Well, folks. We have embarked on the overwhelming journey of Potty Training.
Levi has shown signs for a while that he is ready to go in the potty, but I have been waiting on a few things before we jumped in full-force. It's funny that it doesn't matter how ready for something a child seems and how you, as his mother, have a greater intuition about it. A gut feeling. I just didn't feel that it was time until now, and I am happy we didn't push him.
That, or I was totally in denial and pretended he was a newborn.
Yeah, that was probably it.
Levi will be 26 months old in a couple of days, and guys, he's .... a big boy. There. I said it.
(Excuse me, I'll be in a corner somewhere shoving Oreos in my mouth to drown the sorrows. It helps. Don't judge.)
Ah*Hmm. Where were we?
Ah-ha! Potty Training!
The other day, I got an overwhelming excitement for potty training! (And, um, a gift card burning a hole in my handbag.) So, I ran out to our new children's store in town and loaded up on gear. He's had his little potty for awhile, but he needed some little extras. Ya know, potty goodies.
I went all DIY on myself and jazzed up the boring little bulletin board that we bought for his charts.
Bumble Bees! This fabric was some I had from back in my apron-making days and it turned out to be perfect because as we sit and wait for the tee-tee to come out, we count the bees!
And the best thing about the whole thing?
The Treat Jar!!
I go overboard on making things cutesy. But hey, it brings me joy. Happy, gaudy joy.
I picked up the greatest invention of all time for my little man in our new adventure together. He loves it.
It's the Potty Watch!
It has 30, 60 or 90 minute intervals and when times up, it lights up, plays a happy little ditty, and Levi screams, "IT'S POTTY TIME!!" with wide eyes and a big smile. After that, he's gone like the wind to the potty. So funny.
It's like pullin' teeth trying to get him to take it off at nap and night time. Dude loves the thing.
I know a lot of people have different ideas of what to do while the child is on the potty. For us, we keep the potty in the bathroom at all times and when he's sitting there waiting to go, we read potty books. It's WONDERFUL. After today, he basically has all of these books memorized, and it's great seeing him understand and relate what is going on in the book with what is going on with him.
When we're not reading, we're rolling toy trains and cars back and forth to each other. :)
I write the day on his chart since we are also working on days of the week. He gets plenty of reminders throughout the day what day it is! ;)
Every time he goes in the potty, he gets to pick out a sticker and put it on his chart, and then get a Skittle. Oh, it's like he's getting a hunk of gold and a banana split. He gets SO excited.
We began this journey around 10am yesterday morning and it was an awesome 1st day! He had 7 successful potties and a handful of accidents, too. Every time he tee-tee'd accidentally in his big boy underwear, he would scream, "UH OH - I'M TOOTED!". Oh, so funny. He's a mess. A beautiful, precious, incredible little mess.
As I wrote on Facebook yesterday evening, Levi and I are definitely both learning the in's-n-out's of potty training. The fun thing is, we're doing it together. Those moments sitting on the bathroom floor today and the inevitable ones that lie ahead of us, are what motherhood is all about. Time, patience, instruction and encouragement. It was a long and hard, special and sweet day. We are ready for tomorrow! :)
So. Potty Training. Any golden tidbits of advice?
Levi has shown signs for a while that he is ready to go in the potty, but I have been waiting on a few things before we jumped in full-force. It's funny that it doesn't matter how ready for something a child seems and how you, as his mother, have a greater intuition about it. A gut feeling. I just didn't feel that it was time until now, and I am happy we didn't push him.
That, or I was totally in denial and pretended he was a newborn.
Yeah, that was probably it.
Levi will be 26 months old in a couple of days, and guys, he's .... a big boy. There. I said it.
(Excuse me, I'll be in a corner somewhere shoving Oreos in my mouth to drown the sorrows. It helps. Don't judge.)
Ah*Hmm. Where were we?
Ah-ha! Potty Training!
The other day, I got an overwhelming excitement for potty training! (And, um, a gift card burning a hole in my handbag.) So, I ran out to our new children's store in town and loaded up on gear. He's had his little potty for awhile, but he needed some little extras. Ya know, potty goodies.
I went all DIY on myself and jazzed up the boring little bulletin board that we bought for his charts.
