I know what your thinking...
What??? I thought you already potty trained him months ago. or...
But, you always post pictures of him with underwear on, he's not potty trained yet????
No and no.
To give you a clue, let me start at the beginning...
Christmas 2010: We knew that potty training was going to be happening the coming year so we decided to get him a potty for Christmas. He was so excited about it, he used it that day and went poo poo in the potty for the first time that day. And for the next week he would randomly want to go pee pee or poo poo in the potty and I would put him on the potty when he wanted to, but he hardly ever did anything. Which was fine by me because I did not think he was ready to potty train yet. Tim on the other hand kept insisting that since he wanted to go to the bathroom on the potty, I should potty train him. Needless to say, I did not try very hard and so he was never potty trained that Christmas or in the next few months.
Around April (Arlo's 2nd birthday) he started showing the first real signs of being ready to potty train. He was always telling me when he went potty in his diaper and wanted me to change him. So, I decided that I would try to properly potty train him, but every time I put him on the potty he would cry and scream. So, potty training ended after the 1st day.
July came and once again I decided it was time to potty train Arlo. This time I decided to try the naked method, where basically you just let your kid go around naked. So for 1 week Arlo ran around naked, we did not go anywhere except to the toilet every hour or two or when he said he needed to. We had potty treats, gummy worms for pee pee and m&ms for poo poo and for one week we did nothing but focus on potty training. The next week we put on underwear and once again focused on nothing but potty training. After many accidents, and lots of treats, love and encouragement I could actually claim that Arlo was 90% potty trained. He still had problems with pooping and still had to wear a diaper at nap/bed time but while he was awake he always went pee pee in the potty and with poo poo he would go if it accidentally came out while on the toilet, but if not I had to catch him hiding somewhere and go and put him on. Anyways, it was good enough for me. Unfortunately, after 2 weeks of hard work, we were going to Utah. Usually when we go to visit Tim's family it is a very laid back trip. This time it was BUSY. Sadly enough, Having him 90% potty trained was not good enough in someone else's home and always in the car going places. About 3 days into the trip I started putting a diaper on him when we went places and by the end of the trip, Arlo had a diaper on more than underwear. When we got home I tried to go right back to underwear, but the damage was done and he was old enough to realize that diapers were easy and underwear were a lot of work.
There was one other time when I did try pull ups, but those were a waste of money. They are too much like diapers and he knew it, so no matter how many times I told him not to go in his big boy pull up, he would go in his pull up.
So after 3 half attempts and 1 real attempt, I gave up. For those of you who will be attempting potty training in the future, here is where I went wrong... We started to early, I didn't think it would hurt to just give him a potty, but the excitement was there when he was not ready, so when he was ready, the excitement was not there. And then do I even need to explain the vacation and pull ups?
Then it all changed!!!!!
In December 2011 I decided to get back out the underwear and let Arlo choose if he wanted to wear diapers or underwear. Because, on January 1st, I was going to potty train Arlo for the last time. I got a potty chart, stickers and treats. We talked, we read books, we learned potty songs and we got ready for the new year without diapers. Arlo was super excited about his chart because when we finished it, he got to go to the store and get a sword. The pee pee part of the potty training was going wonderful. As long as I kept time, I had to take him every hour and a half to two hours. I also had to learn to say "Arlo, lets go potty" instead of "Arlo, do you need to go potty?" I put a plastic cover on his bed and did away with diapers during nap time as well. I wanted to dive all in at once so there would be no turning back. By the end of the week,Arlo was beginning to tell me more often when he needed to go and I would only take him if it had been 2 1/2 hours since his last bathroom break. But, by the end of the 1st week, he was still going poo poo in his underwear everyday. He always went poop around the same time (right after nap) so starting Thursday after his nap, I made him sit on the potty. We played games on the potty, sang songs, and even got the ipad out, we spent about 30 minutes on the potty. I would catch him holding his bum later on and we would go straight to the potty and spend another half hour playing on the pot. What ended up happening... He got constipated. He was so worried about going poop on the potty, he was holding it in, and when I would not catch it... in his underwear. For 2 weeks this went on, I was supportive, always kept a smile on my face and let me tell you after 2 weeks of cleaning out poopy underwear I wanted to ring his little neck! I looked on the internet to find out why Arlo would be so good with pee pee, but would be scared to death of pooping in the pot. They give many wonderful solutions such as: don't get mad, just stay positive; talk about what poop is and why it needs to leave your body, make going potty fun, give treats, etc. After I realized I was doing everything I could have done and I was not going to take "he just may not be ready yet" as an answer.
