Right around the time my son turned 2 in April, the manager of his day care asked me what I wanted to do about potty training. There were a couple of little girls in his class about the same age whose mothers were interested in getting them started. She advised that I buy some Pull-Ups so they could start TLB on the system of being set on the classroom potty at regular intervals.
Nobody who has read my previous posts should be surprised that I've done some reading on potty training. My parents tease me frequently about my "information overload" approach to parenting. Yet when I called my mother to ask her opinion on the potty thing, she asked me, quite seriously, "Well, what have you read about that?" What I'd read was that boys generally potty train a little later than girls (average age of 39 months, according to Toddler 411, which I highly recommend to ANY new parent), that potty training was a matter of the child wanting to be clean, and that when a child was ready, it could be done in a day. I'd also read that Pull-Ups weren't particularly conducive to potty training, as they didn't let the child feel when he was wet.
Based on this information, I decided not to start potty training during the school year. I didn't want to start a prolonged process that might be frustrating to my kid who may or may not be ready. When he was ready, he'd be able to tell me or whatever caregive he was with when he needed to go, instead of being reminded on a schedule.
I would be home with him in June, so that seemed an ideal time to give the potty thing a go. We could spend as much time as necessary focusing on the task at hand, and I could do things my own way. I was totally prepared for him to not be ready, in which case I'd just put potty training back on the shelf for a later date.
We started on a Friday morning. I announced to him that starting right then, he would be wearing underpants like a big boy. I had Toy Story and Yo Gabba Gabba briefs ready, and he got to pick which ones he wanted to wear. He picked the ones with Woody. He was very excited to be wearing Big Boy Pants.
"I got Woody!" he cried, pointing to his briefs.
This could be a problem, I thought, but let it go.
I brought the potty out into the living room, told him that when he needed to pee-pee he should tell me and I'd help him go on the potty, and we settled in for a morning of Fresh Beat Band and Winnie the Pooh.
Within the hour, TLB suddenly made the crotch-grabbing proclamation that he was wet. One pair of undies down. Deciding that "big boy undies" on Day 1 might end up being rather laundry intensive, I stripped him naked, put the potty next to my recliner, and reminded him that if he needed to pee-pee, he needed to come sit.
A couple hours went by. Nothing. Then shortly before naptime, he ran to me and sat. And he peed. In the potty. Just like that.
There was much rejoicing.
During naptime, he wore special "naptime undies" (aka Pull-Ups, because sleep-time is a totally different animal that we'll tackle later), but when he woke up it was back down to nothing. By the end of the night we'd had two more successful pees, both announced by him. He had one accident as well, but I figured we'd come out ahead.
The next day, we launched into the same routine -- buck naked in the living room, potty at the ready for whenever he needed to go. There were no accidents that day, and all potty times were decided by him. It was a great day.
And that was pretty much it. Just like the book said, TLB was potty trained in a day -- on #1, anyway, which was to be expected. Poop was, and still is, a different matter. But for the most part, TLB saves it for his "special naptime undies," so it doesn't interfere with anything. Day care, dance lessons, swim lessons, Walt Disney World -- TLB takes them on like a big boy, complete with big boy pants.
And Mommy and Daddy are saving a ton of money, now that they no longer have to buy diapers.
