The time has come (again) in the Young house... potty training is upon us. Okay, in actuality, we have been potty training Will since the end of last week and this is just a recap of how it has gone so far. When we potty trained Kenzie some 2+ years ago, I wrote a bunch of posts (that will be linked at the bottom if anyone is interested) documenting our progress. I'm so glad I did too because in the last week, I have referenced them so many times to see how she was doing at each stage and to see if the annoying things about potty training Will were also annoying with her. News flash: They were. I think I honestly forgot most of potty training Kenzie. It was a long time ago and I think I blocked it out. Maybe it was nature's way of making sure I would attempt it again one day with Will. Reading back though, I now remember that potty training was seriously my least favorite part of parenting (other than having sick kiddos) and it definitely remains that way. But, it is what it is, and Will was definitely showing signs of being ready so we jumped right in.
Truth be told, we actually waited longer with Will than I thought we would. He has been giving us signs that he was ready for this process for months. He hated to have a dirty diaper and it was becoming more and more common that he didn't like it wet, either. He was holding urine for longer and longer periods of time without wetting his diaper. He was asking to sit on the potty more and more and he had actually used it a few times when he asked. I was having trouble getting on the potty train this time though. For a few reasons. First off, I knew it was going to be more difficult this time around. One... he's a boy and they are notoriously more difficult (though I hear they aren't always so it definitely depends on the kid). Also, we knew it would be more difficult because although I could sit at home for a few days with Kenzie when she was training, I can't do that with Will. We run a very busy life around here and sitting home for a few days isn't an option. So, we had to make some modifications to my initial plans. I will talk about those in a few though when I talk about how the process has gone for us so far. Two... I have been lamenting the loss of my "baby" more and more as we approach two years old and I was afraid this would make me feel like he was even less of a baby. That's about me though and it's not fair to him to hold him off when he is showing us that he is ready for my own reasons, I guess. It's still a hard adjustment though although I am excited to have two independent kiddos as far as potty-ing goes. Kenzie is finally at the point that she can go into a bathroom stall on her own in public and handle everything without help. That opens up a whole new world I had forgotten existed. Potty training Will makes us get one step closer to that light at the end of the tunnel as far as bathroom existence goes. Plus, no more diapers! We still have to buy pull-ups for night and nap but we use far less and diapers are out of this house!! A few weeks ago, we bought a box of diapers and I convinced myself it would be the last box. Then I bought two more small bags. Oops. That was it though... when they ran out, we were DONE. Moving on. And here we are...
With Kenzie, we used the "3 day method" when potty training. Sometimes people call it "potty training boot camp" and that it certainly is. While it takes a bit longer than 3 days, in my opinion, it took only about a week before we were down to 1 accident every few days with Kenzie. With Will, we started a bit differently. On Friday, we started putting him in undies while at home. We elected to continue to use diapers when we went out because we had to go out so much over the weekend. We thought that would be easier and it let us start to prep him for the process. He did as well as could be expected. A few accidents, a few successes. He loved being successful though so it seemed like it was working as we wanted it to. We did that all weekend and then today, we started full force. Diapers gone with the exception of that or a pull-up at nap and night time. By mid-day, Will had 1 (very good) success during which he told me he had to potty and then did pretty quickly and 2 accidents. As with Kenzie, when he woke up in the morning, he didn't go for a couple of hours. That is the worst part. We go to the potty every 20 minutes or so and he doesn't go. Then (finally) he had an accident. At that point, I was seeing all the laundry in my future. We spent a lot of time in the bathroom reading books and some time watching potty related things on YouTube. Kenzie always loved the Bear in the Big Blue House potty training episode. Turns out, Will does too. A major difference now and when Kenzie was trained is that we can't sit all day in the bathroom so I have found that I have to give him about 10 minutes to try and then we move on. I figured this would lead to more accidents,but it's a lot of trial and error at the beginning so I'm working on being okay with it.
Now, one major modification we made to when we trained Kenzie is that we invested in "rubber pants" which are really just plastic now-a-days. We put Will in undies and then covered those with the rubber pants so that if he has an accident, it holds most of it in. Key word: "most" definitely not all. But it's better than if he didn't have them. This was done for a few reasons. First off, I cleaned so much pee from our floors with Kenzie, that I learned that lesson. He still leaks a bit, but nothing like she did without them so it's far less cleaning which is good when you have a 4-year-old running around the house while you are trying to make sure Will sits on the potty after an accident to teach him where he should go and you can't clean up immediately. And secondly, this lets us go out with a bit more confidence. We knew that Monday night, Day 1 of serious potty training was also Dance Monday, so we couldn't sit around most of the day. We definitely didn't want him peeing all over the floor of the dance studio. Eek.
