Extreme potty training with Josiah

Potty training ran my life for 3 days one month ago ... but the rewards have been GREAT and Josiah's inconsistency in his poo & pee habits are no longer running mine day in and day out! I began the saga for training Josiah back in the beginning of July. I could tell he had been "ready" for quite awhile and he did good for a little while ... but then he began to regress, I began to get frustrated and all in all I realized there was a lot of inconsistency that I was allowing to happen. That's when I ran across the 3 day potty training method and after reading it realized that it was the right fit for both Josiah and I. So after taking a 14 day break from doing anything I put it into practice the last weekend of October.

This is a snapshot of my first day: We got up and had breakfast together. We then took all his diapers and padded training pants and told them "goodbye". We got all his new underwear from the dryer and put them in his drawer. I took him to the bathroom and introduced him to his new weeman urinal and told him that pee and poo were going in the bathroom from now on because he is a BIG boy! Then we went about our day. He made it to the bathroom first thing to go poo - he likes to hold on to mom and put his little head in the crook of my neck while he "does his thing". It's a little stinky but that's what he needs for now ... that's when he told me that I was his favorite superhero - awesome!! The rest of the morning and afternoon was him peeing in his underwear (or rather on the floor) and me rushing him to the bathroom saying, "yucky, now your underwear is wet". I got peed on twice during that time and spent a lot of time w/ vinegar-water and a rag :) I spent a lot of the day saying, "tell mommy when you need to go pee" and "are you still dry?" "Good boy, keep your underwear dry"! Finally at dinner time we sat down for our meal and he said, "I need to go pee" - which he hadn't done for about 2 hours. Chris was home so we made it a family affair and we all went into the bathroom together to see him go pee in his new urinal. And BOY did he go!! He "dumped" it back in the toilet, got his treat and Ellie led the procession out to the livingroom so we could "jump for joy" ... although Josiah refused to jump for joy until we changed it to, "jumping for Penny" (from the movie Bolt). He did GREAT the rest of the evening and when it came time for bed he went pee w/ his daddy and we tucked him in ... prepared for a night of changing sheets ... which never happened! He came out 20 mins after we put him down to go pee one last time and then Chris took him pee @ 3am.

It's been one month since those 3 days and I am happy to say that Josiah is fully potty trained. He has moved from going pee in his wee-man urinal to standing on a stool and going pee "just like daddy". We are working on him going all by himself now - something I remember doing w/ Elizabeth when I first trained her. If he doesn't need my assistance he gets a special treat and he LOVES that incentive! He still has accidents now and then - but mostly just little leaks from waiting too long. It's still hit or miss during the night. Sometimes he'll keep his bed dry all night long and other times he has accidents all thru the night! I decided a few days ago to use the padded cloth pull-ups I used with Elizabeth when she was his age and I have cut my laundry in half!! All in all I am VERY happy to not have to wash cloth diapers every other day - I do not miss the diaper days one bit!

Pottytraining Standstill (dun, dun, dun)

I would say that Josiah is 80% pottytrained. If we are out and I'm consistent it taking him he does GREAT. And he's 100% going poo on the potty - w/ or w/o underwear on. When we are home & he's naked he is probably 90 - 95% but when he's got underwear on - forget about it! I think we both just get busy w/ the day and forget! But the lights will click for him one of these days ...

The last few days he's been a little stinker by peeing whenever he feels like it ... even if his potty is RIGHT there! It used to be that he would have an accident and I would "find it" now he's been going and telling me about it!! I can't wait for this to be over so I can get my carpets steam cleaned and move on!

I think I probably started him a bit on the young side - would be easier to train them when they are 2 1/2 or 3 - like I did Ellie, but I was just done w/ diapers and having him poo in the toilet is a WAY better trade off!

Adventures in Potty Training

Whenever we go out of the house Josiah does wonderful going potty! On Saturday we went blueberry picking at a local farm and on our way there he said, "I gotta go potty". We pulled over to the side of the road and sure enough, he had to go!

Yesterday he woke up and had his bm before he even got out of bed. We left the house @ 11ish and were gone until 3ish. While at the zoo Josiah went potty twice and did not pee in his training pants at all! It was great! We got home and after his nap he had only pee'd a tiny bit in his waterproof training pants. The rest of the evening went well. Today I kept his training pants off after b-fast because I knew that a bm was coming. About 2 hours after waking up he started dancing around running back and forth to the potty chair and back to play. Finally he sat on the potty, asked me to "hold him" and he poo'd! I acted too quickly tho ... took the potty chair to the bathroom (while putting him in training pants) and when I came back he had gone more ... apparently he wasn't finished! About an hour later Ellie came inside telling me that Josiah had taken his underwear off ... I looked outside and he had gone poop and decided to take them off. Kudos for not wanting to play in dirty underpants! I rinsed him off in the shower and the rest of the morning before nap he kept peeing in his pants or on the floor with only a couple times in the toilet.

