “Bible” and I was planning on doing this with my son!! He’s 22 months and “seems” interested in the potty. He knows that he’s supposed to go there but still hasn’t obviously. WE are going to Italy in 3 months (where he will be running around half naked all the time on the beach anyway) so I was thinking to hold off until then…don’t know what’s worse, using a potty on the airplane or the actual toilet???!!!!
Lisa @bitesforbabies recently posted..Bye-Bye “Bottomless Pit!”
Yikes, that’s a tough one. I still think diapers are easier because you probably don’t need to change him that much. However, they say 22 months is optimal. Good luck!!
Yah, I think we might wait until the summer! 😉
Lisa @bitesforbabies recently posted..Bye-Bye “Bottomless Pit!”