The 3 Day Potty Training Method
I wrote this post this a while ago, but its just as relevant now. Potty training is just one of those things many parents struggle through and are at their wits end by the time its all said and done with little to no results. But with the 3 Day Potty Training Method, I managed to get the results I wanted with little to no stress. Give it a go! What do you have to lose? You could be experiencing potty success in a matter of days and new freedoms galore!!
Almost 3 weeks ago, and 1 week prior to my son's 2nd birthday, we ventured into the wonderful land of potty training. My husband, a few days prior asked was I up for the challenge. I was somewhat leery of it for the simple fact I was not looking forward to changing dozens of pairs of underwear and cleaning up messes. But I was ready to not be changing poopy diapers anymore. So I wasn't too worried. I had tried a few months back while my mother-in-law was here but neither she or I were very consistent in the process so I held off until I was ready to be focused. He had been ready. He was already vocalizing to us when he was wet. And my thoughts were, you are one step away from grabbing a diaper and wipes and telling me to change you. No ma'am! Not happening! To get it done with the least amount of stress I began to research various ways including one requiring him to wear no bottoms including no underwear. Although the outcome is virtually the same (me cleaning and him running rampant bare butt), I wanted and needed him to learn the feel of wet 'draws. They even suggested putting down painter's plastic for your carpeted areas. That sounds good in theory but I prefer not to have my home look like a reno project. Ummm...next! I continued researching until I remembered a post from one of my fave hairbloggers, Curly Nikki regarding her experience with potty training her adorable daughter Gia. She had used the 3 day potty training method created by Lora Jensen and it was a total success. So yes this was quickly purchased iTunes. It was a quick read just as she said and the process seemed so simple and very easy to follow. I went to Costco the next day, loaded up on superhero and pixar undies, yogurt covered cookies (rewards for a good potty) from my favorite grocery store H-E-B, put away the old diapers (I can't throw them out. That's money!), relayed all info to the hubs and gathered my wits and patience and forged straight ahead.
My view most days.
Day 1, of course I was changing underwear constantly and cleaning and disinfecting the floors for what seemed like every 20-30 minutes. It was expected so I kept moving. Day 2 was pretty much the same but the amount of underwear decreased some. By day 3 his he was vocalizing more when he needed to go and there were only about 3 or 4 accidents compared 13. By day 4 he was getting to be a pro with only 1-2 accidents. By that Monday, almost a week later, he had no accidents!! Now as you can see he wasn't completely accident free by day 3 but he understood the concept. He was happily giving us high 5s AND of course awaiting his reward. He still has accidents some days, mostly when we're at the gym. I think that's my fault because I don't designate one person there for him to tell when he has to go. Plus he gets caught up in playing with all things he doesn't have at home too. The author does discuss both day and night training which is done simultaneously but I'm not ready to proceed to that just yet. We have yet to convert his bed to a toddler bed nor do I want to lose sleep getting up in the middle of the night to take him. Selfish I know but I'm don't get much sleep as it is and every minute is precious. But even more so I'm scared he won't go back to sleep.
Some probably won't call this a success but I consider it one for us. Did I get upset at times? Yes, but I made sure to not let him know and kept a positive attitude so that it wouldn't become something he feared or even rebelled against. I'm not even afraid to take him out with me when running errands. I just make sure to have his kid sized toilet seat with me. Yes it means carrying an extra bag besides my purse and his snacks but its worth it because there are no accidents. He's not comfortable on adult sized toilets because he feels as if he's falling in even when I'm holding him. He likes to do things on his own and he can't quite do that yet. But I'll take it over wet and poopy diapers anyday!! And in the future if we decide to have anymore kids, I'll think I try elimination communication and skip the potty training all together.
In the mean time, we'll keep trucking along and eventually get to night time training. But for now we're all happy and I'll take it and my sleep thank you very much!!
What potty training method(s) have you tried?