I don't understand it ... at the zoo he'll go more than an hour w/o peeing and then at home I can't even keep track of any pattern! I just need to be his personal assistant and not let him out of my site ... of course then I wouldn't get anything done ... no lunch, the other kids wouldn't be cared for ... but perhaps there is a fine line that I'm not yet walking to get this kid fully trained! Perhaps I'm the one that needs some training!! Only 9 more days before we go out of town ... I better turn up the heat!

Outing with the kiddos

Yesterday we had some errands to do in Simi (the town next to us). I loaded up the kids after Josiah had his bm and off we went. The kids HAD to bring their blankets and when we got out of the truck to go to the bank Ellie insisted on bringing hers with her. Josiah had on his little backpack (with a convenient leash for mom) and kept informing me that he was "Buzz Lightyear"! I told the kids to go sit on the chairs once we got inside and I went up to the teller. Ellie spent her time setting up her blanket so her doggy could sit on the chair safely. Josiah was running around all the chairs and trying to climb up them (on the sides) proclaiming loudly, "I Buzz Lightyear"! I wish I had had a video camera it was so funny - especially when their two "agendas" collided!

On another note Josiah did WONDERFUL out. He never once peed in his underwear and was very responsive when I would set up his potty chair and tell him to go!

it was a little gross

Day 3 in potty training Josiah. We met in a park w/ some friends in the morning for Church so I told Josiah he was a big boy and put underwear on him for the day. Every 20 minutes or so I had him sit on the potty and he did pretty good. . . until he had his bm. Changed that and he did well again. Got home and he played in the playroom after naptime. During that time he went all by himself to the potty, carried it to the bathroom AND flushed it down the toilet. Don't get to excited tho ... he must have somehow got some of it out and walked w/ it all the way to the kitchen. Needless to say I cleaned up a lot of poo yesterday.

Day 4 (today). We were getting ready to go to the zoo w/ some friends. I was preparing lunch when Ellie came in to say that, "Josiah went poop"! Great. Spent the next 15 minutes cleaning, wiping, disinfecting (thank GOD it was on the tile). Thought he was done. Went to wash out the potty chair ... he wasn't done. Came back to find yet another pile to clean up. Yuck. The zoo was uneventful. Josiah did great! He peed in his underwear on the way there (but it was a waterproof) and then I just sat him on his potty every 20 minutes or so. He LOVED it ... I could tell he felt like he was big and important like sister Ellie. On the way home he fell asleep, we ended up at Costco and when he woke up I put them in the bed of the truck and then proceeded to get the potty chair out and set up. That's when he said, "I pee in my underwear." Thanks Jo ... at least that's all it was. At home tonight things went well. A couple of accidents and he even ALMOST made it to the potty chair for his bm ... he made it to the paper - good job! Now I just need to make him SIT until he is completely DONE!

I'm not giving up! Gonna press in even harder tomorrow!

no more diapers: day 1 & 2

Yesterday was the day we told Josiah he was a big boy and didn't need diapers anymore - except at night (of course). The day started off good. Caught him "bearing down" for a bm mid-morning. Stuck the potty chair under him, which was met with a little bit of resistance, and then happily flushed it down the toilet! The rest of the day we had a couple little accidents (pee) here and there - but I just kept reminding him that he was a big boy and needed to go on the potty! Caught his second bm right before dinner ... then after dinner I forgot what we were doing and realized he was in the playroom all alone. I ran in to find that he had squished his bm into the carpet - at least it was in the playroom. YUCK! I knew it wasn't going to be completely smooth sailing but this was a bit gross ... But on a good note he was proclaiming to all of us at the dinner table that he was not wearing diapers anymore!

Today has gone better so far. This morning he was dancing around in the playroom obviously needing to go #2. I kept offering him his potty chair and he kept refusing. Finally after about 20 minutes or so of that he laid down on the ground and asked for a diaper. Um ... NO! Stuck him on the potty chair and all came out good! During the first part of his nap he was NOT sleeping and I heard him thru the monitor asking to go pee! Good boy! Then once he was up he was crying a lot and I could tell we were dealing w/ yet another bm. He finally stopped being clingy and I left him in his playroom for 2 minutes ... came back and there it was on the ground - but this time I was smart and put down a covering on the ground!

