What I've learned from Potty Training

This is more for my own records than anything. Potty training was HARD and I want to write down the things that did and did not work for future reference, heck maybe one of you will be able to learn from my mistakes! PS it is really long...feel free to ignore this post.

.5) Kids are capable of more than you think. The program I used 3daypottytrain.com suggests potty training between 22 and 30 months. Teagan is 26 1/2 months right now and he picked it up just fine. I think I might wait a few more months with my next child though, unless they are waking up dry. When I started, Teagan showed zero interest in the toilet. He'd never gone before, he wasn't waking up dry, but he would occasionally tell me he had just pooped, so he wasn't really showing "signs" of being ready. Just do it when you feel ready, the kids will figure it out..

1) DO NOT stretch potty training out over a year long stretch. Once you decide to potty train jump in with both feet. Get rid of the diapers and throw them in underwear. Yeah, there are accidents, but if you catch EVERY accident and rush them to the toilet, you'd be surprised how fast they figure it out. It is much easier to go full throttle for a short time and be done!

2) Plan a few days where you can give your child 100% of your attention, the higher percentage of accidents that you catch the quicker they make the connection. Plan these days when you aren't going to be in a bad mood. I have about 3 days a month where I'm a monster, I'll avoid those days next time because you need every ounce of patience you can get.

3) Start a high fiber diet a few days before and keep the diet going until pooping is regular on the toilet. Have tons of different types of drinks and liquids available. I used otter pops and capri suns as rewards for going pee and constantly offered him water. After he got sick of all the drinks I started getting him to eat ice. Keeping him pumped full of fluids gives lots of practice for pee and helps prevent constipation.

4) Start them off on the big toilet, only resort to a "mini" on the floor potty if you MUST. With Teagan that was the ONLY thing that got him to poop somewhere besides his underwear. He used the one on the floor for 3 or 4 days and then was fine when we moved him back to the big toilet. Now he isn't worried about the whole poop thing anymore. Best $20 I ever spent. But still, next time I'm still going to try to avoid it cause it is NASTY to clean that out every time he pees or poops!

5) The way you SAY things makes a huge difference:

"Time to go sit on the potty" -you are telling them what to do
vs
"Let mommy know when it's time to go sit on the potty" - they are in control and are in charge of making sure they get to the potty on time...he learned QUICKLY

"I'll give you a candy if you go pee on the potty"- this, bribery, works about 25% of the time. with Teagan, mostly he just says NO! and gets more defiant.
vs
"Little boys who pee in the potty get candy" or "hmmm, I wish I had some candy, but I can't remember how to get some" ---these have a success rate of maybe 75% just a little less bossy, I usually say these things more to myself and try to just have Teagan "overhear" them when I know he needs to "go" but is putting it off.

After an accident:
"eww, why did you do that? You know you're supposed to pee in the potty not on the floor!!!!..."
vs
"next time just let mommy know you need to go, before you go pee/poo, OK" or "remember that pee and poo go in the potty"
This one is so hard because after a bunch of accidents you're frustrated, but it makes a huge difference. When he senses my frustration he is more self conscious about going at all. Just reminding him that pee and poo go in the potty seems to be enough.

6) For rewards: For Teagan he gets just as excited over getting a chocolate chip as getting an m&m or a cookie or a toy. I shouldn't have spent so much on prizes. A bag of choco chips would have been enough. After he goes poop I'll usually say something like "Alright!!!! Big boys who go in the potty get to go ___________" (insert fun activity) in the beginning his rewards was something big: go to the park, get icecream, go to the pool.... now it's more like: go outside, jump on mommy's bed, cut with scissors, color on the white board...basically any activity he likes that we haven't done for a while. It's cheap and as long as I'm super excited about it, he thinks he's the luckiest kid in the world.

I didn't do it exactly how I wanted. I started doing it more this way when we ran out of big prizes, but on the next kid I want to start it off this way. The idea is that good things happen when they go on the potty, but they aren't being bribed to go. They have to learn to want to do it themselves or at least that it's not optional. I just took a break and bribed Teagan to go...so I am OBVIOUSLY not perfect, and it worked so maybe all this is a bunch of crazy talk...haha

The main thing for me to remember: It seems impossible and that they'll never get the hang of it, but you have to STICK TO IT and be CONSISTENT and never have a melt down (in front of TEagan at least). The pooping took 3 solid weeks of accidents, but he's got it now. I consider Teagan to be "potty trained." He tells me when it's time to go and has accidents maybe every 3 or 4 days if that. It was definitely WORTH IT! I hope this makes sense in 2 or 3 years when we have a another one who needs to be potty trained...that's weird to think about!