Potty Training 101

I was talking with a friend of mine and her husband mentioned that she suggested to her sister to read my blog for advice about potty training. Advice? Yeah, you do not want to get parenting advice from me. What my blog will supply you with, (as one reader said) is a "I am so glad that didn't happen to me, thanks for letting me know what not to do." But, since I am such a parenting expert with 2 whole kids potty trained, I will give you some of my thoughts and feelings about potty training.

Before reading, please know this: Every child and parent is incredibly different. You probably have one of those children that I didn't have. The child that says, "Look Mommy, I went pee in the toilet all by myself. I'm so excited! Let me do it every time, please!" at 18 months....I might add. Yeah, not my child. This is more for the mother who is struggling. Who is sick of cleaning up the poop and pee. Also this is geared more towards the mother of boys. Yeah, all you mothers of girls, I know you potty trained your kids at 18 months and you are super cool but since I am never going to have that milestone I will strictly be talking to the mothers of boys. (They make me feel like I am not such a loser....except you J, you know who you are.) As I mentioned every parent is different too. Patience is key and I have to say, I am one blessed lady, but patience is not something I was blessed with.

#1 - At around 18-22 months your child will become very interested in the potty. You will get butterflies in your stomach and think, "Yes, this is going to be easy." How cool. Jackson went through this stage and Creighton did as well. See pic for proof. This pic is taken at about 21 months. He wanted to be like Jackson so bad. He always stood at the toilet with his shirt up. Did I get excited? Yes. Should I have? Um, you all know the answer to that one. One year and 3 months later I was dumping poop out of his underwear every day.

With Jackson I dealt with this "excitement" a little differently than with Creighton. I bought a potty, underwear, videos, everything. I was going to be the mom that trained their BOY before they were 2. Yes, I was going to be the one every other mom idolized. However, my pushing pushed Jackson into HATING the potty. So much in fact, that for Christmas when he was 2 1/2 he was given a pair of underwear from Santa and he got the worst look on his face, grabbed it, ran across the room and CHUCKED it. Yeah, we had to stop even mentioning the potty for 4 months after that in hopes he would get over his hatred. With Creighton, I just said, "Oh cute Creigh....you want to be like your brother. Well, when you actually do it, let me know." I think this actually helped because he didn't grow to hate the potty and he did actually do it by himself 3 months earlier than Jackson BUT after he regressed (that is when the sadness occurred at the Evers home).

#2 - Videos - I have to say, I'm a big fan. Hey, if Elmo or Bear in the Blue House is doing it, why shouldn't I....right? They definitely don't make it instantly happen, but they did give my kids AWESOME role models (as if their dad and mother weren't enough.....maybe if I wore a cape while I sat on the toilet that would help. Yeah no, please wipe the image from your head.)

#3 - I read a few books. One was about throwing a potty party. I don't think I ever blogged about it. Probably because it was supposed to be a party that lasted the whole day and I made it two hours in and gave up. I did it with Jackson when he was about 34-35 months old. I went all out. Balloons, prizes, a doll that pees (he named her Juno, have it anyone wants to borrow her), and even found a babysitter for Creigh so I could give my undivided attention to Jack. Would this work for you? Maybe. It's worth a shot. It's just one day....or 2 hours as it turned out for me. It's funny, I remember starting that day thinking, "Wow, I'm never going to have to buy diapers again." Hahahaha. How naive. I recently have been told about the 3-day potty training technique. I guess it's on the internet. Google it if you're interested. Had someone swear by it, and had another say, "It had good stuff, but my kid still isn't potty trained."

#4 - The beauty of waiting. So some mothers really want their kids potty trained early. Save money on diapers, don't have to be embarrassed lifting your 35 lb. child (who looks like they're 5) on the baby table, whatever it may be. For boys, I was always given the advice....don't push them. I actually now sing this advice as well. You really don't want to push them. Plus, there are great benefits of waiting. They become mature enough to do almost everything by themselves. They don't have to get your permission, they can wash their hands by themselves, wipe (be careful with this though), etc, etc. Also, this is sad to admit, but they start using the potty as a weapon against you. For example nap time. It really can cease to exist once you potty train because when they have to go (whether they are telling the truth or not) you don't want to risk it and they will get out of their room and they will slowly lose that coveted nap. Not a good thing. Seriously, not a good thing...especially if you have another little one. Changing the extra diaper for me was worth it. You make the call.

#5 - Even though there will be times when you think, "Oh my gosh, they are going to wear a diaper to kindergarten. They are going to be THAT kid." I promise you, the torment will end, the cleaning the poop out of the underwear will end, and they will finally get it. However, peeing the bed is another story. That may be past kindergarten, sorry.

Honestly though, you all know my frustrations with Creighton and his revenge upon me. He knew how to push my buttons and he knew it was to poop his pants. I really thought he was going to use this weapon on me his whole life. He has now not used this weapon for about 5 weeks and I am now feeling confident enough to post this happy news. I hope I don't regret it.

Ok, so there you have it. The what not to dos in potty training written by the far from potty training expert. Have patience (hahaha) and just know that there is another mother out there that has gone through it too and they cried too and it all gets better some day. This is for hope.

Lastly, this has nothing to do with potty training, but I'd like to publicly thank Walmart for the cool bathroom stalls. For this reason, I can use a public restroom without the fear of my child touching the toilet, crawling on the floor, and just making me absolutely disgusted. Thank you.