Potty Training. Fun Stuff. (I'm sure he will LOVE this post when he's 16. If you don't care for poop talk... might as well stop now.)
Since Carson is about to turn THREE (next week.... where has the time gone?!?), we figured it was about time to get serious about the potty training thing. He had regularly been tee teeing in the potty at school (when everyone else goes) and also at home before his bath.
So, since the 4th of July was a long weekend for us (we had Thursday and Friday off), we decided this was the time to make the switch from diapers & pull-ups to big boy pants (during the day). Carson had picked out a couple packs of underwear on a recent trip to Target, so we were already armed with Thomas and Cars undies. For the record, why are little boys just so cute in their tidy whities? I know that sounds a little strange, but you know what I mean!
Anyways, after school on Wednesday night (7/3), we tried out those big boy pants. He crapped them. No biggie, that happens. Well, 30 minutes later, he crapped them again. Really?!? Yep, go figure. The night we decide to give it a go, he's got diarrhea. So.... back to pull-ups for the rest of the evening and the next day until we got back from the pool and knew he no longer had the runs.
We switched back to big boy pants some time on the 4th and {if I remember correctly}, I think he did pretty good the rest of the weekend. He might have had an accident a day, but I consider that pretty good. Let's be real though, I was asking him every 5 minutes if his big boy pants were dry or if he needed to go tee tee. He's always been good about going tee tee IF you take him to the bathroom. He doesn't quite get the whole "tell Mommy and Daddy if you need to go tee tee" thing. I don't think he really pooped much that weekend. I was starting to get worried he was going to get constipated. I think he wanted SO bad to NOT poop in his pants, that he was scared to go at all.
On Friday (7/5), I nervously decided to venture out of the house with a child in big boy pants for the first time. I needed to go to Target and Andrew's dad did too. So, off we went (with probably 2 changes of clothes in tow). Papi bought Carson a special prize for having done a great job of tee teeing on the potty at home. He picked out a crane. We also went to eat at Novrosky's, still in big boy pants! During our meal, Papi took Carson to the bathroom and he tee teed at the restaurant! Another first! Peeing in a public bathroom! I think he had to hold him up so he could reach. I bet that was a funny sight!
Made it through church (7/7) with no accidents! He tee teed in the potty in the nursery!
Well... on Sunday (7/7), we hit a MAJOR milestone. Carson pooped in the potty at home!!!! (That link is to a post with a video of a happy little boy!).
We headed straight for Target (again, in big boy pants) to get a special prize! I am perfectly willing to buy lots of "special prizes" during this process if it helps motivate him. After all the 'big moments' have happened, these special prizes are certainly going to decrease in value.... $1 bin, anyone?? With out hesitation, he picked out a set of planes from the upcoming Disney Planes movie. He is already obsessed!
Given what I would call a fairly successful weekend, I hesitantly bit the bullet and sent him to school on Monday with big boy pants on. When I picked him up, he was in timeout. BUT, he was still in the same clothes I sent him in!! Success!!! Sort of. While I was asking him why he was in time-out, he peed his pants. Dang. Hey, I consider 8:30-5 with no accidents pretty darn good! I am still having them put him in pull-ups during his nap. I tried big boy pants during nap time over the weekend and it didn't work. I'm just more focused on awake time right now. Tuesday he regressed and had two accidents. Boo.
Thursday (7/11) was a big day! He pooped in the potty at school! Daddy got him a Dollar Store 'special prize.'
Saturday (7/13) he pooped at home again at night.
Sunday (7/14) he was acting like he needed to poop, so we went to sit on the potty. As soon as he sat down, he told me he needed to tee tee first. Okay, so we stand up so he can tee tee. What does he do.... crap ON. THE. FLOOR. AHHH. Really?!?!
Monday (7/15) he made it through a WHOLE day at school without any accidents!! I won't take away from this by noting he didn't go to school until about 10:30 because of swim lessons. Happy boy!
While it is super exciting when he does poop on the potty, trust me, there have been plenty (as in a lot more instances) of poop accidents too. Not fun. Taking off a dirty diaper was SO much easier than trying to peel off poopy undies. YUCK! I've got the bleach handy and have had to use it a lot lately... for example, we had TWO poop accidents this Tuesday (7/16). Yesterday, he pooped in the potty in the morning, and I was SO excited. Then less than an hour later, he pooped AGAIN... in his pants. Come on kid!
If I didn't work from home, I can't imagine how some of this would go down. Let's face it, men like to take their time in the bathroom. Today (7/18), he asked to go poop. We sat FOREVER. He had swim lessons, so we HAD to leave. We started heading to the door and he said he had wanted to go poop again. So, I said something like "you've got 2 minutes, kid" because seriously, we had already sat for like 30 minutes and were already on the verge of being late. Of course, nothing happened and we left. As we were walking up to the gate for his lessons, he told me he needed to change. Yep, there was the poop. Thank goodness he had on a disposable swim diaper. Easy fix. I guess it was a good thing that he didn't go in the pool. He knows not to poop in the pool, so I guess he was trying to be good. He told Miss Korinne that he "did not poop in the pool."
It's been 2 weeks now since this PT journey started. We have not given in and gone back to pull-ups, except when sleeping. I had a whole box of Size 6 Pampers that I sent back to Amazon unopened. I know he understands that pee and poop go in the potty, and for the most part, is good at going when he is instructed to do so. He's gone at a couple of restaurants, so I know that going in public is an option. I'm glad he's tall because he can reach most normal toilets standing up, which is definitely his preferred peeing position. He still hasn't quite grasped the concept of letting us know if he needs to go. The pee accidents have done down substantially, but pooping is still a challenge. We'll get there eventually. I certainly didn't expect this to happen over night. We could have easily started this process sooner, but I knew that it was a commitment that we really had to stick with once we started, and let's face it, I was SCARED. Diapers are easy. I feel pretty good that he should be pretty well potty trained by the time this little girl comes, which was really the ultimate goal.
More updates to come!
