Adventures in Potty Training

There is nothing better than when a child decides they are going to potty and they do it. :) That is why I always tell moms when they ask about when to potty train that they should just wait. Potty training is one of those areas that can turn into a power struggle and can literally cause a child to wait you out until they are really way past their time. But if you just allow them to come along on their own, don't pressure, but let them do it on their own, it will eventually happen and you haven't done much work to get there. I NEVER ask if a child wants to use the potty. I just expose them to concept by keeping the potty chairs around AND ask their older siblings and/or Underdog to take them to the potty to watch. :)

Hot Dog decided yesterday that he was going to use the potty. Broncos Boy took him to the potty to read to him and he did it. He did it all day except for one accident (and maybe one when he was outside) and a diaper at naptime. Today, he's gone all day without accidents. I tested this out to see if he was really serious about what he was doing. He's really determined to stand up to potty like his brothers. He won't sit backward on the toilet to learn this. He just leans on the potty seat and, well, pees. LOL!!!! He misses most of the time which is why I keep a cloth diaper under it. The potty is sitting in our school room right now so I can watch and help him remember to go potty. So today he told me he had to potty. He leaned and he peed. Cool!!! He made himself go. It was no accident. There is definite control on his part.

I normally use jelly beans to reward for the potty but Hot Dog is on a anti-fungal cleanse and can't have much sugar. So he's getting the smallest of Craisins I can find in the bag to reward for the potty. I expect this to take a long time. He hasn't even bothered to sit on the potty to go number two. I am dredding that simply because I have him in cloth training pants right now to help save me time and effort and help the fungal rash on his bottom clear up a bit. But I have known and suspected for a long time that he's pretty aware of his body functions simply because he started out hiding from me when he had to poo. Then he'd NOT tell me he was poopy because he didn't like to be changed. The last thing to come has been the immediate announcement that a diaper change is needed after he's done his business.

He's still young though. I will be in shock and awe (and ever so grateful) if he fully potty trains (minus night training) within the next several months. He just turned 2 yod in January. I have one other child that trained this early. She ended up announcing several months after being in panties that she wanted to go back in diapers. Since I don't fight for the right to not change diapers (meaning I don't purposefully potty train) I put her back in them. Three months later she announced that she was done and has been potty trained ever since. Her move to the potty was almost as dramatic as Hot Dog's has been.

So, here we go. On another adventure toward having only one in diapers. I think I am a bit in shock over all this and not getting my hopes up too soon.