We did manage to get out of the house to Winn Dixie in the morning without any incidents. He had that morning accident shortly before we left the house and I made him sit on his potty both before we went into the store and immediately after we left. We still carry a potty in the car so this wasn't a huge deal. He didn't go either time, but at least he can start to understand he needs to go before going out and when we get back. After we got back was when we had the one big success when he told me he needed to go.
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. We had a few accidents and we had a few successes. He did poop once and FREAKED OUT. He did NOT like that. At all. Poor little guy. I had to hold him and calm him down. Maybe he won't take as long as Kenzie did to start pooping in the potty.
This evening we had dance. I was so worried. So, so worried. He went in his potty right before we left. I thought maybe we were golden. Turns out, we weren't. He kept asking to go and I took him a few times but I am now learning that logistically, with a boy, going in public potties is way more difficult. Let's just say that pee is way more likely to come out the top if you aren't careful than actually ending up in the potty. Then, after I took him about 3 times, he told me again that he had to potty... but he already had. Oops. I changed him and we must have gone back to the potty another 4 times before the end of dance. At the end of dance, Steven took him outside to wait for Kenzie and me while Kenzie went potty. It was raining so they were standing on the sidewalk and Will announced he had to potty.... as he did it. Oops! Once we got home and had dinner it was (finally) time for bed and Will managed to go one more time on his potty before he had to put a diaper on.
It was a LONG day. Though, I think Kenzie's first day of potty training full force seemed longer. She had 9 accidents her first day. Will had 6. He also had 4 successes so I will take it. I remember now that this stage involves a lot of me asking him if he has to potty or making him go even if he says he doesn't have to. This will likely go on for a while if I remember correctly but eventually he will be almost totally independent (even Kenzie still needs a reminder every now and then.) So, tomorrow is a new day. I'm hoping for a few more successes. During the day today I wondered if this was a bad idea but reflecting back now, I'm glad we bit the bullet and went for it. Let's hope the process is fairly painless. Tomorrow Kenzie has school so that throws an entirely new element into the mix. Plus, I have to run to Target. I'm a bit nervous but we will deal with it as it comes.
And in case anyone is interested, here are the links to those posts about our first go round with potty training...
Day 1
Day 2
Days 3 & 4
Days 5 & 6
Tips and Tricks
Truth be told, we actually waited longer with Will than I thought we would. He has been giving us signs that he was ready for this process for months. He hated to have a dirty diaper and it was becoming more and more common that he didn't like it wet, either. He was holding urine for longer and longer periods of time without wetting his diaper. He was asking to sit on the potty more and more and he had actually used it a few times when he asked. I was having trouble getting on the potty train this time though. For a few reasons. First off, I knew it was going to be more difficult this time around. One... he's a boy and they are notoriously more difficult (though I hear they aren't always so it definitely depends on the kid). Also, we knew it would be more difficult because although I could sit at home for a few days with Kenzie when she was training, I can't do that with Will. We run a very busy life around here and sitting home for a few days isn't an option. So, we had to make some modifications to my initial plans. I will talk about those in a few though when I talk about how the process has gone for us so far. Two... I have been lamenting the loss of my "baby" more and more as we approach two years old and I was afraid this would make me feel like he was even less of a baby. That's about me though and it's not fair to him to hold him off when he is showing us that he is ready for my own reasons, I guess. It's still a hard adjustment though although I am excited to have two independent kiddos as far as potty-ing goes. Kenzie is finally at the point that she can go into a bathroom stall on her own in public and handle everything without help. That opens up a whole new world I had forgotten existed. Potty training Will makes us get one step closer to that light at the end of the tunnel as far as bathroom existence goes. Plus, no more diapers! We still have to buy pull-ups for night and nap but we use far less and diapers are out of this house!! A few weeks ago, we bought a box of diapers and I convinced myself it would be the last box. Then I bought two more small bags. Oops. That was it though... when they ran out, we were DONE. Moving on. And here we are...
