Oh yea, Sawyer has hopped on the potty train. No looking back now. He's on to big boy unders!
We hopped on the potty train with Sawyer on Tuesday morning. We started at 11 a.m. (Jack's nap time) and by 3 p.m. he had 5 successful pees, and 1 successful poo!! It was hilarious, after his first #2 he looked in the potty and was kind of surprised and said, "Look mom, a snake!". Hahaha. Now of course we have to call them all snakes. He had 2 pee accidents, but we were feeling happy and on the right track. He went down for his nap and woke up dry. Hallelujah! He kept doing great throughout the rest of the evening, and woke up dry the next morning as well!
Day 2 went great with only 1 pee accident. I felt bad for him in the evening because I made him sit on the pot for a long time before bed because he was tooting up a storm, and hadn't had a 'snake' yet that day. He asked to wear diapers that evening (mom didn't cave). He never went, but woke up dry again.
Day 3 went well too - 2 pee accidents...too many successes to keep track of (but don't worry, plenty of chocolate rewards!) I'm just happy #2 has always been a success so far.
...and here we are at the end of Day 4 - accident free! My proudest moment was this morning while we were at Jack's swim lessons (Sawyer has now graduated and is independent in the water). He was there playing with a friend on the side of the pool, when he ran over to me and told me he had to go poo. We ran out to the van, where I had his potty chair all set up, and he sat right down and did the deed. I was so proud of him (and relieved for me!)
Is this too much info? Haha. It's been my life for four days now... I'm one proud mommy! He really is doing fantastic. Potty training was one of those things that I dreaded as a mom. I know it's necessary and I was being silly, but I still didn't like the thought of it. And this may sound strange, but it's actually helped Sawyer and my relationship and brought us closer together. Working together is fun to do :)
Our technique (so I can remember when it's Jack's turn):
First I taught him how to do it by showing him myself (and he's been seeing the process for a while-other moms can relate-who gets to go to the bathroom by themselves anymore?) Then we got a doll and I taught the doll how to go potty. The doll even got a treat when she went potty (she shared with Sawyer). Then Sawyer taught the doll how to go potty. Then the doll had an accident and it was SO GROSS!! We made the doll practice playing with her toys and then dropping everything and running to the toilet as fast as possible. We did this over and over and tried to make it fun, and also stressing how yucky it is to have wet underwear and a mess to clean up. Then we had Sawyer put on his big boy undies and there was no looking back! We practiced running to the toilet from all different parts of the house and pulling down the underwear, sometimes those clothes are tricky! We had to practice dropping our toys mid-play so we could run to the toilet. It was awesome, and we had fun for the most part. It was hard work though! We whooped it up BIG time every time he made it in the pot. I had on an apron with pockets full of M&M's for quick rewards. I was sick myself by the end of the day. Mama needs her rewards too ;)
He worked me over at nap time for an hour, hopping off his bed to go sit on the pot, but he eventually got a 2 hour nap and didn't have an accident. Same thing at bed time...worked me over for a good hour, then woke up dry.
Man, we ate a lot of junk (chips/popcorn) to promote LOTS of water/juice drinking the first day (mainly that first 4 hour stretch). M&M's were his main reward. Good thing I don't potty train very often, or I'd be fat. I ate more than my fair share of all the junk I stocked up on.
I rolled up the area rug in the toy room and was thankful for tile floors-easy clean up! Luckily we didn't have to clean up too much. When he did have an accident, I made him help me clean up, then he had to practice running to the potty while still in his wet undies...that helped him remember how uncomfortable and yucky it is when an accident happens. Sawyer also likes emptying the potty into the big toilet and being able to flush it down. Thankfully he is careful when he does this.
I focused on the positive - would ask him through out the day if his unders were dry and then give him high fives. We talked about how well he did when he made it to the potty. Lots of talking and trying to make things fun. We let him watch shows after he did successful 'snakes'. After Day 2 he didn't even ask for a treat every time, but when he does ask though I still give him one.
We stuck with undies only on the first day, and actually the first successful pee was when he was in his birthday suit, which I think help initiate the process. Then on day two we added shorts that were easy for him to maneuver.
A lot of my ideas came from the book
Toilet Training in Less Than a Day by Nathan Azrin & Richard Foxx.
On a side note, I've been meaning to make this home-made cleaner that Sara introduced to me a long time ago. It works well and smells great. Here is the recipe if you're into that sort of thing. I buy my spray bottles at Sally's Beauty Supply - they work great and don't easily break. Simply mix the following: 2 cups water, 3 Tbsp. white vinegar, 1 Tbsp. Dawn dish soap, 1 Tbsp. Borax powder (found in laundry aisle at grocery store), and a few drops of grapefruit oil (or whatever smell you like).
I think Sawyer has really liked this new found independence...and mom loves it too! So proud of our big boy!! Let's hope things continue like they have so far.
