.png)
A brief history of Potty Training (for posterity)…
We attempted the potty for the first time about 6 months ago. I did it cold turkey because he seemed ready and it worked for Adela. Straight to undies. He got the pee thing down immediately, within a couple of days, having almost no accidents in 6 weeks, but refusing to ever poop on the potty. It terrified him for some reason. He would not even sit to try. He’d say he was scared. But peeing was no big deal. No question he was ready for that half of it. It was solely the other end giving him pause. And we never pushed too hard because I have heard multiple horror stories about kids holding back in revolt. So we encouraged and gave opportunities, but tried not to push. He would wait until he had his pull-ups on at nap time or bed time to go or he would go in his underwear when we weren’t looking. So after 6 weeks of cleaning multiple dirty underwear every day, I gave in to pull-ups. In the 4 months or so following, he never once pooped on the toilet. Never once.
So we waited a few months and tried again. That was 16 days ago.
Day 1: We checked out the newly empty pull-up drawer (only night time pull-ups left in a different location), and all the cool underwear that had taken their place. He threw the pull-up he had on into the trash in a little bye-bye pull-ups ceremony and put on big boy pants. I got out the BIG construction trucks I knew he’d be most moved by (although no form of bribery had worked up until this point, and we tried a lot of things!) and put them right in the middle of the dining room table where he would see them every time he walked by. We talked about them all the time, about how cool it would be when he could pick one. He was super excited, and daily talked about which one he was going to pick first. All positive. Still only a few accidents with pee. Mostly he did awesome on that front. But for 13 days he continued to poop in his underwear or on the floor (since we kept him naked whenever possible).
Day 4: I started putting his potty chair in the same room as him all the time, including nap time. And I left his crib down so that he could easily get in and out, giving him permission to do so whenever he wanted to try to go potty. I think this was one of the major things that made a difference for him. He gained some independence and trust from us and, I think, related it to the potty. He likes to make his own decisions. I think allowing him to get himself out of bed made him feel more grown up, and that might have motivated him in a new way. But that’s just a guess…
Day 4-12: Lots of accidents. We counted near misses as wins, and he got to pick a couple of small trucks for semi-accidents (dollar store trucks). We made a big deal about it every time. We have a special “Siah went poopy in the potty” song and dance. Fist bumps. Candy. The whole nine.
Day 13: Craig caught him starting to go and ran him to the toilet. This was the first time he successfully completed his mission on location. Craig left to go spot clean the carpet and when he came back, our big boy was done. And very proud! The next time he had to go, he recognized it and told us. Then he took himself and did it by himself with no resistance.
Day 14: By day 14 he had earned 3 of his big construction trucks. (You can see he put them to bed with their “teetee”.) Incidentally, the book in the picture, “Dig Dogs, Dig,” is a library book I will have to buy. After 3 weeks of reading it daily, it’s safe to say it’s his favorite. Dogs, trucks, construction, tools, a cute story, and it rhymes. I actually don’t mind reading it every day. I think it helped our process too, because it made the construction vehicles he could earn by potty success come to life. Reading about the trucks every day, made the trucks all the more desirable and exciting.
Day 16: Be careful what you wish for. This kid poops so.many.times.per.day. And it just so happens, that he has some kind of GI bug right now, so he’s going even more frequently. Poor guy. But also, AWESOME guy, but he hasn’t had any accidents in almost 48 hours, even with GI troubles. But the potty chair is not my friend. It’s just gross. And so.many.times!!! So, I brought out a special train (all these vehicles are presents from last Christmas we dole out slowly throughout the year), and let him know that this one was for going poop on the BIG potty. No sweat. He did that too, and earned his train within a couple of hours.
Another parenting experience that proved to me that it isn’t about a formula. It’s about your kid. It’s about my kid. It’s about treating our kids like the individuals they are. Trying it all, making a mess of it, a few tears, some cheers, and eventually letting it work itself out.
So, things are looking up. We had our break through (thought I’m not counting all my chickens yet). It’s been a haul, and we’re not done, but major successes these past 3 days. He did it “when he was ready” as they all say. Woot!