James is potty trained!!!

James is potty trained!!!

Can we get a wha-hoo?!

So, details, if you care to know all the ins and outs of potty training a stubborn boy. What worked for us.

James was stubborn. He'd sat on the potty a few times but never peed or pooed in the potty. We'd ask him if he'd like to try it and get a candy for trying and we were always met with the same answer: "NO!"

So I knew I'd have to get tough with him. Two or so months ago I started talking to him about the fact that three year old boys are big boys and that they don't make diapers for three year olds. He loved talking about this. Whenever we asked what... (gotta run! James just said a pee pee is coming!)

Where was I?

Oh yes, whenever we asked what happened when he turns three he responded very enthusiastically "there are no diapers for three year olds!"

So as his birthday approached we kept talking about it but we never forced him to sit on the potty. Figured he'd understand once "there were no more diapers."

So last Monday when we were down to three more diapers I decided to bite the bullet. I put him in underpants. We told him that if he needed to pee or poo to sit on the potty. And we gave him a sippy cup full of raspberry juice that he drank down like a champ. Then we gave him another and another. I wanted lots of practice opportunities.

The first pair of underpants lasted twenty minutes before we heard him say "oh no! I'm wet!" We said "that's ok, if you have a pee pee, you need to put it in the potty, let's get a new pair of underpants and clean up the mess." We had him help us clean up the puddle and didn't make a big deal of it. We never said "this is gross" or "that was icky". We just said "that's ok, let's clean up the mess. Now if you have pees coming, lets do them in the potty and you can have an M&M!"

With just one accident it clicked for him.

Twenty minutes later he said "I have a pee pee coming!" and we ran to the bathroom together. And he peed in the potty for the first time in his life!

The rest of the day was much of the same. Lots and lots of juice and lots and lots of practice peeing. He peed every twenty minutes the entire day. It was exhausting, but rewarding. He kept his undies dry all day.

Day two was not as smooth. He had an accident when we went outside for a moment and then that afternoon he had four more pee accidents. And he had yet to poop. Exhausting exhausting. But with Monday's success, I knew he could do it, so I kept it up.

E came home that night and James wanted to play hide n' seek. And when he was hiding he pooped in his underpants. Yucky but not horrible. We did the same thing as we did with a pee accident. "That's ok, let's get new underpants. Try again."

On Wednesday he stayed dry pee wise, but poop was a problem again. We were at a playdate when he decided to leave me a present in his underpants. Gah, horrible.

On Thursday he had another pee accident and another poo accident, but really, after only a few days in, he was telling me when he needed to pee and staying dry 95% of the time. I knew if we could get poo figured out, we'd have it made.

By the weekend we finally had some pooping success. He told us he needed to go and then we whisked him to the potty and when he finally did, we went crazy. "I'm so proud of you! You can have a big lollipop now! You are such a good boy!"

And then poop clicked for him as well.

We had to remind him often the first week, but now he can go hours between peeing and will tell us when he needs to go. He still wears a diaper for naps and bed but over the last few days he's been waking up dry, something he NEVER had done before.

Very very exciting times.

Now for some last details if you are still reading:

• We rewarded him with candy each time he did anything in the potty, even a little drip. M&Ms for pees, a big lollipop for poos
• He didn't want to sit on the potty every twenty minutes (like some potty training guides say). Since he could understand the feeling of peeing and could tell us accurately when he needed to pee, we skipped this step altogether.
• Since he gives us cues to when he needs to poop, we had tried a few times to have him poop in the potty before he'd have his accident. But the urge would go away and he'd find a moment alone and have an accident. Glad I pushed forward.
• He eats so much fruit and drinks so much I wasn't too worried about constipation.
• He really likes his Mater undies.
• Why are you still reading this? Please say because you have a kid to potty train, not because you really care all that much about James's pees and poos.
• I would not be surprised if within a few months we can do away with nap and night diapers too. Somehow his bladder just kinda figured out "holding it."

Now, if you are still with me, you deserve a treat. Gah, no more poo talk on this blog until baby girl is potty training.

So here is a photo of Juliet from about a month ago that I never posted. Adorable right? And the photos of James above were from the same day. Cold and chilly day downtown.

Yea for saving $60 a month on diapers!