It's potty-training time in the Ford household. This is not the first time potty-training has taken place here. But it will certainly be the last... unless, of course, my parents are still living here 20 years from now, cause I'll be damned if I'm changing diapers that big!!
We've had amazing success with potty training in the past. Both girls were potty-trained by 20 months, and by age 2 were sleeping through the night without diapers. Neither of them get up through the night to pee, and we've had minimal bed-wetting or public accidents (once each at Roos, oye! And less than a handful of nightime accidents for Ella when we first moved in here). I've had friends ask me how I do it. It's really quite simple: You know all that advice you hear, about how your kids will let you know when they're ready, and how you shouldn't push them, and how they'll start to show signs when they're ready? Yeah, I ignore all of that. Here's my criteria: 1) Are you old enough to say "poop" and "pee"? 2) Can you run, run, run? Perfect. Potty training time.
With the girls, we started by "poop" training them. A few months before we were ready to actually potty train, we would get them to poop on the toilet. By the time we were ready to fully train them, they were already well used to the toilet and would tell us when they needed to poop. I also don't use actual pottys. I have a potty seat that goes on the toilet... but I didn't want to have to go from cleaning a dirty diaper to cleaning a potty full of shit. I'm a very firm believer that, if you let them, kids will surprise you with what they can do, so going on the big-people toilet was the only choice they ever got.
With the girls, catching them pooping was super easy, since they both grunted like cavemen when they were "going." Also, there were only two of them. Jax is a silent pooper, and the only way we know he went is by the fact that he can clear a room with the smell just seconds after going. Plus, with two other kids in the house, who's really watching him anyway?? So I skipped that step with him!
In order to prepare for potty training, I give myself 7 days without any plans. No need to leave the house during the awake hours. March Break was perfect for me because I am other-peoples-kids-less. I'm really hoping it doesn't take the actual 7 days, but it's there in case he turns out to be as stubborn with this as he is with everything else! Gracie took 2 days, Ella took 5.
I stock up on underwear which, by the way, has been the most expensive part of having kids I think. 4 pairs of underwear for $10.00!! How ridiculous! I need like 20 pairs, since kids are smelly little muggles and I rarely do laundry. That's $50 in underwear. Crazy. I also stock up on paper towel and spray Lysol. Cause guess what I do the first day of potty training? Let him pee all over the freaking house!!
Okay, not actually all over the house... he's been restricted to the upstairs, where there is no carpet. But basically, the first couple of days are spent following him around, asking if he needs to pee, and letting him realize what peeing actually is. The first time he peed in his underwear, he just stared at it like "what the hell just happened?!?" I said, "Oh no! You peed, let's run, run, run to the potty!" I put him on the toilet, cleaned him up, asked if he needed to pee, said "Good try!" and got him a new pair of underwear. By the end of the day, whenever he peed his pants he said "Mommy! Pee!!" Day 1 - Success! Yes, we went through 11 pairs of underwear, and I spent most of the day cleaning pee off the floor. But he now knew what pee was and when he was actually peeing.
Day 2 is awfully similar to Day 1 with one major difference. He only peed through 2 pairs of underwear. He had a few wet spots, where he would start to pee, realize what he was doing and then stop and yell "Mommy! Pee!" and we would run, run, run to the bathroom. I would put him on the toilet and sometimes he would pee, sometimes he wouldn't. This is what I find is the longest and hardest part of potty training. Within one day, he already knows how to stop himself from peeing. What he hasn't learned yet, is to start again. He can't "pee on demand," say, before leaving the house or going to bed. He is not potty trained until I can be sure he pees out all the pee before he goes down for a nap, or goes to the mall. Jax, as I mentioned before, is stubborn. The most stubborn of the Ford kids, actually. And I'm not sure that potty training him will be a success. I'm not sure that he'll "get it" when it comes to going pee when I need him to. He's done great so far, and I have high hopes that he'll get the "go pee" request when I place him on the potty. He's already learned to run to the bathroom when he needs to go, so I have hope. But he does not like to be told what to do. "No" is his favourite word. Plus, the first two were so easy, I'm due for a challenge!
Day #3 is coming up, and I don't know what it'll bring! I know he's super impressed with his new underwear ("Mommy! Unnies!"), and will probably be very sad when I make him start wearing pants again at the end of the week. I know that venturing out in public for the first time sans-diapers will be terrifying and I'll be watching every little quiver and movement he makes. I also know that staying dry through the night is notoriously more challenging for boys, so I haven't given up my diaper fund just yet. But I do know that this is one stage I won't be sad to see behind me. Or behind him. Bye, bye baby diaper bums!! :)
PS - Day #3 Update: After refusing to pee after waking up with an almost-dry diaper this morning, Jax and I hung out in the bathroom this morning. When he started to pee on the floor, I threw him on the potty and told him to watch (yes, his penis). He saw a few dribbles, immediately stopped peeing, petted his penis and yelled "PEE!" I said, "That's right, do it again!" And he started peeing again, saw it, and got excited and stopped. "Do it again! Get it all out!" And then he did. And then we had no accidents the rest of the day, and he peed "on demand" when I needed him to. Crazy. I will not, of course, count myself lucky just yet, but he only wet the one pair of underwear this morning, pooped on the potty, woke up dry from his nap, and had a huge pee before bed. Seriously, letting my kids pee all over my floor for a couple of days has been my greatest parenting choice. Because so far, it has proven to me that once they are aware of pee, and peeing, they become masters of pee! Go, Jax!!! :)
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