We started the potty training process with Luke about 8 months ago with some sporadic potty encouragements and celebrations after he peed on the potty. I kind of thought the job would just naturally finish itself, that he would eventually migrate to more and more bathroom occasions being on the toilet until "Voila!" he was potty trained. But Luke seemed to grow less interested in going on the toilet as he grew older, not more, getting to the point where he was basically still 100% in diapers. With his 3rd birthday just around the corner, it became apparent (unfortunately) that we may have to really put some actual effort into this potty training thing. I had seen a post on Facebook for a 3 Day Potty Training Book Camp. I got suckered into watching almost the whole 30 minute video because I thought it would reveal the techniques for the 3 day process, but it ended up just being a really long infomercial for a booklet that you had to buy. I wasn't ready to buy something when we really hadn't even tried anything free so I kind of forgot about it. Coincidentally, though, not too long after that infomercial viewing Matt's friend at work mentioned that he did the 3 Day Potty Training method with his son and it worked! He gave us a copy of the booklet and we had ourselves a technique in hand with a testimonial as to its success. The key to the method is spending a full three days glued to the hip of the child, not leaving the house or doing anything, just totally committed to the training. So we cleared last weekend of all plans and committed ourselves fully to getting this little boy potty trained. You start by throwing away ALL of the diapers you have so that you don't have a "crutch". You and the child need to do this so it is symbolic to the child that he's a big boy now. Then you have to ask the child to tell you when they have to pee, and remind them to keep their underwear dry. You do this a million times. Then you have to catch the child in the act of having an accident and rush them to the potty immediately so they can finish on the potty. During all this you say like a bazillion times how proud you are of them for being such a big boy and make a really big deal out of it and give them rewards when they pee or poop on the potty (dum dum suckers are Luke's reward of choice). The whole method is based on a loving, positive experience that makes them want to be potty trained. :Let me tell you that it worked and Luke did AWESOME! What we were warned by the book could take a full three days to "click" in the child's head, it seemed to "click" for Luke after 2 hours. He began to tell us when he had to pee every time, and he even stayed dry during nap time that first day. He had one accident that first night, but the next night he stayed dry. This from a kid that would pee through his diaper every nap time and night! It was truly amazing. He must have been ready so long ago, but we just weren't consistent with it so he was content with diapers. He is so proud of himself every time he goes on the potty now. We are so proud of HIM! What a big kid, huh?
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| Staying home the entire weekend left lots of time for playing and bonding together with no distractions. We made chocolate chip cookies together, for example. |
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| Lunch al fresco. Pants optional during the boot camp. If we had to cancel all plans for a weekend in the summer, we were glad it was a cool weekend so that we wouldn't have been bemoaning fun activities that we should have been doing. |
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| Claire was a big help in the potty training. |
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| I was going a bit stir crazy, so took Claire for a walk around the block. She can sit in strollers now herself - she doesn't need the infant seat! |
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| Running around outside before announcing his intention to pee, then running back inside. |
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| Big girl sitting up by herself |
Claire is now 5 months old! Here are her at-home stats:
Length: 23.75 inches
Weight: 17.5 lbs
We introduced rice cereal for the first time in honor of her 5 month birthday. She liked it!