Bumble Bees! This fabric was some I had from back in my apron-making days and it turned out to be perfect because as we sit and wait for the tee-tee to come out, we count the bees!
And the best thing about the whole thing?
The Treat Jar!!
I go overboard on making things cutesy. But hey, it brings me joy. Happy, gaudy joy.
I picked up the greatest invention of all time for my little man in our new adventure together. He loves it.
It's the Potty Watch!
It has 30, 60 or 90 minute intervals and when times up, it lights up, plays a happy little ditty, and Levi screams, "IT'S POTTY TIME!!" with wide eyes and a big smile. After that, he's gone like the wind to the potty. So funny.
It's like pullin' teeth trying to get him to take it off at nap and night time. Dude loves the thing.
I know a lot of people have different ideas of what to do while the child is on the potty. For us, we keep the potty in the bathroom at all times and when he's sitting there waiting to go, we read potty books. It's WONDERFUL. After today, he basically has all of these books memorized, and it's great seeing him understand and relate what is going on in the book with what is going on with him.
When we're not reading, we're rolling toy trains and cars back and forth to each other. :)
I write the day on his chart since we are also working on days of the week. He gets plenty of reminders throughout the day what day it is! ;)
Every time he goes in the potty, he gets to pick out a sticker and put it on his chart, and then get a Skittle. Oh, it's like he's getting a hunk of gold and a banana split. He gets SO excited.
We began this journey around 10am yesterday morning and it was an awesome 1st day! He had 7 successful potties and a handful of accidents, too. Every time he tee-tee'd accidentally in his big boy underwear, he would scream, "UH OH - I'M TOOTED!". Oh, so funny. He's a mess. A beautiful, precious, incredible little mess.
As I wrote on Facebook yesterday evening, Levi and I are definitely both learning the in's-n-out's of potty training. The fun thing is, we're doing it together. Those moments sitting on the bathroom floor today and the inevitable ones that lie ahead of us, are what motherhood is all about. Time, patience, instruction and encouragement. It was a long and hard, special and sweet day. We are ready for tomorrow! :)
So. Potty Training. Any golden tidbits of advice?
My Mom had a golden rule for potty training. It was...don't start potty training until your child can stay dry all night long. She always started around the age of two and as soon as her child woke up in the morning she would get all excited and say "Yeah good morning...lets go potty" even if the child was already wet she would put them on the potty and even if they didn't tinkle in the potty she would say "good job" and get all excited. After a short time the child would start waiting for Mom to get him up and put him on the potty and pretty soon he was waking up dry every morning. At this point her child was night trained and there was little to no effort on her part. That is when she would day train and she would do just as you were doing. The awesome part about doing it this way is that you avoid all the night time bed wetting accidents because your child is already night trained. There is no confusion with putting on pull ups at bedtime incase they have an accident at night. My mom had 6 kids and she never had a bed wetter. I used this same method with my children and they never had a bed wetting accident. I know this method works well because my sister in law potty trained her children using the day method first and she had bed wetters until some were almost 5. So, to me, this method is tried and true...but there are lots of great ideas out there and lots of Mommies who think there way is the best, he, he, he!!! You are a great Mom and I know Levi will catch on quickly. Good Luck and many blessings. Elizabeth
ReplyDeleteP.S. My daughter was 2 when she could stay dry all night long, so she was potty trained at about 2 and 2months. My son was 2 1/2 before he could stay dry all night long and was day trained short there after.
It sounds like Levi is ready. I started my son when he was 2.5. He wasn't always dry at night but some kids take a long time to stay dry at night. The first day was rough. I think I had more wet underwear than dry. I'm not big on food rewards so he had to settle for a "good job buddy". Which was fine by him. It was also really impt that he not potty on his underwear. It absolutely devastated him to titi on Mickey or Thomas. By the third day, he started to get the hang of the feeling of needing to go. Within a week, we were going everywhere in underwear. And within a month, I didn't have to schedule potty breaks. He just told me when he needed to go. A little over a month after starting we went on a 12 hour road trip with no accidents. Now the first trip to a public restroom. Slightly traumatizing . . . for me. :)
ReplyDeleteWe have been potty training since July 4th weekend. It has been difficult, Hudson is very stubborn! He does really well at school (2 days) and when he is home with just mommy. But when the nanny is with him on Friday he gets shy and wont go! This week has been really good, he actually went #2 in the potty!
