Thursday, September 13, 2012

Potty Training


I waited until James was three to even THINK about potty training.  I have heard too many horror stories of training boys at 2 or even 2 1/2 years, and I just didn't want to go there.  Although diapers were getting super expensive, I didn't really mind having two kids in diapers. 

But when James turned 3, it was time.
I made a mental note that we would be staying HOME for an entire week.
James would wear underwear in the daytime, and pull-ups at night.
I would remind him LOTS of times during the day, "remember to tell mommy when you have to go potty"!  The first three days were ROUGH!  I wondered if James would ever get trained.  I thought this is never going to work.  But after those three days, things started to get better.  And after just one solid week, he just about had it down!


Here is James going potty in his frog potty.  He got a little stubborn on me, so he had to do things his OWN way.  Most of the time he sat on his potty backwards.  As long as he was making it to the potty, I was ok with that.


I tried to think of lots of activities to do at home, and thank goodness it was summer so that we could be outside lots!





Riding his bike down the street in our neighborhood.
Actually, I think he is following the garbage truck as long as he can.


James and Reese both somehow "fit" in James' one seat power truck.


This became one of the kids' FAVORITE things to do at home.






When we played inside, I just laid lots of blankets on the ground for James to play on (just in case).

They sure do love each other! (most of the time ;)


One evening, we needed someone to watch the kids, and Michelle gladly offered her assistance, and braved keeping them while continuing to help potty train James and even put them to bed!
And this evening was a turning point for James.  It was the first time he actually told someone on his own without a reminder that he had to potty and then went!  Go MICHELLE!  We from then on called her the Potty Whisperer.  Hmmm....sorry Michelle, not the most attractive nickname, but something that night just clicked with James!!


By the end of the week, we started venturing a little farther from home, but still staying close.
We went over to Amber's house so the kids could swim with Taylor and Law.  James did great!

And after about one month, James suddenly started waking up dry, so we took the pull ups away, and he hasn't been in one since!!!  Hooray!!!



4 comments:

  1. Thanks for this post! I wanted to get Jon potty trained over the summer, but it just didn't work. So many other boys his age at school are out of diapers, and I was starting to get scared I was doing something wrong! We'll start again in January when he turns three : )

    - Megan

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    1. so glad you read this Megan! It's hard not to worry about what other parents are doing with their kids. I'm telling you, at 3 James was ready and it was fast! So glad I waited.

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  2. Yay James! That is about how our potty training went! We did about a week of intense training at home and it was miserable! But so worth it in the end! And Megan, I think every child does it at a different time and its not like when they get to high school one kid will be like "Well, oh yeah, I was potty trained 3 months before you!" ha! I say, do it when you most feel up to it because its hardest on mommy!

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