Monday, June 6, 2011

Potty Diary


I started potty training Ephram on June 1 in hopes of getting it done this week while Cailey's away at camp. Usually I try to stay home for 5 days but with starting on a Wednesday (after coming home from the beach) it wasn't going to happen this time. I like to potty train my kiddos at age 2 and personally believe anyone can do it if you follow the simple steps. The proof is in the fact that I've used it for all FOUR of my children and it worked with four different personalities, language abilities, and motor skills....the KEY is consistency and not giving up.

Day 1- The morning was filled with LOTS and LOTS of pee on the floor. I was getting pretty frustrated and for the first time ever thinking I was going to quit. Seriously?? on day one?? I've been exhausted so I'm sure that doesn't help but I just have to keep trying. I gave him TONS to drinks and popsicles/jello in the morning and found out he doesn't like apple juice which has been so helpful for training my other three with both poop and pee. Oh well. He pooped on the potty with no problem in the morning just had a problem with the pee. I cut off his liquids two hours before his nap but because he was so unsuccessful in the morning with peeing his nap was nonexistent. At one point he even fell asleep on the potty.


cailey was at camp but the others enjoyed juice, jello, and popsicles too:) we did lots of play doh, stamps. and played games that were easy to do on the floor.

After his 'nap' I gave him two juice bags then cut him off at 5:30 (two hours before bed...though tonight he didn't go down until 8:30 b/c of Braden being at swim team). He did AWESOME this evening and didn't have any accidents. I was much more consistent with the timer (setting it every 10 minutes if he pees, then 5 if he doesn't) so he was way more successful and finally got the hang of it. While the others were at swimming he peed 8 times...a lot. Probably two juice bags full. He went once more before bed and now he's sleeping soundly with his big boy underwear on. Oh...and the rewards for peeing are a sticker on paper and a piece of candy (either m&m or jelly bean). He SCREAMS like someone is hurting him if we sing 'pee pee in the potty' or try to celebrate it so we have just been low key about it:). Overall I'd say day one was a success after the second half of the day.

stamping...with a little math thrown in

I went in and checked on him three times at night and he had wet his underwear so I changed them each time. Our other three never wet the bed at night...so we're new to this! Hoping to have more success tomorrow.

Day 2: After giving him TONS more juice/water/milk this morning and never setting the timer he did AWESOME and had no accidents! He would either tell me or start doing the 'pee pee dance' and I'd take him. He told me when he had to poop too so we had a GREAT morning. I didn't really have to follow him around as much either. I cut off liquids at 11:11 and couldn't get him to pee right before his nap so I was nervous about him wetting the bed but put his underwear on anyway.

it's been nice having extra helpers on hand!

SUCCESS!! Ephram woke up dry from his nap today and when I put him on the potty afterwards he went right away...YAY!! I'm feeling great about it today and so proud of our little guy!

This evening while Brian had the kiddos at swim team practice I was chasing ephram and tickling him...and chasing him more. Then he started to pee on the floor but finished on the potty. So accident count for the day 2 is 1.

Day 3- Ephram woke up at 6am and had pooped in his underwear...this was the beginning of a stomach virus. I gave him TONS of juice in the morning and then we went to the pool with beth (and i was watching alex). I was too nervous to let him go in the pool without something on and did something I don't usually do...I put on a swimming diaper but called it swimming underwear. I took him potty three times while we were there and he peed each time...he even pooped once! I have no way to tell if he peed in the swimmy but I'm guessing he didn't since he went on the potty so much. The rest of the day was great and he stayed DRY for his nap:)! YAY! Then he continued the day with NO accidents:) (other than from all night). **This was the first day he wore underwear all day. A couple times he went a little in them but finished in the potty...it was clear he was just learning it wasn't a diaper.

Day 4- Once again Ephram woke up in the morning with poop in his underwear. We got up early to go to a swim meet and he drank 3 juice bags before we went! Apparently it went straight through him and gave him diarrhea because he had to go to the potty a lot. He didn't seem like he felt well and did his very best to make it to the potty each time but didn't make it one time. It was clear as the day went on that he had a bug but he never had anymore accidents. It was his first day of wearing clothes all day and he did awesome! He woke up dry from his nap and stayed dry when we ran errands, etc. Way to go, bud!

Day 5 (june 5)- Ephram woke up DRY from bed all night...yay! (My others were always dry from day 1 so I wasn't sure how long it would take for Ephram to have a dry night.) Then he went to church and stayed DRY after drinking a full cup of water and another one of milk. They tried to take him but he didn't go. Brian took him when the service was over and he went. We didn't give him a crazy amount of liquids today...just normal since he's doing so well with the potty training and seems to understand it. He was accident free all day long including during his birthday party where he played outside for hours with his friends. We took him in a couple times and he peed. Before bed he said 'poop' and went on the potty...yay! I'd definitely feel comfortable saying he's potty trained now:).

update: he woke up dry again after night time!! yay!

I'm a FIRM believer in this method of potty training and know that it can work in less than a week. Ephram was dry all day/night on day 5, and Kinsey (who had no language) was dry in 3 days. I can't remember how long it took the others but no it was never more than 5 days.

The main points to my method (that has worked FOUR times) are:

*Be ready to start and DON'T give up. Sing "bye bye diapers" so they can see there is no other option. Go cold turkey..no diapers at night or nap. Why? Because it works. I've learned with ephram that there may be a few nights of accidents but it's worth it to save two years worth of diapers! AND some kiddos learn to 'save' their poop for their diapers at night which makes that aspect of training harder too.

*IF they are having accidents at night wake them before you go to bed and have them go potty then. The first time you do it they'll be grumpy/tired/ and not want to. Be encouraging and loving...they'll go. Try it again the next night...and the next. It WILL get easier because they'll be used to it. This is all NEW to them.

*Give them TONS of liquid (jello, popsicles, whatever they'll drink) until two hours before bed or nap. They NEED to learn what it feels like to need to go potty and go a lot so they can get the hang of it.

*Set a timer to remind yourself to take them the first couple days. Set it for 10 minutes and put them on the potty. Read books, etc. for them to sit there a couple minutes. If they don't go set it for every 5 minutes until they do. (I learned with Kinsey that she needed 7 min instead of 10 and ephram was 8 min)...REMEMBER it's only for a day or two that you need the timer.

*READ their signs...usually they'll get a look on their face or do a 'pee pee dance' or get super agitated before they go.

*CUT off the liquids two hours before bed so they can get it out of their systems and stay dry when sleeping. At this point they've had a ton of fluids for the day so they aren't going to get dehydrated.

*Go underwear free for the first few days (girls can wear a dress, boys a long shirt)...this way you can see when they start to pee on the floor and can immediately take them to the potty to finish.

*PRAISE them and reward...we used m&m's for all of ours and added stickers for ephram b/c he loves them. He got 1 for pee and 2 for poop. Sing/party/celebrate when they go on the potty.

It's crazy to think that all of our kiddos are out of diapers...but oh so nice:)! Because of all my couponing I actually have about 10 packs of diapers left but stuck to my guns about doing it when he was 2. I will be honest and say that though I NORMALLY go diaper free (Cailey and Braden were trained in the spring/summer and never had accidents in the pool and never wore them) I do plan on using his 'swimming underwear:)' for a while until I'm 100% sure he won't poop in the pool. I don't want to ruin anyone's day by closing down the pool. But I will still continue asking him and taking him all day because I don't plan on using them like a diaper...just a precaution for others:).

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