Potty Training 101

 

Every thirty minutes

Recently, Gus has been showing more and more signs of being ready to start potty training. His end of the year evaluation by his preschool teacher said that he was showing interest and on his way to being fully ready. The other day, he initiated going potty and I was astounded that he was able to connect the internal feeling to actually needing to use the potty.

I guess I was being a bit selfish by looking at our schedule and seeing that there's too much going on to start potty training. This is the first week where we don't really have to be anywhere, and we will have five days straight without really having to go anywhere and to worry about PT while being out and about. With the exception of swimming tomorrow, we have the luxury of staying home all week until soccer on Saturday morning.

Last night Steve commented that we are in need of diapers. I asked if we could go Saturday after soccer and he said he wasn't sure if we'd make it to Saturday. Well, that was the kick in the butt that I needed, so this morning, we started potty training.

I had bought Gus a potty watch when he was like 18 months old (click the link to see it in action). I got it and kept it on his bookshelf so that when the time came, it'd be there for us. Today was that special day.

When Gus woke up, I took him to the bathroom to try and go potty before getting him dressed (something I've been doing for about a week now). He went on the potty and I made a huge deal about it. I told him that I had a special gift for him and he was very excited to see it.

He let me put it on him after I had set it for every 30 minutes (it lets you pick 30, 60, and 90 minutes). 
We then put on his very special undies with Mater on them. Because we're training, I let him hang out all day in his undies and he was okay with that.

 
He was really excited to see how it worked and when it went off for the first time he flipped out!!! He was so excited to go potty and ran up the hall to the bathroom!

Every thirty minutes we went to the bathroom, and every thirty minutes he went on the potty. It was amazing. We only had one accident and he started to go potty and then we caught it and rushed to the potty to finish. Other than that, he had no accidents and loved going when his watch alerted him!!

He didn't take a nap today and I was okay with that. We went all day without going poop... which I was surprised he didn't go poop around his usual time of 2-3pm. Maybe tomorrow he'll go. I hope he's not afraid to go on the potty.

Around 4ish, he decided that he wanted to wear three pairs of undies at once. He grabbed all the spare undies that I had brought down with me, and put them all on.

 

 I used M&M Minis to help today:

But I realized that there are a few things that we need in order to make it more comfortable and successful for Gus. So tonight I went on Amazon and got a few more potty-related items.

 

This is called a Piddle Pad. I got it for potty training, but also for going to/coming from swimming

 

A soft seat for our bathroom that he's been using and a stool. I realized while watching today, that the seat is not comfy for him and he doesn't really like to sit on it long (which doesn't help when he has to poop) and then the stool will be helpful for him to rest his legs while on the potty and to get onto the potty

 

Travel Potty :: I am most excited about this purchase. It uses gallon bags and it folds up to stay in the car. This will be great for when we're at the park and there's not a close bathroom (happens all the time), when we travel to Michigan and Indiana and have long car rides... and it'll be good to just keep in the car for emergencies

Overall, I am so very proud of Gus for all that he did today. Getting up every thirty minutes wasn't enjoyable, but seeing him actually use the potty and not have to change a single diaper for him today was incredible. Now we just need to get through tomorrow... swimming in the morning and a poop for sure at some time (either in his undies or on the potty). Wish us luck!!