Here is OUR solution: it is one I did not see on any of the internet sites... but it worked.
Since Alro was not scared of going poop in his diaper/underwear, I told him when he needed to go poop, he did not have to go on the potty, I would get him a diaper and he could go in the diaper. The catch? He had to stay in the bathroom when he went. I had to watch for when he showed signs of needing to go to the bathroom and when they came we ran to the bathroom, put on his diaper, he would do his business, and then when he was done, we would take the diaper off, put the poop in the potty and finish the bathroom routine. After a few days, Arlo was comfortable enough to tell me when he had to go to the bathroom. After a few more days, I made him sit on the potty while I went to go get a diaper (I purposely took a while) then I would put on his diaper, and then he would sit back on the potty when I wiped him. On the second day of sitting on the potty before and after the diaper, he told me after I finished wiping him, that he needed to go some more, and he did... ON THE POTTY!!!! A few more days after that he was going while I was getting the diaper. And for the past 2 weeks, he has gone everyday on the potty, without a diaper.
So, why am I waiting till now to tell you about Arlo being potty trained? Well for the past few nights we have also lost the diaper at night. With out accidents. He even wakes up in the night by himself and wakes me to take him to the bathroom when he needs to go.
Arlo is officially Diaper Free!!!!
July came and once again I decided it was time to potty train Arlo. This time I decided to try the naked method, where basically you just let your kid go around naked. So for 1 week Arlo ran around naked, we did not go anywhere except to the toilet every hour or two or when he said he needed to. We had potty treats, gummy worms for pee pee and m&ms for poo poo and for one week we did nothing but focus on potty training. The next week we put on underwear and once again focused on nothing but potty training. After many accidents, and lots of treats, love and encouragement I could actually claim that Arlo was 90% potty trained. He still had problems with pooping and still had to wear a diaper at nap/bed time but while he was awake he always went pee pee in the potty and with poo poo he would go if it accidentally came out while on the toilet, but if not I had to catch him hiding somewhere and go and put him on. Anyways, it was good enough for me. Unfortunately, after 2 weeks of hard work, we were going to Utah. Usually when we go to visit Tim's family it is a very laid back trip. This time it was BUSY. Sadly enough, Having him 90% potty trained was not good enough in someone else's home and always in the car going places. About 3 days into the trip I started putting a diaper on him when we went places and by the end of the trip, Arlo had a diaper on more than underwear. When we got home I tried to go right back to underwear, but the damage was done and he was old enough to realize that diapers were easy and underwear were a lot of work.
There was one other time when I did try pull ups, but those were a waste of money. They are too much like diapers and he knew it, so no matter how many times I told him not to go in his big boy pull up, he would go in his pull up.
So after 3 half attempts and 1 real attempt, I gave up. For those of you who will be attempting potty training in the future, here is where I went wrong... We started to early, I didn't think it would hurt to just give him a potty, but the excitement was there when he was not ready, so when he was ready, the excitement was not there. And then do I even need to explain the vacation and pull ups?
Then it all changed!!!!!