ReplyDeleteI still put him in a pull up at nap and bed....he is just one of those overnight pee guys....we stop giving him liquids around 6 and even that hasn't really helped.
My secret for going places with him is telling him we can't go "shopping" until he goes potty, this usually works. I also put the piddle pad back in the carseat just in case he had an accident in the car....it saved us last night!
Good Luck!
No golden advice, since I've only potty-trained one! I think you and I have similar approaches, though, with watching their cues to see if they're ready and also following your gut. No one else can tell when Levi's ready except for you and Levi and it sounds like you've got the timing just right!
ReplyDeleteI tried P.T. with Bub twice before when I thought he was ready...kid couldn't even talk yet, LOL. This recent time stuck though, finally started talking, stubborn little booger.
ReplyDeleteHe cried and fussed, so an animal wearing underwear was a huge help for me. If Mr. Bear had to go pee, it was time for Bub to pee as well.
I gave Reese's and a sticker for his reward in the beginning. He used a potty chair for about a week until he got the hang of it.
Then his potty chair died (the seat got ripped in half - don't ask) and I fully explained and showed Bub. We have an oblong shaped toilet seat, but he's used the adapter just fine.
Our stuff NEVER leaves the bathroom either, that's just something I can't handle.
Another thing is...I have two sizes of underwear for him, but he has to have the bigger (4T) size. He'll have accidents in 3T, which is his pants size...I don't think he can get them off as easily and sometimes he'll have an accident while trying to get his underwear off standing right beside the toilet...rarely has one with the bigger undies.
He's doing great though...after a week and a half, he was running in the bathroom by himself.
I am using a diaper at naps and bedtime...gonna just wing it on that one. :-) Good luck Levi!!!! Good luck Whitney!
I am so glad that I get to read ideas and stories of various two year old boys potty training on blogs :) I have twin boys that just turned two...and I am overwhelmed! We are waiting a bit...I have one that is showing some signs of readiness...but then I have one that has no interest :) kids are so funny! Good luck! It sounds like you both are doing great :) Love the board!
ReplyDeleteWhere did you get the watch?!
ReplyDeleteHahaha I LOVE the watch.
ReplyDeleteI don't know that the "night training" is all that accurate - it's an interesting concept that Elizabeth was talking about. I mean, maybe it helps, but my brother wet the bed until he was like 11. (dude, don't tell him I told you that.) hahaha. And he was definitely potty trained by then. I think genetics play a role in that.
I'm interested to see how potty training goes with people who use cloth diapers. I hear it's supposed to be easier? (Who really knows). I have a friend who is almost due who is planning to cloth diaper and I am anxious to see how it works.
The great thing about me being a little behind on the kid curve is I get to learn from you guys. Thanks for sharing! That chart and jar are SOOOOO cute!
Oh, and I'm glad you keep the potty in the bathroom. I think I will do that too. My step sister doesn't, and the other day, we were all together at my moms house and her little potty was in the living room, or kitchen, and that little girl was just tee-teeing away. hahaha.
~K
I potty trained my nephew. I would take him to the toilet after meals and he picked right up on what to do. Worked great for us. Good luck! Levi is just PRECIOUS but of course you already know that!! :)
ReplyDeleteHow cute! My little guy used to say "Mommy, I spilled!" when he had an accident. :)
ReplyDeleteConsistency is key, and that fancy watch of his will certainly help with that. Oh, and accidents are a necessary part of it - that's how they know what's going on down there, y'know?
But the best thing ever? Tinkie targets (or even a toilet paper square folded up small!). He LOVED trying to hit them in the potty! Made it so much easier to train him than my 2 girls. :)
Oh, and to help them figure out when they felt like they needed to go, they'd tell me, "I feel the tickle." For whatever reason, that made sense to them - the sensation of needing to pee was like a little tickle in their lower belly.
ReplyDeletegood luck!
