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Potty Training, Part Two (Not to be Confused with “Number Two”)

by Kate Hayes

One short week ago, I confided in Mommy Moment readers that I was starting to potty train my 28-month-old son, Kellen…and that I was slightly nervous about the endeavor. I also told you how I was doing it, and some of you shared your thoughts about my tactics. (I stopped taking away his hard-earned stickers, I promise!) Despite your encouragement, I wasn’t sure at all if this whole deal was going to work or not. Quite frankly,  a week ago I was pretty sure that our family would continue to be “diaper poor” for at least another year or so.  

This week…I’m starting to think of other ways that I’m going to spend all of that diaper money. By golly, I think our kid has figured this potty thing out!

So how did this crazy thing happen so quickly? For my part, I continued to use the methods that I listed in last week’s post…Starbursts candy and stickers for rewards. And I allowed Kellen to run around the house without pants as much as possible all week, so that he would recognize when he was starting to “go.” When you start peeing all over your puzzle, or drop a “tiny poop” on the playroom floor, it’s something you’re bound to notice. I couldn’t think of a better way to make Kellen realize that he needed to get to the bathroom before he started to relieve himself.

Every 20-30 minutes, I would ask Kellen if he needed to go potty. Sometimes, if it seemed like it had been too long since he went, I would just pick him up and put him there. To Kellen’s credit, he is a potty genius. He is not one of those kids who takes twenty minutes to squeeze out a drop. You put that kid on a potty, and he will make something happen immediately. Every. Single. Time. So that in itself has made this whole process fairly easy.

Where Kellen struggled…and where I thought the training process may fail…was when I had to put a pull-up on him in order to go out in public. For the first few days, as soon as I put one of those things on him, he started using it like a diaper. That’s a tough situation. You don’t really want to put underwear on a potty-training toddler when you have to go somewhere, because you know that there will be a messy accident and nowhere to change him. On the other hand, I worried that Kellen would never be able to get past the pull-up/diaper flashbacks, and wasn’t quite sure what to do. I decided to just keep reminding him that he needed to go on the potty even IF he was wearing a pull-up, cross my fingers, and give it a few days. 

I don’t know how or why, but on Saturday, everything just seemed to “click” for Kellen. He got out of bed running for the potty first thing in the morning, and just kept going from there. All day long, he kept telling us every time he needed to go. “The pees are coming! The pees are coming!” (Yes, that’s plural pees. In his mind, no pee should have to travel alone.) He kept his pull-up dry nearly all day long, as he made it to the potty again and again. That evening, we were visiting friends, and he probably went on the potty four times at their house. Kyle and I were amazed.

On Sunday, it was the same story. We dropped Kellen off at the church nursery wearing a pull-up. When we picked him up, it was still dry. And then he asked to use the bathroom at a restaurant. On Monday morning, he woke up with a DRY diaper, and then headed to the bathroom. And he also used the potty at Target. Suddenly, it is like he has been doing this for years. We are so incredibly proud of that kid!

Needless to say, Kellen earned enough stickers to fill up his potty chart over the weekend. That chart has been a huge incentive for him, and he was super excited about going to pick out a new choo-choo train at the store (his promised reward). I think the chart actually worked better than the Starbursts. The candy bribe was great at first, but then he actually got tired of them. The worst part about that since we had a giant bag full of Starbursts in our pantry, I ended up eating a ton of them myself! One potty-training kid = one mama who needs to work off a few thousand calories. Not cool.

I know we’re not completely done with this potty training thing yet, but I am confident that we are now well on our way. Soon, I think I’ll let Kellen start wearing his underwear in public. Then the last thing we will tackle will be that nighttime diaper. I know there will be accidents, but I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised by how well this has gone so far. I am SO GLAD that I finally decided to bite the bullet and get this over with! If you’re getting ready to embark on the same potty-training journey, perhaps Kellen’s story will encourage you. Those little people are smarter than we sometimes give them credit for. They just may surprise you with their potty prowess! Good luck!
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Kate is a contributing writer for Mommy Moment. Kate is the proud mom of Anna and Kellen, two preschoolers who are starting to pick up all of her best habits: a passion for reading and exploring new places, an intense interest in organizing, and a total disregard for sleep. See what she has been up to over at www.adventuresinparenting.me

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david

Friday 24th of September 2010

We have a four year old with autism we are trying to potty train and a soon to be 3 year old with ADHD who isn’t trained yet. They both disrobe and play in their diapers. We actually invented some clothing that helps the situation. www.ikidsfashion.com thanks a lot!

sara

Friday 24th of September 2010

That's awesome! Congrats. Love what you said about the candy. That never works at my house either! And I also have found underwear or being naked work the best!

Sarahttp://www.8aplenty.blogspot.com

Trisha Carter, Gone Green

Thursday 23rd of September 2010

I don't remember ever training any of my kids. They kinda just learned it themselves. I guess by what they've seen us do.

Kristine@BusyButHealth

Thursday 23rd of September 2010

Bravo!!! My daughter is 26 months and I'm scared to death of potty training...I have no idea why. Maybe because I think I will FAIL badly...haha

Cindy

Thursday 23rd of September 2010

I can't wait to get my 21 month old started! She's ready, as evidenced by her actions a few nights ago: she passed gas in her sleep and said "need potty". LOL. Very cute, but how am I going to make her go in the daytime?