With Kenzie, we used the "3 day method" when potty training. Sometimes people call it "potty training boot camp" and that it certainly is. While it takes a bit longer than 3 days, in my opinion, it took only about a week before we were down to 1 accident every few days with Kenzie. With Will, we started a bit differently. On Friday, we started putting him in undies while at home. We elected to continue to use diapers when we went out because we had to go out so much over the weekend. We thought that would be easier and it let us start to prep him for the process. He did as well as could be expected. A few accidents, a few successes. He loved being successful though so it seemed like it was working as we wanted it to. We did that all weekend and then today, we started full force. Diapers gone with the exception of that or a pull-up at nap and night time. By mid-day, Will had 1 (very good) success during which he told me he had to potty and then did pretty quickly and 2 accidents. As with Kenzie, when he woke up in the morning, he didn't go for a couple of hours. That is the worst part. We go to the potty every 20 minutes or so and he doesn't go. Then (finally) he had an accident. At that point, I was seeing all the laundry in my future. We spent a lot of time in the bathroom reading books and some time watching potty related things on YouTube. Kenzie always loved the Bear in the Big Blue House potty training episode. Turns out, Will does too. A major difference now and when Kenzie was trained is that we can't sit all day in the bathroom so I have found that I have to give him about 10 minutes to try and then we move on. I figured this would lead to more accidents,but it's a lot of trial and error at the beginning so I'm working on being okay with it.
Now, one major modification we made to when we trained Kenzie is that we invested in "rubber pants" which are really just plastic now-a-days. We put Will in undies and then covered those with the rubber pants so that if he has an accident, it holds most of it in. Key word: "most" definitely not all. But it's better than if he didn't have them. This was done for a few reasons. First off, I cleaned so much pee from our floors with Kenzie, that I learned that lesson. He still leaks a bit, but nothing like she did without them so it's far less cleaning which is good when you have a 4-year-old running around the house while you are trying to make sure Will sits on the potty after an accident to teach him where he should go and you can't clean up immediately. And secondly, this lets us go out with a bit more confidence. We knew that Monday night, Day 1 of serious potty training was also Dance Monday, so we couldn't sit around most of the day. We definitely didn't want him peeing all over the floor of the dance studio. Eek.
We did manage to get out of the house to Winn Dixie in the morning without any incidents. He had that morning accident shortly before we left the house and I made him sit on his potty both before we went into the store and immediately after we left. We still carry a potty in the car so this wasn't a huge deal. He didn't go either time, but at least he can start to understand he needs to go before going out and when we get back. After we got back was when we had the one big success when he told me he needed to go.
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. We had a few accidents and we had a few successes. He did poop once and FREAKED OUT. He did NOT like that. At all. Poor little guy. I had to hold him and calm him down. Maybe he won't take as long as Kenzie did to start pooping in the potty.
This evening we had dance. I was so worried. So, so worried. He went in his potty right before we left. I thought maybe we were golden. Turns out, we weren't. He kept asking to go and I took him a few times but I am now learning that logistically, with a boy, going in public potties is way more difficult. Let's just say that pee is way more likely to come out the top if you aren't careful than actually ending up in the potty. Then, after I took him about 3 times, he told me again that he had to potty... but he already had. Oops. I changed him and we must have gone back to the potty another 4 times before the end of dance. At the end of dance, Steven took him outside to wait for Kenzie and me while Kenzie went potty. It was raining so they were standing on the sidewalk and Will announced he had to potty.... as he did it. Oops! Once we got home and had dinner it was (finally) time for bed and Will managed to go one more time on his potty before he had to put a diaper on.
It was a LONG day. Though, I think Kenzie's first day of potty training full force seemed longer. She had 9 accidents her first day. Will had 6. He also had 4 successes so I will take it. I remember now that this stage involves a lot of me asking him if he has to potty or making him go even if he says he doesn't have to. This will likely go on for a while if I remember correctly but eventually he will be almost totally independent (even Kenzie still needs a reminder every now and then.) So, tomorrow is a new day. I'm hoping for a few more successes. During the day today I wondered if this was a bad idea but reflecting back now, I'm glad we bit the bullet and went for it. Let's hope the process is fairly painless. Tomorrow Kenzie has school so that throws an entirely new element into the mix. Plus, I have to run to Target. I'm a bit nervous but we will deal with it as it comes.
And in case anyone is interested, here are the links to those posts about our first go round with potty training...
Day 1
Day 2
Days 3 & 4
Days 5 & 6
Tips and Tricks
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