Potty Training Failures and Successes

Someone has to post about the grueling potty training stories, right? If it totally grosses you out, don't read any further.


First, let me fill you in on my potty training feelings:

1. I HATE diapers for many reasons.  Waste, diaper rash, odor, etc.

2. I believe you can train them young but understand it could be VERY hard work!

3.  I kind of want to potty train mine young just for the challenge of it....and because I hate diapers.

4.  I also believe you should wait for them to be ready.

5.  I'm a little afraid of the potty training phase because the diaper bag becomes the change-of-clothes bag and you must know where a bathroom is at all times.

So.

Over Thanksgiving break (they were almost 22 months old), I had the bright idea to go ahead and try to train my boys.  Boot camp style.  Brad was totally not on board but he did a decent job faking it.  We bought a potty and borrowed a potty and set them up right in front of the TV, with plenty of salty foods and drinks.  We got a tiny pee from Carter but eventually we felt bad for their toilet-ring bums so let them get up and wear pants sans diaper.  Keeping a close eye on them, we had a couple of pee accidents, tried to get them to the potty to finish but failed. Then one of them pooped in his pants.  Ooohh, no.  Gross. Way worse than diapers.  Brad had to do the clothing clean up while I gave the bath. WAAAYYY too much work.  We looked at each other and decided to enjoy our T-day break and so, called it quits on the potty training.

Total Fail.

For the next week or so, we kept the potties out in case anyone had a sudden desire to participate!  But there is something about the little potties I don't like.  I think it was the thought of having to clean them out in addition to the bums.  More work. 

I bought a little insert to go under the seat on the real toilet.  I was hoping the boys would like getting on the real potty, too, like mom and dad. =)

Since that purchase, mid December, the boys would sit on the potty here and there and do NOTHING AT ALL.  So annoying but I'll support it. I don't want them to fear the potty!  Once in a while, if we saw one of the boys "working on it," we'd rush them to the potty in hopes that they'd finish there but no such luck.

(poor kids are really going to hate me for these pictures some day!)


So then last Saturday happened...

We were about to put the boys down for their nap after lunch and often, they go number two around this time so I urged Nolan to leave the bedroom and go walk around the house to get his business done (he likes to be alone for it).  The conversation went a little like this:

Momma:  "Nolan go walk around and go poo poo. Hurry up so we can go night night."

Nolan:  He walks to the bathroom and says, "poo poo." 

Momma:  "Oh you want to poo poo in the potty?" Thinking, okay, I really need you to hurry and get to the nap and don't want to wait for you to sit on the potty and do your usual nothing, but whatever.

So I insert the kiddie potty and start to pull his pants down but he resists and starts to leave.  Make up your mind kiddo.  But then he comes back.  He lets me put him on the potty. He grunts, there's a plop followed by a few more plops. 

Oh. My. Gosh.  Did that really just happen?  CELEBRATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Yep. We celebrated like it was the most wonderful thing that had ever happened.

Oh. Carter was jealous.  He wanted in on the action. What did he do? Well, he sat on the potty and pooped, too!

More CELEBRATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We called their grandmomma so they could share their good news.  They told their poppy all about it when he came over that evening, too.  They were very proud.
They were rewarded by getting to flush the toilet (something they used to do all the time for fun and we had to make them stop!) They also got to wear big boy diapers, pull ups.  We happened to have some that were given to us when an older cousin stopped using them.

Okay so we just went through the day normally, figuring if they wanted to do this, they could.  We wouldn't push it.  Well, almost every poop after that one for rest of the weekend made it into the potty.  The only downside was that often they'd start in the diaper, finish in the potty or start in the potty and finish in the diaper.   And no one ever peed in the potty, at least not that we saw! Isn't that weird?

I have no idea what has been happening at daycare. I keep telling the boys to tell Nana when they need to go potty. So definitely still in diapers but they've been going on the potty at home every evening.  Next weekend is their big birthday party so we won't be doing any serious training then either.  So I have no idea how this is going to go down.

But this is it, I think.  We cannot let the opportunity pass, right?  They are ready, right?

See an update from two weeks later, here.