Trained?

I have dreaded potty training Porter.  For months.  There are so many reasons for my bad attitude.
The top 6:

 

1) I just hate potty training in the first place. :-)

2) Porter has not been the most compliant of toddlers.

3) He can rarely sit still for more than a few minutes at a time, so I wondered how he was going to sit on the potty long enough to relax.

4) I feared that if he caught on to the fact that I can't stand pee on my carpet, he would do so deliberately.  Just to bug me.
5) He has had problems with constipation since the day he started solids at 6 months old.

6) It feels as though I have so little time.  How do I add potty training to my life?

 

Ugh.

 

I was prepared to wait until he was 3 before attempting what I thought was going to be a very trying experience.  But then, I also love the end result of a potty trained child.  After a child of mine turns 2, I find myself quickly tiring of all the diaper changes...especially the yucky ones.  I also hate paying for two sets of diapers (not to mention pull-ups).  So, I heavily debated which path to take.  I stressed about it.  And debated.  And stressed.  And debated.  In the end, I chose to give it a try (mostly because he began showing me hopeful signs it might be possible), but I only had a small window of opportunity.  I didn't want to do it too early and have it backfire on me, but wanted enough time to have him trained before our summer plans.  And I had to do it during a time that was easiest to clear my schedule.  So, April was it.

 

I went "boot camp" style and hung out at home (as much as was possible) for a week.  I loaded Porter up with lots of fluids, which resulted in ample opportunity to practice learning this new skill. I asked great friends to switch up preschool carpool for a week, which allowed me to be at home and not chauffeuring around town.  And I hung out all week at home with Porter.  In the bathroom.  With a baby too.  I did it this way because it has great potential to be a fast way to train.  I like fast.  And it worked with our two oldest children, so why not give it a try again.

Porter completely shocked me by being much easier to train than expected.  My mouth is still hanging open in wonder.  The first day was exhausting for both of us (it always is).  At one point during a little meltdown on the potty, Porter let out a whine and said, "Hard day."  It sure was a hard day.  He only had 2 accidents (with 9 times going potty in the toilet), but it is a hard thing to learn.  Day 2 was so much better and continued to improve rapidly from there.  Before the week was up, he was going potty by himself without being prompted.  We are now 4 weeks out.  Of course he has had accidents, but far less than I anticipated.  I am hesitant to say this 2 year old (plus 8 months) is trained, but I am hopeful.

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Our potty training plans were almost foiled by a leaky toilet at the end of March, but on April 1st a fix-it guy came out and took care of the problem.  Porter was in and out of the bathroom pestering the poor guy for the 3 hours he was here.  We were able to get started the next day...only a day later than planned.  Maybe it was a good idea not to start on April Fools Day anyway.

This picture makes me laugh because I wish Porter would have been content to sit still on the potty and look at books.  This lasted all of 10 seconds.

 

What actually happened was this:

When he knew he had to go, he would sit on the potty for a few seconds (and not go), use the toilet paper roll holder as a microphone, hop down, run around the bathroom, get back on the potty (and not go), sit for a few seconds, get down, run around, look in cupboards, say "pee coming," get on the potty (and not go), hop down, climb in the tub, get out of the tub, say "go pee," climb up (and not go), get down, stand on the stool, turn the water on...

 

You get the idea.  It was a circus.  But somehow he figured it out, even with all the running around.

 

 

When not in the bathroom we hung out playing games together (on the wood floor) so I could keep a close eye on him.  He loved all the attention.

 

He ended up with lots of stickers (for each time he went potty) and was heavily praised for keeping his undies dry.  Since we kept the focus on dry undies, I did not even mention my carpet. :-)

 

I always think undies are adorable on little ones when they are first potty training.