But I'm back for a moment because I need to document our potty training work. After the kids turned one I stopped recording in their baby books and I don't write a lot of things down except on my blog so I need to get all of this down so we can remember for baby #3!
Day 1:
We randomly decided to start bootcamp Saturday morning. We showed the kids their diapers and said they are going bye bye. No more diapers. Grandmomma just left so they decided that she took the diapers. hehe! We had them sit on the potty (which we've been having them do off and on for almost a year now). We put on their awesome car and train undies and some pants and told them they could not pee or poo on the cool undies, they must go on the potty. Both boys peed themselves within the first 30 minutes of the morning. I think Carter also pooped. They didn't like it. I thought the undies might be giving them a sense of security that a diaper does, so we decided no more cool undies until they start using the potty regularly. Instead we did pants or shorts only but later just went bottomless all together.
So we just kept reminding to go and occasionally did "force" them to sit on the potty. Brad had the bright idea to use a timer. First we had them go every 15 mintues and by the end of the day, we set it to 30 minutes. Not once did either boy tell us he needed to go on his own. But they did get used to the timer idea and bolted to the potty with each ding.
We did not leave the house all day except for a short, hot walk outside, during which Carter peed himself. We watched too much TV but were glad the olympics were on! Carter pooped maybe twice on the potty and Nolan got a tiny nugget in the pot. One M&M has been the potty reward since we first put them on the toilet and still was the reward today.
Nap time and night time, we are using "night time undies" which are just pullups. We'll tackle that another time.
We felt defeated and thought about quitting but figured since we had already started and the boys are both very ready, we should push on. By ready I mean: They tell us as they are peeing in their diapers. They hide for privacy when pooping in their diapers. Once in a while, one will surprisingly rush to the potty and go.
Day 2:
Right when they woke up, we took the pullups off and ushered them to the potty. They are still reluctant the first time but loved seeing their new potty sticker charts! I just whipped them up on the computer the night before and already had lots of stickers around the house. They really liked the charts with their smiling faces on them and they liked picking out their stickers when they successfully used the potty. We made the charts a very big deal and tried to distract them from asking for candy after using the potty. We decided to maintain the timer deal....about 25-30 minutes. No longer very reluctant after the morning, I believe because they realize we can pause the tv show! They also mostly wore pants today, still no undies.
We had a successful walk with no accidents but were still desperate to get out of our house for a while! We headed over to their cousins' house for a couple of hours in the evening and were anxious to see how they handled using other potties besides their own and to see how they would do when very distracted by other toys and kids. Nolan had a small pee (I call it a drip, when they start to pee and remember not to so stop themselves) so we rushed him to the potty to finish the job. Thankfully there was no mess in their house! Both boys peed in the potty a couple of times but still only with the sound of the timer ding. At least no big accidents.
But now we worried if the boys would bother telling us they need to go or if they are completely reliant on the ding.
The good news is that Brad and I are starting to feel like we might get some success out of this rather than complete defeat. And neither boy pooped in his pants, only pee accidents. Nolan really showed some progress today. Carter still fought it a little.
Day 3:
Monday I had the boys by myself. We kept up the sticker chart like it was the greatest thing in the world but dropped the timer completely. We might as well have had the timer because I remind them so often to go potty! But if they told me no, we didn't go. I really wanted them to do this on their own or experience that discomfort of wetting themselves. I also decided to let them wear the undies, reminding them never to pee or poo on their awesomely cool undies.
We just had one pee accident in the morning, in his pj pants, from Mr. Nolan and I think Carter just did a tiny drip thing once or twice. We went grocery shopping and made it back home accident free. They wore the same undies and shorts all day.
I noticed that Carter will tell me he doesn't need to go for quite a while then he starts holding his penis while he tries to keep playing. Then I ask him again and he rushes to the potty. Also, both boys yell "Go away!" at us when they are sitting down to poop. hehe!
After work, Brad took the boys out for a walk and a little park time. Again, they were accident free. Yay! We are getting there!
Day 4:
The boys were supposed to go to daycare today but I wanted one more day with them to be sure they were really getting it. I also decided to not emphasize the sticker chart as much today. I just wanted to really take them out of the house and see how they'd do. My new diaper bag is my purse with some bag wipes, 2 undies and 2 shorts. After getting the morning pee and sometimes poo out, a quick episode of Little Einsteins so I could get everything ready to go, and one more potty trip, we were out the door and headed to the Children's Aquarium downtown.
Upon arrival, I told them they couldn't look at anything until we used the potty. They both peed on the potty and washed their hands. We toured the aquarium for maybe an hour. Before leaving I had them sit on the potty again. Nolan peed, Carter sat but said he didn't need to go. That's fine. We were off, accident free!
Then we met Brad for lunch. Still no accidents and both boys went to the potty with Brad at the restaurant. Carter still didn't do much on it though.
I'm so proud and almost ready to post the good news on facebook. You know, the kind of post that people really don't want to hear about! Don't worry, I didn't and won't post about it...that's what my blog is for, right? =)
Back home, as I am putting the leftovers in the fridge, I start asking my usual, "Who needs to go potty?" Carter says, "I pee pee." Oh you need to go? No. "I went pee pee in my pants." Bummer. Not too, too much but enough to need fresh undies and shorts. I rush him to the potty where he pees more and poops. That's okay, I'll take it.
I come back out and see Nolan hiding on the couch underneath 4 pillows. He did that this morning so I thought he was just playing around again. Nope, he was sitting there, peeing and pooping in his pants, in the privacy of his hide-out. Nooooooo! I still rushed him to the potty where he did a little more business.
Ugh... pullups on and straight to naps. Did this happen because I didn't make the sticker chart as big of a deal today? So bummed!!! Later this afternoon, we'll have to take them out and about again to see how they do. But I feel like we totally missed the poop opportunity from Nolan. He only goes once a day. Bummer.
I still feel like they need constant reminders to go. I'm nervous for daycare tomorrow. Especially when they will be so distracted by toys and friends. I feel like they might completely quit. Nana will just have to constantly remind them if she can remember to! I'll also have to bring plenty of extra shorts and undies!
I'll try to remember this is a work in progress and there will still be accidents but I just hope for some true confidence in them before baby #3 arrives! 2.5 more months! We can do it!
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