Potty Training 2.0

For the most part, my son has been very easy.

Transitioning to a crib from the bassinet = Easy
Transitioning from a bottle to a cup = Easy
Transitioning from formula to milk = Easy
Transitioning from crib to toddler bed = Easy

He's taken transitions and changes like a champ.

Then came potty training entered our lives.....!!!!!

My easy, adaptable, child = GONE. Potty training has been like a war zone. There have been casualties. We've lost some beloved pants and underwear through this process.

I first introduced potty training in March/April. At first, I thought, "Oh, he has this! This is going to be Easy!" NOPE! Wrong.

At first, things were going lovely. He was totally getting it. He had hardly no accidents. Then BAM. it started to become a battle. I didn't want potty training to be a war between us. So, I started to back-off a bit on the potty training. It didn't help that daycare didn't want to help with the potty training at the time. So, I think it was confusing when he would be there in a diaper and at home in underwear. I totally get that, which is why I started to back-off.

Anyways. Fast forward to today. Daycare finally says, "Let's do this potty training thing!" I get super excited because now he'll get the messaging at home and at daycare. Woohoo! That's great... right?

Well, we just started this week and daycare is starting to think he's not ready....

NOOOOOOOOOO!

See, my son KNOWS when he's going. He will look at me and just go in his underwear. He doesn't care if he's wet. I know he has the bladder control, I know he knows when he's going.

But - HE JUST DOESN'T CARE. He's OK peeing in his pants. He's OK if he stays in his wet pants. Totally gross, right? But to my toddler son, he doesn't care as long as he gets to keep playing.

So, we're giving it a trial try this week with daycare and home focused on potty training. They have "potty buddies" at daycare. If the week doesn't go well or if we don't see any progress (just need a little forward progress from him), then daycare might pull the plug on potty training until he's closer to 3.

<sigh>

I really hope this week is a turning point for him...! I really do. I don't want to rush him, but it'd be nice not to buy diapers anymore! It would also be nice to get past this difficult part in the potty training process. This, by far, has been my least favorite part of parenting! Pee on the couch, pee on the floor, pee in the underwear, pee on the chair.... pee everywhere but in the toilet. <sigh>

Let's see what happens this week.

HMF Disease + Potty Training

There was an outbreak at daycare of Hand/Mouth/Foot (HMF) Disease! Munchkin ended up getting it, so I've had to keep him home since it's highly contagious. I wasn't sure if Little Guy would get it too, so I was asked to keep him home too just to make sure (during the incubation stage). 

I guess in a way it's a good thing I was laid off, since I've had the kids home full time due to this. That wouldn't fly if I was working. 

Little Guy didn't get HMF, thank goodness. Munchkin took about 8 days to fully recovery from HMF. Luckily he never had a fever with it. I hope to NEVER deal with this one again, it's horrible how long it takes to get past it. 

Since we were stuck at home, I decided to try and potty train Little Guy! A little earlier than I had planned, but just by a week. Might as well be productive, right? Here's how it's gone. 

Day 1: 

• Originally tried to go commando-style. It really bothered Little Guy and he kept asking for his diaper! We went commando because he peed and I didn't notice it and neither did he. With much protest, decided to try the underwear on. 
• He needed to go poopoo and asked to go to the potty. Once on the toilet, he couldn't go. He waited for nap time and went poop in his diaper. 
• The first time he went peepee in his underwear, he seemed surprised - just looked down at his leg. I ran him quickly to the bathroom to sit on the potty. 
• Overall: 4 accidents -- 3 he noticed, 1 he didn't 

Day 1 wasn't too bad! Little Guy was annoyed with not having a diaper and acted out a bit, but wasn't too bad. He didn't manage to go potty on the toilet yet, hoping he is "getting it" though. Ended up putting him on the potty every 30 minutes or so. 

Day 2: 

• Moved the "fun potty" to the most used bathroom. It makes fun little noises. 
• In the morning, he didn't want to put on the underwear! He tried to throw it away in the trash!  
• I placed him on the potty after breakfast and he went peepee! He didn't even seem to notice. I made a big deal about it, let him flush the toilet, waved bye-bye to the peepee, and he got an M&M. He is highly chocolate-motivated. 
• He asked to sit on the potty 2x's. He didn't end up going, but he asked!! Then had an accident right after he got off the potty. 
• Accidents: 7
• Peepee on Potty: 4x's 

Day 2 was a lot better! At this point I wasn't sure if Little Guy had the bladder control to master potty training. Had to wait and see how he progressed. 

Day 3: 

• He didn't fight the underwear this morning! 
• Had 2 accidents back-to-back, but the second one he ran to the bathroom and finished on the toilet. 
• I've noticed he's having "half accidents" where he slightly soils his underwear and then will finish on the potty. 
• Accidents: 4
• Peepee on Potty: 6
• Poopoo on Potty: 1! This was almost an accident. I had just put him to bed with a diaper. I heard him grunting (his poopoo sound). I asked him if he was going poopoo and he said, "Yeah." So I rushed him to the potty and he finished on the potty. But he did it! 

My son really impressed me this day and this is the first time that I truly believed he had bladder control. He didn't have as many accidents. The funny thing is, he giggles every time he pees on the potty! When he goes, he's been practicing releasing the pee, stopping it, then releasing more. The whole time giggling. 

Day 4:

• Peed on Potty first thing in the morning 
• Fought going to the potty a few times, but went pee once he was on the toilet. 
• Accidents: 1
• Peepee on Potty: 6
• Poopoo on Potty: 0. He did go poopoo in his diaper during nap time. We did the whole "ritual" of flushing the poop down the toilet and I told him, "poo poo goes in the toilet."

I couldn't believe that he only had ONE accident the entire day! So very surprised. He stopped having those "half accidents" and could hold his urine in longer. 

Day 5: 

• This was really only a half-day of training, as he went back to daycare for most of the day and used a diaper there. 
• Accidents: 0
• Peepee on Potty: 5 at home + 1 at daycare 
• Poopoo on Potty: 0

He's really starting to get the hang of taking his pants/underwear on/off by himself. Been practicing with him. He even initiated going potty once by himself!  He's also really good at holding his urine and then releasing in the potty. 

Overall, I think he's on his way to being potty trained! I'm a little surprised it's gone relatively well so far. We'll continue on and see how the rest of it goes. Once he masters potty training at home, we'll venture out without a diaper and see how it goes. I've been worried about this part because I don't want him to pee in the carseat (I just washed the paddings). But I'm going to have to risk it, once he starts initiating more at home. I want him to be successful and don't want him to fail.

I also got him some Paw Patrol and Thomas the Train underwear, which he LOVES. Hoping they add a little excitement to the potty training adventure.