I think every child and every parent is different in the potty training realm. We tried with our son two times before we knew he was ready. He just wasn't interested the first two times, but at 2 1/2 we knew he could handle it, so we did it in THREE days. No accidents at all after the three days. We stayed home all day for those three days, he went every half hour (or he was on the potty every 1/2 hour). We didn't do treats either (because, again, he didn't get excited about them. Who knew?!) We hope to do our daughter at 2 the same way. At 16 months she is already showing signs. She wants to sit on the potty, and she tells us when she has to poop (tmi... sorry). I think you are doing great! Yeah for no more diapers (even if it makes you cry a little now, you will be jumping up and down soon!)
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like Levi's doing great already! My little boy is 2 and a half now and was potty trained at 27 months. We started by setting the timer and taking him very often throughout the day. He also got a sticker for going tee-tee and an m&m for going poo-poo. (Going poo-poo in the potty was a little more challenging for him. I think he was sort of afraid of it.) Slowly we started setting the timer for longer intervals and he only got a sticker or m&m if he was dry when we went to the potty. For the next time around I have got to get one of those watches! I think the best thing we did was staying home one weekend and keeping him in big boy underwear the whole time. Whenever he did have an accident we just talked to him about it (keeping Mickey dry, telling us when he had to go, etc.) and put on another pair of big boy underwear. That weekend required a lot of patience but it was a big turning point for us! Now we're pretty much accident free and we're wearing big boy underwear 100% of time... naptime, bedtime, outings during the day, vacation, etc. No diapers has been wonderful! =) selphpartyof3.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteI asked an older lady in our church who had had 6 children if she had an tips, and this is what she told me, "When they go to school they won't be wearing diapers. Don't sweat it!".
ReplyDeleteI"m in the process of potty training our 3rd (she was 2 in May), and it's slow going (but we also have a 2 week old!). My advice would be to go cold-turkey and hard-core...meaning, get rid of all diapers and/or pull-ups. If you're wishy washy about it, they'll be confused.
Sounds like you're off to a great start!! All the best!!
Hey there! Just wanted you to know that I included you in my Link Love post for today! Thanks for such a good one -- I'm going to use some of your methods when my own little guy is ready to go. (Get it?) :)
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of the potty watch. That's genius! I tried the "every 15 minutes" thing but could never keep track of the time. I ended up having him just run around with no pants when we were home. It got to where he was perfection with no pants but within minutes of putting underwear on him he'd wet them. Finally another mom suggested taking him to Target and letting him pick out his own underwear. He did (Thomas the Tank Engine) and it worked!
ReplyDeleteI potty trained my son at 22 months, I didn't want 2 in diapers. I don't think I have any words of advice for you but hang in there. It's easy to say you won't get discouraged but it's more difficult when you see someone standing in your living room peeing on the carpet. This is why you deserve to dip into the potty treat jar yourself sometimes :) Good Luck!!!!
ReplyDeleteI have no advice...just wanted to say that this post was adorable! I hope that they still have the Potty Watch when I have kids!
ReplyDeleteI have 3 children, one in the process of PT. I agree with some of the other comments that the night time wetting is genetic, especially with boys. My son still wets the bed at age 8 but never ever has had a daytime accident. My brother and dad were also bed wetters. It is because of a developmental delay not early potty training. My older two were both potty trained the exact same way, during the day first, with pull-ups at night. My son is a bed wetter, my daughter (10) is not. We are now using the same techniques on the 3rd who is 30 months old. The concept was from an ancient book that my mother-in-law gave me that said to have an all day "pee pee party", give the child lots of water/juice and teach them what it feels like to have a full bladder, when they go, blow party horns, eat a candy, throw steamers, etc. It took only one day, just like the book said. You are doing great! Looks like you will have no problems at all! A tip for going out is to bring the disposable toilet seat liners, they have Sesame Street, Dora, etc. For some reason kids LOVE public toilets and always seem to have to "go" at every place you visit :)
ReplyDeleteWow! Levi is getting so big!
ReplyDeletehushandbreathe.blogspot.com/
omg I cannot believe that he is this little boy that has to go in the big boy potty :( It is incredible to see them growing up though. I can't say that i am looking forward to potty training with Peanut but I can say that I will cherish every single moment of it because it is such a big step and a milestone in their lives. Congrts ;) and i LOVE your DYI potty supplies.
ReplyDelete1574meiqing
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