Friday, July 8, 2011

Potty Training Mission Accomplished!

Well, we completed the 3-day potty training program at 5:12 PM this evening by putting a diaper back on our little boy. He pranced around all day and never once completely emptied his bladder on the potty. He did not even act like the same child. He hadn't had a BM since before we began on Wednesday morning and after a little consultation with my mom and my neighbor, we decided to abort the mission. Why is this post entitled mission accomplished you might ask? Well, we did accomplish what we set out to do. We did stick with the program for 3 days. We did encourage our children to tell us when they had to go potty. We did reward them for successes. But, in the end, we realized they are just not ready. Mommy and Daddy are very ready to be done with diapers, but we're going to put the potty chairs away for now and revisit this mission a little later down the road. Are we disappointed? Maybe a little, but we're more relieved that our kids can get back to being kids and we can get back to enjoying life alongside them.

Potty Training Day #3

Mission aborted, well almost. This morning, I decided that part of the problem was that I can't be in 2 places at once. Trying to tail 2 kids for the past couple days has been a full-time job and every time one got out of my sight, they had an accident. I finally realized this morning that I think we would be more effective if we tried to train 1 at a time. So, I put a pull-up on Ella, still encouraging her to tell Mommy if she had to pee or poop on the potty. She excitedly exclaimed, "Biaper!" and proceeded to fill the diaper within about 10 minutes. All my attention turned to Matthew. CONFESSION: I made peach tea and filled his sippy cup with it to make it all but impossible for him to hold it in any longer. He drank 2 cups full and was obviously miserable. Part of the training says that accidents are a good thing because they catch on faster of what not to do. Well, he still was prancing around and didn't want to sit on the potty until after he started going in his pants. He is no longer scared to sit on the potty, but he just doesn't want to. We managed several trips to the potty this morning with results. He is down for his nap now and Mommy is trying to regroup. It is weird to me that he cries when he pees on the potty despite our encouragement. Not sure what that is about. This morning I tried a couple times just putting him on the potty, offering encouragement, and leavng the bathroom until he called for me. We will see where this goes. We are committed to keeping him out of diapers if we can, but we also have to be able to leave the house at some point in the next 6 months!! Will update tonight! Hope you're having a great day!

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Potty Training Day #2 - Evening update

Post-nap: Matthew = Dry, Ella = Wet.

If you're keeping track, Matthew has not gone on the potty at all today (or in his pants). I can tell he is absolutely miserable, but the poor thing just dances around and cries when we take him to the potty. He has a couple dribbles before dinnertime and a small amount on the potty, but nothing major.

Ella starts to go in her pants (#2) and I get her to the potty before she finishes!! I don't think she went on the potty again at all for the rest of today. Several accidents. Wondering if she is just not ready. Trying to stick with it, but she doesn't seem to be catching on.

6 PM I left for a meeting at church and Daddy was quite frustrated when I got home. Many dribbles from Matthew and Ella went several times in her pants.

8 PM Ella to bed. Matthew to the potty as it is obvious he has to still go. Offer Matthew the opportunity to watch Mickey Mouse if he empties his bladder in the potty. He does! Happy with the small victory. Watched Mouse and went to bed.

Tomorrow: Candy for each successful potty!!!

Potty Training Day #2 - Naptime update

Well, we are to naptime of day #2 and I am still curious as to whether this will really work by end of day tomorrow.

7 AM Matthew wakes up, comes out of his room and appears to be dry. But, once we investigated a little closer, it appears he peed in his bed right before he got up! Stinker!

7:15 AM Ella wakes up dry!!

8 AM Ella has accident #1, but runs to the bathroom instead of just peeing on the floor.

10 AM Ella has accident #2.

12 PM Ella PEES ON THE POTTY!!!

12:30 PM Matthew sits on potty for first time today, but no results.

12:35 PM Both kids to bed. Keep in mind Matthew has not pottied since he got up this morning! Should be an interesting find after naptime today!!!

I would say we have made definite progress since yesterday morning! Ella was peeing tiny little bits every 30 minutes and now we are going every couple hours and no accidents in between. Matthew hasn't cried today about it and even sang a song this morning about wearing big boy pants!! More later...

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Potty Training Day #1

Well, we started off on a potty training adventure today! When Ella was born we kind of joked about waiting to potty train Matthew until Ella was old enough. Well, that is exactly what we have done. Matthew had absolutely no interest up until this point and Ella seemed ready. We had several friends try the tips at www.3daypottytraining.com with much success so we decided to try it x 2! Today was day #1.

Side note: Before today, I would have definitely said that Ella would do better at this than Matthew.

8 AM: Matthew and Ella were both up and I had my potty training manual in hand and my game face on. Matthew had a BM before we began, so I was kind of relieved about that. We "threw away" our diapers and put on big boy/girl pants. Matthew put up the biggest fight with getting into his pants. Once we accomplished this feat, he was pretty good all morning (1 accident and no pees on the potty). Ella loved her big girl pants and even liked sitting on the potty. She always seemed to pee as soon as we got her off the potty (not sure about that, will be consulting my manual to see if I am doing something wrong).

1 PM: Naptime. No one went on the potty before naptime. I was certain we would have 2 wet beds when everyone got up.

2:30 PM: Ella woke up. I rushed in to find a dry bed. Took her to the potty and she sat happily for a few minutes. No pee. Once she got off, she flooded the bathroom floor. Matthew woke up shortly thereafter. The last time he had gone was at 10:30 this morning, so I knew he had to go. He repeatedly started to cry and each time we would rush back to the potty for him to only dribble in the potty (he received a reward each time even for a few drops).

4 PM Finally, a breakthrough... Matthew went more than a few drops twice on the potty. I knew he had more in there, but each time he went he cried, so I wasn't going to really push him over the edge. Not to mention, Mommy had used up just about all the encouragment she had for the day.

4:30 PM Daddy's home to join in the fun!

5 PM Matthew peed on the potty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For real, a load!

The rest of the evening was fairly uneventful, except for Ella peeing on Ryan's leg TWICE!!! :) Baths, added a second mattress pad and sheet to each bed, Mommy got away for a run, nighttime ritual + potty, off to bed with big boy/girl pants on. Now, Daddy is running.

All in all, I would say today was par for the course. I did not expect to be done potty training in 1 day and I am still hopeful we can make great progress by day 3!!! I will try to update each day for those who are in the same boat as us!!!

Have a great night!!