Potty Training

During my pre-school search it began to dawn on me that William would have a better chance of getting into a select few schools if he were potty trained. Not to mention, we would save some $$!!

So here we go...

Saturday, August 8th
Day 0:

• I do research online to find some methods of starting and determining if William is ready. William is ready!
• Shopping trip to Target... William picks out underwear, hand soap, and Dora the Explorer potty training chart. I pick up a timer as a way to remind William to try and go potty.
  
• Back at home, I print out a list of acceptable potty words, a day sheet to track time and progress, and a reward system. All this information is posted in the bathroom.
  
• I walk Daddy and William through the expectations.
  

Sunday, August 9th
Day 1:

• William wakes up and sits on the potty...Afterwards, he puts on his new Elmo underwear.
• Every 20 minutes when the timer goes off William goes and tries to pee-pee.
• Initially he resists the timer but the treats help so he hangs in there.
• Three accidents and we end the day with a diaper for bedtime.

Monday, August 10th (Countdown to Belize begins)
Day 2:

• Grandma is introduced to our potty training efforts.
• We adjust the timer to ring anywhere from 20-40 minutes depending on fluids and last time he went.
• Five accidents but we are hanging in there...

Days 3-8:

• Accidents are varying and mommy and daddy realize it is no fun cleaning up poopie underwear and wet carpet.
• Tempted to throw in the rag...

Monday, August 17th
Day 9:

• First week down. William is going when we put him on the potty but so far he will not tell us when he needs to go. If he is involved in a game or other activity he will just pee... aarrgh!!
• Pooping is down in a corner when no one is looking and in his underwear... more aarrgh!!
• Dad and I begin to re-evaluate. I do more research.
• Daddy decides it would be best if we bought a potty he can get to on his own. So far we had been using the Kiddyloo. This required us to help him up each time.
• I head back to Target for a potty for home and one for on the go.
  
• New potty is introduced to William. It praises him when he goes and has a toilet paper holder and a lever to flush!
• Also, the timer is gone now. We begin to observe William touching himself of dancing around when he needs to go. At that point we tell him to go try.
  

Days 10-16:

• We are making progress. Accidents have diminished and his signals are clearer.
  
• William can pull down his underwear and pull them up.
• The new potty is a hit. He prefers that over his treats.
• Treats are discontinued.
• Day sheets are discontinued.
  

Tuesday, August 25th
Day 17:

• Success??? Half-way!
• William now tells us when he has to go and even goes on his own.
• Carpet is staying dry.
• Poop is still happening in his underwear... aarrgh!

Days 18-25:

• Peeing in the potty is a great success. William will even use public restrooms. We got him some toilet seat covers that stick. They are very handy and makes us feel a lot better when he uses public toilets.

Wednesday, September 2nd
Day 26:

• William refuses to put his pull-up on at bedtime.

Thursday, September 3rd
Day 27:

• William wakes up dry and goes to potty on his own right after waking up.

Days 28-30:

• William is not wearing diapers at all.
  
• There were two nighttime accidents but we press on...

Days 31-39:

• I wake William up at 5AM to go potty. He pees and goes back to bed.

Wednesday, September 16th
Day 40:

• William goes poop in the potty!!!
• We are on vacation and he has started wetting the bed again. Back to pull-ups at night.

So we returned from vacation and it only took him two nights to get situation again. I think William is officially potty trained. Pee, poop, and nighttime!!!

I can't believe we did it. The first two weeks were very painful but after that things seemed to move along nicely. Pre-school, here we come!!

BTW: We decided on Montessori Children's World. He starts Nov. 2nd.