Pot-Tee

Guess who is using the potty like a big boy? I'll give you a hint- it's not Ty! ha ha.


Here's the story of how I did it. I know this may seem odd to write about, but I want to remember A. b/c it's funny, and B. for when we have to do it with Ty in a couple years. I also think it might help those of you who are approaching the task. I honestly was clueless on how to start/what to do. Thanks to a great friend Kelsey (experienced mom of 2 boys, soon to be 3) I got a lot of advice on what do to.

We started potty training Aiden about 2 weeks ago. We decided to try one Saturday morning. We took Aiden's diaper off and let him play in the house "bare". We brought his training potty in the living room or where ever he was playing. He has sat on it many times and actually peed on it once in the past so he was familiar with it. I was constantly reminding him that if he needed to go, he should sit on the potty. After a couple hours of playing- he did it! I was so excited and "threw a party" as Kelsey suggested. He got a sucker and lots of praise. So I left him "bare" and kept reminding him. I was trying my best to watch him at all times, while taking care of Ty. Well he left my sight for about 30 seconds and I started to smell something. Sure enough, he had pooped on my carpet!!! I cleaned it up, put a diaper on him and I decided at that point, I just wasn't ready to tackle potty training right now, that it was too difficult with a 2 month old.

A couple days later (after we had put him back in diapers) I was laying him down for a nap and he kept saying potty ("pot-tee"). So I took him in the bathroom and after a few minutes, he went! Okay, that was my sign that he was interested and I should go for it. Same strategy- I let him run around with just a shirt on and kept the potty close by. He went again! I gave him a second sucker and just as soon as he finished his sucker he sat on the potty again. He forced just a little bit out and said "saaa-fur" (his word for sucker). I was reluctant to give him a third sucker but I had to give him one- I wanted him to know it was good to go on the potty. Well he got about 10 suckers in a matter of 2 hours. I thought "he is totally playing with me", but it was too new for me not to give him a sucker each time. (don't worry- I bought small suckers low in sugar). So we did that for a couple days and didn't leave the house. The potty went everywhere we went . . . even outside. :-)

Then I put "big boy undies" on him. At first he was excited about them, but then he realized they just got in the way of him using the potty. He has a hard time pulling them up and pushing them down, so he prefers not to wear them (or anything at all). We've only had 2 accidents, one at the house and one at a friends house. He does great when we go out- I'll let him go before we leave the house and he usually can hold it until we get back. Just this week, he has become interested in the real potty and is using it just fine (sitting). One time he went in the bathroom on his own, did his business (I could hear), flushed and walked out and asked for a sucker. ha ha- I just laughed! He is done with the small training potty. I'll let Daddy handle teaching him how to stand and pee when the time is right.

He sleeps in undies and has yet to have an accident at night. I bought 1 pack of pull-ups and put them on him the first couple nights and he woke up dry, so we switched. He still doesn't like wearing his undies at the house. We are working on pulling them up and pushing them down on his own.

Honestly the whole process wasn't near as hard as I expected. I thought I would have a lot more accidents to clean up. I am so proud of him and I am super excited about the money we are saving on diapers!