Potty Training

So potty training is starting up with Luke.  He's 3 1/2 and well lots of kids younger than him are already going down that path.  He's got about half of it down.  He can control himself and can wake up from most naps and such dry.  The half he doesn't have is the desire to use something other than a diaper.  Months ago it was a fight to get him on the potty.  Now if we bring it up he'll go along with it, begrudgingly.

We do that candy stuff and have dangled some larger prizes for doing his other "business" on the potty but he'll have none of it. The problem is that we don't have a lot of times to practice when he only goes once per day.

Just today we did have one milestone.  Well for a guy anyway.  Luke did his business standing up. I think he was pretty proud of himself. I hope that translates into something more. But I'm not holding my breath.

Encouraging Potty Training

Last week something very encouraging happened. Luke used the potty! Mom, Alyce, and I have been trying for weeks to get Luke interested in potty training with limited success. Short of tying him to the toilet we've probably tried it. One night last week while getting Luke ready for bed I noticed his diaper was a little light for how much he drank during dinner. I let him run around bottomless during teeth brushing hoping to catch him in the act and direct him where he needed to be. Well nothing happened so I asked him if he wanted to use the potty. Yes was his answer but this wasn't anything special. He uses potty time a way to forestall going to bed; not a bad move really. I got him all set up on the potty and then left to go find him a book. After 30 seconds or so I hear crying from the bathroom.

I went into the bathroom the check on him and he had relieved himself. He wasn't pointing in the right direction when he did. So he made a bit of mess and was upset about it. I immediately praised him as much as I could. Alyce bless her heart did the same. She was telling him that he was a big boy now and other encouraging words. Luke didn't seem to be buying it. I got him and the bathroom all cleaned up and told him we should go tell Mommy. Upon going downstairs Mom also praised him and we gave him some candy! Somewhere during the candy he figured out that we were proud of him and not mad. From behind his tears you could see the smallest grin shine through.  He was very proud of himself. We were very proud of him.

Since then he's had one other successful use of the potty with better results in the aim department. I'm ready for Luke to give up diapers. He just turned 3 so it is still early for that sort of stuff. But I'm so tired of diapers. Tired of the time it takes to change, the smell, and the cost. Most importantly I'll be looking forward to ditching the diaper bag. The 5 lb boat anchor you have to drag everywhere. No thanks.

Big Boy Potty

Today Luke used the toilet for the very first time! We’re so proud of him! However, there is a story to how he got there. We are trying out some new diapers that have Diego from Go Diego Go on them. While I was changing Luke’s diaper, Luke saw Diego on the new diaper and he wouldn’t let me put it on him because he wanted to look at it. So, I let him keep that one and I went to get a new one. Well, when I turned around from getting another one, Luke was peeing on my dining room carpet. I yelled, “NO!”, at him and he stopped. So, I scooped him up and walked him into the bathroom where I put him on the toilet with a training seat. There he continued to go potty in the toilet. I praised him greatly, but I think he was still upset that I yelled at him before. Anyway, I continued to praise him and even had Alyce come and praise him hoping he would realize that he had done a very good thing when he used the potty. He seemed pretty excited that he got to flush the toilet. I know it’s the just the beginning of potty training and I don’t think he’s too interested in using the potty yet, but it’s a start and I’ll take it! I also plan to buy a book, My Big Boy Potty, that's like one we got for Alyce while she was potty training that seemed to help her get interested in the potty. Hopefully, it will help Luke out too.