September 28, 2009

• Our Three-Day Potty Training Adventure

  This weekend, we crossed what I like to think of as the Last Frontier with Jack: Potty training. Now, I know most of you are probably sick of the blow-by-blow I've posted on Facebook, but hey, it's my blog. Plus, I've received a couple of requests to talk about this in more detail (and as you know, parents of young children never tire of talking about pee and poop!).

  Some of you may recall that we first started potty-training back in January, when Jack was 18 months old. We went to the potty every 10 or 15 minutes. Jack took pretty well to it, but started refusing the potty outright in February. He acted like he was afraid of it, so we didn't push it. And then we had Derek, and I could only bring myself to make halfhearted attempts toward potty training. Throughout these fits and starts, I'd heard about "three-day potty training" from mommy friends, like Liz and Shelly. Finally, I decided to buy the 3-Day Potty Training e-book. I paid something like $24 to download the book (for that price, you can also email the author with questions, which she answers within 24 hours). The author is a mom who's potty trained five boys and a number of foster children. I was intrigued and read through the book.

  Basically, it's a cold-turkey approach whereby you throw away all the diapers (and Pull-Ups) and move straight into underwear. You spend three days tethered to your child, rushing him into the bathroom when he has an accident or "tells" you (through words and/or physical signs) that he needs to go. Unlike a lot of other methods, the only "readiness requirement" is that the child is at least 22 months of age. You're supposed to also keep the child just in underwear for naps and bedtime, completing daytime and sleep training at the same time.

  Well, after I read the e-book, I was like, "OK, let's do this." I figured while we're lucky enough have my mom in the house with us, we might as well tackle it over a weekend. Otherwise, once she moves out, it would be even more difficult. During the three days, I wouldn't be able to run errands (you're to be at home all the time) or take my eye off Jack long enough to cook or do housework. Plus, even with Johnny's help, we do also have an infant to take care of. My thought was that I'd rather have three intense days of training, followed by maintenance, rather than weeks or months of sporadic training. So Johnny and I picked this weekend, bought 21 pairs of Sesame Street and Thomas undies, both read the book (it's only 20-some pages), and began this past Friday. (I should add that I "cheated" by using Pull-Ups during naptime and bedtime, though. I'm not about to mess with our sleep routine.)

  Our potty trainee

  

  

  Friday, we went through 15 pairs of underwear. By the end of the day, though, Jack was beginning to let us know when he needed to go by grabbing his crotch or saying "uh-oh." I was encouraged. Day two was depressing, though. We "only" went through seven pairs, but Jack didn't want to fully pee when he was on the potty, and would generally act like it was painful to pee. We even briefly suspected a urinary tract infection, but then realized that when he wet his Pull-Up while sleeping, he didn't wake up from it, so peeing wasn't painful. Also, on day two, the novelty had passed, so Johnny and I were just exhausted and frustrated. The book did say this was common, and that children may push the limits to see if they can get back into a diaper. It also said that many children don't get it until day 3. Well, yesterday was much better! We only had two accidents, both completely preventable, and Jack was letting us know about his need to go to the potty with actions (running toward the bathroom, crossing his legs, grabbing his crotch, etc.). He was also very motivated by his rewards -- small food items or stickers for pee, and Matchbox cars (or, in one great case, an Emily train) for poop. Last night, he even woke up at 3 a.m. to go pee so he could keep his "night-night underwear" (aka Pull-Up) dry. Today, we've only had one accident, and he woke up from his nap dry, then promptly peed in the potty. Success!

  A funny potty training story: Whenever Jack isn't able to pee right away while on the potty, he looks down and says with great concern, "Oh, no! Bwoken penis!" It's hilarious. Anyway, while we're far from 100% reliability, of course, but now Jack knows where to go potty and is on his way to telling us every time. And we can stay in undies!

  Another exciting event from the weekend ... Derek laughed for the first time! It was the cutest, softest little giggle as I sang a song to him. Here's a picture of my beautiful, smiley boy:

  

  Thanks for reading!

  • 7:09 pm
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