Potty Trained

Potty training was not on my list of things I was looking forward to as a parent.  I think it was right there with Cooper leaving for college on what I dread most as a parent!  However, I knew it was one of those things we were going to have to go through eventually, and Karl and I knew this summer would be a good time for that to happen.  We have been told horror story after horror story about potty training, especially when it comes to boys.  Last summer when Cooper first showed an interest in using the potty, I talked to one of the pediatricians in the practice we go to, and she said not to get too excited at that time because he was probably going through what she termed the "potty honeymoon stage."  It was new and exciting, but it would soon lose its charm too.  As a pediatrician and mother of three young boys, her advice was DON'T PUSH IT!  She said the more interest we showed in it and the more we pushed it, the faster he would lose interest and the harder it would be on us to potty train him.  She recommended following his lead.  I decided this was excellent advice, as I had no interest in potty training!  Sure enough, she was right about the potty honeymoon stage.  Within a month of visiting her, he had completely lost interest in his potty.  Throughout the year, he would occasionally use his little potty but never seemed overly interested.  However, this summer it became increasingly obvious that the boy was ready to graduate from diapers.  I decided we would do it once we were done with his swim lessons in mid-July.  That would give us about 6 weeks before he started Mothers Day Out and about 3 months until Jake comes.  Plus, it was getting to the point where I couldn't procrastinate it any longer!  After listening to a lot of advice and reading a thing or two about it, Karl and I decided that we didn't want to follow a "method."  There are a lot out there, and while most people we know tried and succeeded with particular methods, it seemed that most people had to try several before their child eventually got the hang of things.  That just seemed like it would cause frustration for Cooper and us.  The one truth I've learned in parenting is that you have to be very flexible!!  No child fits any particular mold, and when you try to force a mold on them, you end up feeling like a failure.  We had decided from the get-go that we would follow Coop's lead, and if after a few days we didn't feel like we were progressing, then we would try again later.  I bought him a Cars toilet seat that goes on top of the regular toilet seat but narrows it so his little booty doesn't fall in.  That, some cool undies, and Tic-Tacs were are all this boy needed.  He was ready!  I had bought some Tic-Tacs before we started potty training just to have in my purse.  Cooper loved them, and they ended up being a great motivator for him to use the potty!  If he tee-teed in the potty, I would give him a couple Tic-Tacs.  If he pooped in the potty, Karl or I would let him sit in our lap and "drive" around our street.  He's a very easy kid to bribe! The first couple days I kept him naked in the house.  If he had underwear on, he seemed to think he could just go as if he had on a diaper (and it didn't bother him at all to be wet), but if he was nude, he was able to use control and hold it better.  Those days we also just potty trained during the first half of the day because we had places to be in the afternoon or at night.  I decided being pregnant is the perfect time to potty train because I need to use the restroom about every 30 minutes, so I was never able to get distracted and wait too long to take him.  If I had to go, I knew he needed to go too.  I tried to take him between every 15-30 minutes those first two days.  He was more eager about going in the mornings than as the day progressed, but he still was good about trying to go even if he didn't think he needed to.  By Sunday (the third day), we let him wear underwear after his nap, and we went to Karl's parents' house for dinner.  He did great and stayed dry the whole time.  We were so nervous about the car ride to his parents' house and home, so we put a trash bag under him and reminded him constantly not to tee-tee on whatever character was on his underwear!  I packed 3 extra pairs of underwear just in case he had an accident, but amazingly enough, I didn't need any of them!  On Monday, we ran a few quick errands, and by Wednesday, we were back to our normal routine of running errands (plus visiting every bathroom of the store we were in).  He still wasn't to the point of telling us that he needed to go, but he would go when we took him or say "yes" if we asked him if he needed to.  By the end of the week, he was a pro! For now, I do put him in a diaper for nap and at night because he has never woken up dry, and I don't think he's ready for that right now.  I have noticed that he is almost dry when he wakes up from nap now, so maybe in a few months we'll try.  I'm not in any hurry to change wet sheets every day, so once again, I'm not going to push this!  I'd say he's had less than a handful of accidents total since the day we started.  He has done amazing and made this so easy.  In hindsight, I am very glad that I listened to that pediatrician and didn't push him last summer and waited until he was truly ready (or more than ready).  He was able to take the lead, and Karl and I were able to support and guide him.  One thing that has always been true about Cooper is that he does best when he does something in his own time.  He's a precious little boy and is growing up too quickly.  As proud of him as I am and happy that we have successfully undertaken this milestone, I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss his little diaper booty running through the house!