Potty training Francis went better than I EVER could have imagined!
I wanted to wait until we were done with international flights and past jet lag - so a week after our summer vacation to the USA - we started potty training!
I'm mostly writing this post so that in 2 years maybe the same thing will work for Isaac....
Francis is 3 years and nearly 4 months old - so clearly old enough to understand everything being asked of him. He wasn't thrilled with the idea of ditching diapers, but Kindergarten (pre-school) will start for him in a couple of weeks, so the time was now.
On Monday morning he woke up with a dry diaper, which he normally does, and it was still dry after breakfast - so I decided now was the day we'd start. I figured he had to go soon... so I had him sit on the potty seat. Nothing. So I had him watch YouTube on my phone, with Ellie waiting by his side. Like an hour later, nothing. So Ellie went outside with Isaac (baby trying to grab at the potty seat was a distraction!) and Francis I played upstairs. Then I had him sit on the potty and he was looking at a book. I had to go yell something to Ellie out the window and when I came back he had peed! It was 9:30am. So he put on his first pair of underwear and we headed to Spar to buy reward treats. M&Ms for #1 and Kinder Surprise Eggs for #2.
After Mass and lunch we tried again on the potty but nothing. Then he was playing upstairs and his first (and last!!) accident happened. Miraculously it was on his hard bedroom floor - totally missed the rug, books, etc. So I was trilled about that. The rest of the day we were outside or at the pool, so that's where the peeing happened and it was of no real concern to me. After dinner he was playing outside and then came inside - got on the potty and "pushed hard" aka, pooped! Just like that no issues!! Actually I think he preferred that because you can actually do something (push) versus the "just relax" and let it flow for #1. He immediately demanded his Surprise Egg! Ellie was thrilled too because she received "support treats" for every success he had. Day 1 a huge success!!
Day #2, he woke up dry and on and off the potty he went all morning until a little before 11am he still had not gone (from the night before!). It was time for Mass, so I had Brian come home and wait with him until he could go - otherwise, he was not to leave the house. A few minutes later they both joined us at Mass. The rest of the day he went on his own, with maybe a few reminders from me that if he could go he could candy. Throughout the day he was trying to make himself go #2 so he could get a Surprise Egg and finally had success that night.
Day #3 - #7: no accidents! Lots of candy treats! Nearly zero reminders from me, this boy loves to go! We've now set up a chart that he needs to go #2 three times to earn the Surprise Egg. He's peed once in a public bathroom and pooped once in the woods while we were at the lake - this boy is amazing! I'm still putting a diaper on him every night just in case, but so far they've all been dry (so I guess I should really ditch them, but he doesn't resist it and I really don't want to wash sheets - but we'll see how long that lasts). Hoping for a good second week!
Good job to our big boy, Buddy!!
I wanted to wait until we were done with international flights and past jet lag - so a week after our summer vacation to the USA - we started potty training!
I'm mostly writing this post so that in 2 years maybe the same thing will work for Isaac....
Francis is 3 years and nearly 4 months old - so clearly old enough to understand everything being asked of him. He wasn't thrilled with the idea of ditching diapers, but Kindergarten (pre-school) will start for him in a couple of weeks, so the time was now.
On Monday morning he woke up with a dry diaper, which he normally does, and it was still dry after breakfast - so I decided now was the day we'd start. I figured he had to go soon... so I had him sit on the potty seat. Nothing. So I had him watch YouTube on my phone, with Ellie waiting by his side. Like an hour later, nothing. So Ellie went outside with Isaac (baby trying to grab at the potty seat was a distraction!) and Francis I played upstairs. Then I had him sit on the potty and he was looking at a book. I had to go yell something to Ellie out the window and when I came back he had peed! It was 9:30am. So he put on his first pair of underwear and we headed to Spar to buy reward treats. M&Ms for #1 and Kinder Surprise Eggs for #2.
After Mass and lunch we tried again on the potty but nothing. Then he was playing upstairs and his first (and last!!) accident happened. Miraculously it was on his hard bedroom floor - totally missed the rug, books, etc. So I was trilled about that. The rest of the day we were outside or at the pool, so that's where the peeing happened and it was of no real concern to me. After dinner he was playing outside and then came inside - got on the potty and "pushed hard" aka, pooped! Just like that no issues!! Actually I think he preferred that because you can actually do something (push) versus the "just relax" and let it flow for #1. He immediately demanded his Surprise Egg! Ellie was thrilled too because she received "support treats" for every success he had. Day 1 a huge success!!
Day #2, he woke up dry and on and off the potty he went all morning until a little before 11am he still had not gone (from the night before!). It was time for Mass, so I had Brian come home and wait with him until he could go - otherwise, he was not to leave the house. A few minutes later they both joined us at Mass. The rest of the day he went on his own, with maybe a few reminders from me that if he could go he could candy. Throughout the day he was trying to make himself go #2 so he could get a Surprise Egg and finally had success that night.
Day #3 - #7: no accidents! Lots of candy treats! Nearly zero reminders from me, this boy loves to go! We've now set up a chart that he needs to go #2 three times to earn the Surprise Egg. He's peed once in a public bathroom and pooped once in the woods while we were at the lake - this boy is amazing! I'm still putting a diaper on him every night just in case, but so far they've all been dry (so I guess I should really ditch them, but he doesn't resist it and I really don't want to wash sheets - but we'll see how long that lasts). Hoping for a good second week!
Good job to our big boy, Buddy!!
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