Now I'm not exactly sure how long one has to be accident free before officially claiming "potty trained," however, it has been two weeks and we have had only two #1 accidents and a handful of the other kind. Other than a pull-up for bedtime, Parker has been diaper, pull-up, underwear free since Friday, June 19- even for naps!

We are soo proud of him!

It was soo easy!

We had a slight scare three days after we started when he started becoming fearful and resistant of the potty. We changed our technique a bit and a day later he was telling us when he had to go and we've been pretty accident free since then! He wakes up almost every morning dry so the next step (maybe in a week or two) will be to get rid of the pull-ups FOREVER!

YAY for being potty trained at 22 months!

I have a ton of friends and family members with children approaching this milestone and I have the following advice to give...

1) Buy a potty for every bathroom in your house when your child is TWELVE months old. This way you're not introducing something new (and potentially scary) at an age where they are more cognizant of change. We started bringing both the babes into the bathroom with us and sitting them on their potties (with their clothes still on) while we went at about 15 months.

2) The IDEAL time to potty train is 22-24 months. If your child can communicate needs (i.e. I want milk, food, etc.) even if it is just signing them, they are ready. Your child does not need to take interest in the potty to be ready. After reading, research, and talking with a ton of other moms who have gone through this before me, if you wait too long your child has become more self aware of their ability to control and their desire for choice. The earlier the better.

3) I'm a HUGE believer in any one of the 'three day' methods. For three straight days Parker was attached to me. I never went anywhere without him and him without me. This really enabled me to 'read' his facial and body clues as to when he needed to go and also it prevented accidents which I feel are bad for self confidence (sounds silly I know but if you can avoid accidents and set your babe up for success then they're always pleasing you and doing the right thing- you can totally avoid the disappointment/negativity).

4) MAKE IT YOUR CHILD'S CHOICE TO TELL YOU WHEN THEY HAVE TO GO. This is hard. Our biggest failure during the first three days (which I think led to the fear of the potty) was that we were constantly asking Parker if he needed to go. Talk about pressure! So we changed our tactic and instead constantly reminded him to TELL US when he needed to go. This puts the control back in his hands. So now we always say, "Hey P remember to tell Mommy when you need to use the potty" instead of "Parker do you need to use the potty."

5) Conditions. There are times when we'll be on a two hour stretch and Parker still hasn't told us he needs to go. When this happens we make the next activity contingent upon him using the potty. I do not ask, I tell. For example, I will tell him "No Dora (or outside, or pool, etc.) until we use the potty." Then I take his hand and we go to the bathroom. He has to at least try in order to participate in our next activity/snack/meal/etc.

6) DO NOT use pull-ups or big kid underwear. Any snugness in the crotch area gives a false sense of security and feels like a diaper. Sounds crazy but there will be a lot more accidents if you use these things. If you're going to do it, do it all the way.

7) Invest in a pair of Crocs. We have only had two full out empty-your-bladder-in-your-pants-accidents but when we did I was SO grateful for rubber shoes that don't require washing and drying. A little dish soap in the sink and we were good to go five minutes later.

8) BE POSITIVE. Always. Never punish, scold, get angry. Sounds obvious but it can be tough. Accidents happen. Move on.

9) I read the Three Day Potty Training by Laura Jensen and, out of everything I read, this made the most sense. It totally puts the blame of a child who isn't getting it on the parent rather than the child. I received this PDF (email me if you want it) three days into the process and after reading it we made a bunch of tweaks and changes that allowed us to get rid of pull-ups at nap and make a not so great potty situation into a full on trained little boy!

Finley Grace your time in diapers in coming to end! Especially after you got out of your bath last night squatted over the floor, and yelled out "I go pee pee, I go pee pee."

Posted by Brooke* at Thursday, July 02, 2009 |