Almost bedtime so we'll do this again tomorrow! In 17 days we are going on a trip so I must have him potty trained by then!

ick

This was the day Josiah's diaper decided to fall off and deposit his poop on the kitchen floor. I was busy at the kitchen counter when I turned around just in time to see Josiah put his finger in him mouth ... that's right ... good thing is he didn't like what he tasted and I was officially grossed-out!

I was on the phone w/ my mom later watching Ellie in the backyard. She decided to take her panties off, set up her portable potty (we have the potette plus) and go pee in it. I thought she was just pretending ... until she picked up the plastic bag that was around the chair and brought the pee over to me. At least I know that she could do it all on her own if she needed to!

Hopefully tomorrow will be less exciting ...

Early morning bird

Josiah wakes up every morning @ 7am. He talks in his bed for a bit and then calls me after he has had a BM. A few weeks ago I tried getting him up and on the potty right after I heard him. Needless to say he sat on the potty for an hour and 30 minutes after putting his diaper on him he finally went. We haven't tried that again. It seems a shame to me to have to change him every morning when he is so consistent but I just don't know how to get him to transition to going in the potty!

on to the poops

I bought some fruit leather and put it in a jar 2 weeks ago (kind of looks like poo itself, come to thinkf of it). Nothing happened for the past week except for Ellie continuing to go to her corner in the playroom and doing here "business" there. Finally, just a few days ago, Ellie was in her bedroom taking her rest and I was my bedroom napping. I didn't have the monitor on so it was awhile before I heard her yelling. I finally woke up and rushed out to see that she had climbed out of her bed and ran to the potty. She didn't make it in time but I praised her for her efforts and we've had 90% success since then! I really have to watch her when I know it's "time" and keep her from running to her familiar spot. But most of the time she is going all on her own w/ no coaxing from me. She waves "good-bye" to her poo-poo, which is always going to where mommy & daddy's poo-poo goes! And the treats are working great as incentives! Once we are going to the potty chair 100% of the time I plan on transitioning her to the BIG potty (we've got a seat for that).

I do not miss changing diapers ONE BIT!

potty training #2

so we had 2 days of successful #2 in the potty chair and then it's been back to pooping in her panties. I figured out that she likes to go into the playroom and poop in a particular corner. At least she's consistent BUT it's kind of gross!

That being said this morning I knew she was due for a bm and was trying to make sure to "catch" her before she went in her panties again. I was changing Josiah's dirty diaper when she ran into his room and announced that she needed to go poop. OF COURSE she would need to go when I was in the middle of changing a diaper! I told her to go to the potty and ran out to see how she did as soon as Josiah had a diaper on him. The potty chair was untouched and there was Ellie in her favorite "pooping place" in the playroom - again!

I've decided that tomorrow I'm going to get an "incentive jar" filled with fruit leather . . . I'll see how that goes!

Potty Training

I really thought successful potty training was never going to happen. Ellie loved the various movies that we've watched over the past few months and she seemed interested from time to time but I could always tell she wasn't "ready". I was lamenting my situation to some moms who had made it through the potty training years successfully and one of them highly recommended the dvd "Once Upon A Potty" based on the book by the same name. Finally 2 weeks ago I rented it from our local library. Ellie LOVED it! She sat on her potty in the livingroom while watching it and even went and put her pull ups on after watching it. It is about 15 minutes long with the story as the first half and a "potty song" as the second half. After a few days of watching it she was going pee a few times a day, but wanting a diaper on when she had to go #2. We went 2 days with no pee in diapers, except naptime and nighttimes and then on Sunday she went #2! I was amazed and she's been only using the potty since then! It's like the lights just came on and she realized that she was ready! Today she hung out w/ Grandma and they went around town doing errands. She used the "porta-potty" in the back of Grandma's car and did just fine! No accidents!!

I'm using "potty scotty" underwear (decided that potty patty wouldn't be good for Jo to wear when he's potty training) and they are so easy for her to pull up and down. She will go all by herself w/o me reminding her - most of the time! If she's too busy with friends then I do have to remind her. I'm so happy that it's going this well so far!

Next up, I have to figure out what panties will be most comfortable for her . . . we had purchased some Dora ones awhile ago and they were cheaply and poorly made. Any recommendations?