In December 2011 I decided to get back out the underwear and let Arlo choose if he wanted to wear diapers or underwear. Because, on January 1st, I was going to potty train Arlo for the last time. I got a potty chart, stickers and treats. We talked, we read books, we learned potty songs and we got ready for the new year without diapers. Arlo was super excited about his chart because when we finished it, he got to go to the store and get a sword. The pee pee part of the potty training was going wonderful. As long as I kept time, I had to take him every hour and a half to two hours. I also had to learn to say "Arlo, lets go potty" instead of "Arlo, do you need to go potty?" I put a plastic cover on his bed and did away with diapers during nap time as well. I wanted to dive all in at once so there would be no turning back. By the end of the week,Arlo was beginning to tell me more often when he needed to go and I would only take him if it had been 2 1/2 hours since his last bathroom break. But, by the end of the 1st week, he was still going poo poo in his underwear everyday. He always went poop around the same time (right after nap) so starting Thursday after his nap, I made him sit on the potty. We played games on the potty, sang songs, and even got the ipad out, we spent about 30 minutes on the potty. I would catch him holding his bum later on and we would go straight to the potty and spend another half hour playing on the pot. What ended up happening... He got constipated. He was so worried about going poop on the potty, he was holding it in, and when I would not catch it... in his underwear. For 2 weeks this went on, I was supportive, always kept a smile on my face and let me tell you after 2 weeks of cleaning out poopy underwear I wanted to ring his little neck! I looked on the internet to find out why Arlo would be so good with pee pee, but would be scared to death of pooping in the pot. They give many wonderful solutions such as: don't get mad, just stay positive; talk about what poop is and why it needs to leave your body, make going potty fun, give treats, etc. After I realized I was doing everything I could have done and I was not going to take "he just may not be ready yet" as an answer.
Here is OUR solution: it is one I did not see on any of the internet sites... but it worked.
Since Alro was not scared of going poop in his diaper/underwear, I told him when he needed to go poop, he did not have to go on the potty, I would get him a diaper and he could go in the diaper. The catch? He had to stay in the bathroom when he went. I had to watch for when he showed signs of needing to go to the bathroom and when they came we ran to the bathroom, put on his diaper, he would do his business, and then when he was done, we would take the diaper off, put the poop in the potty and finish the bathroom routine. After a few days, Arlo was comfortable enough to tell me when he had to go to the bathroom. After a few more days, I made him sit on the potty while I went to go get a diaper (I purposely took a while) then I would put on his diaper, and then he would sit back on the potty when I wiped him. On the second day of sitting on the potty before and after the diaper, he told me after I finished wiping him, that he needed to go some more, and he did... ON THE POTTY!!!! A few more days after that he was going while I was getting the diaper. And for the past 2 weeks, he has gone everyday on the potty, without a diaper.
So, why am I waiting till now to tell you about Arlo being potty trained? Well for the past few nights we have also lost the diaper at night. With out accidents. He even wakes up in the night by himself and wakes me to take him to the bathroom when he needs to go.
Arlo is officially Diaper Free!!!!
* An embarrassing story to go along with the great news.
We play outside ALL the time! And because I watch so many kids, it is so much easier to let my boys go pee pee outside, because to unshoe 5 kids to run inside for 2 minutes is way to hard. There are rules, they have to pee on a wall (somewhere where the kids don't play) and they have to make sure nobody is in the way. We also go to the park 2+ times a week. When we were at the park one day, I was pushing Cohen and Brynlee on the swings and Arlo was playing on the playhouse. I took my eyes off Arlo for 1 minute and when I turned around to find him I saw 2 moms looking at something and laughing, so I moved to see what they were looking at and I find my son with his pants around his ankles peeing in the sand. I ran over to him and started to pull up his pants while he was yelling "I did it mommy, my underwear are dry... see? Are you so happy and proud?" I quickly apologized to all those who saw my naked boy and apologize for the poor placement of the urine and quickly ran back to get the babies. If it is possible to be proud and embarrassed at the same time, I was. Because I know how hard it is for a 2 year old to get busy playing and forget about the bathroom but he remembered... And I was so happy and proud of him!
