Potty Training Time

While we do have a backlog of other topics, we decided to potty train Jonah over the Christmas holiday while Michelle and I were both off from work. I wanted to get some of thoughts and details on our progress down while they are still fresh.

We started potty training the Saturday before Christmas (December 22). We opted to try the 3 day potty training method that a colleague of mine used with his twins. Suffice to say, it has taken more than three days, and we think we are mostly there, but we still have yet to get Jonah telling us with words on a regular basis that he needs to go potty.

We started the morning with Jonah's last diaper change and breakfast. After that, we put on Jonah's first pair of underwear and ceremonially threw out the few diapers we had remaining for him. He was so excited to be out of diapers!

The method had Jonah spending the day in just underwear and a shirt for the duration of the training and one of us needed to be with him at all times to catch him as soon as he started to go. The intent is to try to get him to go, too, by making sure he has plenty of liquid to drink. We think this may be one reason it has taken longer to feel like we are done with the training.

The first day was the hardest with regards to keeping up. Jonah would just release, and we would need to make the run. We had lots of little clean ups and went through lots of pairs of underwear. At one point we went through a string of about 5 pairs with little accidents at once. He never wanted to sit on the potty, which added to the "excitement."

One of the biggest mistakes I think we made on the first day is showing Jonah some rewards that he would get for going on the potty. In reviewing some of the material, this is like bribing and can cause some issues. And it did prove to be a little issue later when we would get Jonah on the potty with a struggle, and he would request a particular reward for going on the potty. Rewards need to be "silent." The child cannot expect them.

The first night brought one overnight wetting. I made another mistake here: I didn't change Jonah's sheets right then and set him up with blankets on the floor. He was later scared to get back on his bed, so if you are potty training, be prepared to change sheets potentially multiple times a night so your child can keep sleeping in the bed and isn't afraid to go back in the future.

Day two had much fewer "accidents" (a word we didn't use with Jonah during training) and Jonah exercised better control, but was still afraid of the potty and put up a fuss whenever we brought him there (and he still does, sometimes, but he actually sits now).

Christmas Eve was Grammy Sweets's first day in town (she arrived after Jonah was in bed the night before), so we had the good fortune to have three of us watching and spending time with Jonah. This made it significantly easier to keep up with Jonah and Jude. Jonah still surprised us with a couple showers. This was day three, so we were hoping something would click.

So... how do you know when a kid is officially potty trained? With a couple minor exceptions, he doesn't say "Mommy, I need to pee" or "Daddy, I need to use the potty," but over the course of the past week, he gives clear signs that he needs to go. He has progressively become more at ease sitting on the potty. He still denies that he needs to go, but he actually sits on the potty now and does not usually have an issue peeing.

"Number 2" is a different issue. We had a complete and total meltdown last night. He was so upset because he had to go, but still has some trouble letting go. He cried that he needed to pee, but had already gone (unfortunately in his pajamas before Michelle was able to get him on the potty). He wanted us to go away.

Didn't want us around.

It soon became obvious that poop was the problem, and I was able to talk him through it. Extra exciting is that we got him to sit twice for BMs yesterday, and thankfully we've only had one incident that soiled his underwear.

We only have a couple days until Jonah goes back to daycare, so we are hoping he gets a little more verbal about his needs for them, but he doesn't just go without any signs. We are very proud of our big boy, and he is thrilled to be wearing underwear and doesn't want to ever go back to diapers, so we are moving forward.