Potty Training

I had decided a few months ago that Drew's potty training was going to start after school was out. So, for the last few months of school we would ask if he wanted to use the toilet. He usually screamed "No!" and we would say, "OK, but when school is all over it's time to start using the toilet." He would say "OK" and life would go on. So the DAY AFTER school was over, I put my plan into action. We got M&Ms and every time he used the toilet he got to eat one. It worked ok over the weekend, but not great. He had a few accidents the first few days and we would have to sit in there with him for at least 10 minutes...... Soooo NOT fun! And #2??? Forget it!! We would sit there for almost an hour, only to get up and have him promptly fill his pants. GRRRRR! One afternoon almost a week after we started I gave up. I was tired of accidents, reluctance and being stuck in the house! So, we put him in a diaper for the afternoon and got out of the house. We decided we needed a better approach, so we made the "potty chart" which allowed him to earn a sticker, and therefore a prize, every time he made it to the bathroom without having an accident. He earned 3 or 4 stickers for #2 because that was just sooo awful. Every 5 stickers earned he got to choose a bigger prize. That seemed to do the trick. He pretty much stopped having accidents and even the #2 got so it wasn't so traumatic. Now, it's been 2 weeks and we've even been venturing out of the house this past week....and NO accidents. Wooo hooo! After about a week we were even able to ditch the potty seat, for the most part. He still wears a diaper at nap and bedtime, but that is WAAAAYYY better than a diaper 24/7. For a few days he was even waking me up at 6 because he didn't want to pee in his diaper. That was not so fun for me, but great for him. The past few days that hasn't been an issue and I think he just figures it's easier to go in the diaper until I get up closer to 7. That's ok though. Potty training pretty much done in 2 weeks...I'll take it! I know that's pretty good, but out of the three he actually took the longest to start AND the longest to get it down. But, it was well worth the wait!! ( I do have to confess that I did use a bit of negative reinforcement when necessary. We are going to Washington to visit my parents this summer and I would remind D when he didn't want to do this, or had an accident, that if he wanted to go visit Grandma and Bub he had to start going in the toilet all the time. Do I feel a tad guilty about this....yes. Did it work...yes. So I call it a draw.)

This was Drew's attire (minus the skates) for the first week of potty training. The second week we added a shirt, and sometimes even shorts!

Way to go, D! You are getting to be such a big boy. You are doing a great job and we are so proud of you. We love you tons! Keep up the awesome work.