Potty Training: Step 1 Complete
Posted By Jill on June 20, 2011
I do believe, with four days of no accidents, we can confidently mark the first step in potty-training as complete! Here’s how it went down:
Day 3
I had to go into work in the morning, so I had a sitter with the kids. Mac wore a pull-up for this time and during nap and was back in underwear for the evening when my sisters stayed with the kids while we went and took care of a friend’s new baby to give them a much-needed break. Mac did have one accident that evening.
Day 4
Thursday morning we tried on the potty after taking off his diaper – no tinkles. He was messing around instead of getting his underwear on, then ran into the bathroom again. I went in after him – no tinkles. I kept getting Vivian dressed, taking our time to let her sore bottom get some air. Mac said, just as he was going to put his underwear on, that he had to go tinkles. He went, I didn’t follow. He called me in saying, “Mommy, I went tinkles in potty!” Sure enough… all by himself!
During breakfast, he stopped and said, “I gotta go potty.” I asked if he needed help, and he said, “no thanks.” So I just let him go. He called me in again to say he went, and he did!! He made a mess this time, but I don’t care – he did it twice by himself!
Later in the morning, we had a “timed” visit and he kept insisting on continuing to try. I left the room a couple of times, and even helped him get his underwear on, but before I knew it he was back on the potty trying again – and went!
He wore a pull-up again for nap, and waited for that to poop, which I’m told will likely continue for some time until he’s ready to do that in the potty too. That’s just fine with me… less mess to clean up. He went in the potty several more times that evening, and didn’t have any accidents. At least one of those times, HE said he had to go. The “timed tries” were quickly becoming unnecessary.
He had a bath that night, and I was curious if the suggestion from my sister to encourage him to go while in the bathtub would help with the feeling of going while standing. He did it!
Day 5
We took another step this day by leaving the house without a pull-up on to go to the grocery store. Success! He went before we left, and when we went in to the store, I made sure they had a public restroom and that I knew where it was before we got too far. (And yes, we had a change of clothes along with us.) I asked him once while we were shopping if he had to go, and he said no, then I asked him again when we were closer to the restroom, and he again said no, but he also said, “They don’t have a potty here.” I said, “Yes, they do, do you want to try?” He did want to. I really was just curious to see if he would go on a public toilet. He did try! We continued the rest of the day with no accidents. :)
Day 6
More successes, still no accidents! The new development this day was that after I put Mac to bed with his night-time diaper on, he called to me and said he had to go tinkles. He did – four times! And yes, this could easily become a stalling tactic, so we’ll need to nip that quickly if it happens. On this night, he did go all four times, and he tried one more time, then that was the end.
Day 7
Mac woke this morning saying, “Mommy, I gotta go tinkles!” And he sure did. He wore underwear while we went to pick up the sitter, and even though he wore his pull-up for nap, she put him back in underwear after, and he didn’t have any accidents. We had the same issues with bedtime, which ended the same – as soon as he couldn’t go, I told him no more getting up.
Day 8
Today he went standing up – three times! And naptime brought the same stalling tactics, which were harder to squelch than at bedtime, but I’ll need to dig deep for patience and just cut him off quickly. The worst part was that every time he’d call for me, Vivian would wake up…
I no longer set my timer for him, but I try to ask occasionally if I know it’s been a while since he’s gone. The part that gives me the most confidence is that he will stop in the middle of a meal, a movie, or playing outside when he has to go. One day he even stopped to go back and pause his movie before continuing on to the bathroom!
I think we’re ready to venture out and leave the house without too much worry (and with an extra change of clothes, just in case).
I’m very happy with his progress, and at this point he is ready for preschool!!
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