Potty Training Update

Emme has not - knock on wood - had an accident in 4 days!  Like not at all!  We are so proud of our Chicken!  On Tuesday night, she asked to sleep in panties instead of a diaper, so I let her.  I fully expected to wake up in the middle of the night & have to change her sheets, but I did not.  She also had success last night - she's such a big girl!  I can't believe I no longer have a baby in diapers - kind of sad in a way!   

Adventures in Potty Training

Take 2: If you remember, we tried potty training Emme earlier this summer, but she had JUST turned two and I really think she wasn't ready.  Emme's teachers started potty training her again this past Monday (Sept 19).  Hooray for teachers that potty train, right!?!  They report that she has many successes throughout the day, but I do get a bag full of panties in little plastic bags to wash each night!
Monday: 5 pairs of panties to wash & 4 outfits
Tuesday: 3 pairs & 3 outfits
Wednesday: 3 pairs & 2 outfits
Thursday: 2 pairs & a dress
Friday: 2 pairs & a dress
At home, she had been having a few accidents, but quite a few successes also.  All of this was tee-tee related.  She didn't have any poop successes - until Saturday morning!  Oh how we rejoiced & praised & rewarded.  Later that afternoon, we tried our first outing without diapers (other than the ride to school) and she did great!  We got to the restaurant dry & went straight to the restroom where she went potty.  We went back another 6 times probably throughout the meal and at some point I think it became more of a game or something to do than an actual need.  When we left, we stayed in the parking lot talking to Gabby & PaPa for a while and then Emme said she needed to go, but we had had so many false alarms that we just ignored it thinking she just wanted to go wash her hands (she LOVES to wash her hands).  I decided that maybe we should just put her in a diaper to go home and when I took her panties off, she had already pooped in them.  So gross!!!  So, Aaron & I cleaned her up & changed her right there in the parking lot.  Luckily, I had a ziploc bag in the diaper bag, so we were able to dispose of the "offending" article immediately!  Ick!

All in all, I'd say we have many more successes than accidents and I think she is well on her way to being diaper-free in the very near future!

Potty Training Fail

On Wednesday, I thought we'd see if Miss Priss could be potty trained.  Since I have her in the advanced class at school, I think I should at least try.  She only just turned 2 and I waited until Jackson was 2 1/2, but I figured since I was off in the summer, we'd give it a whirl!  We let her pick out new panties - Tinkerbell & Flowers - and she seemed excited.  So here was our morning . . .yes, I said morning . . .that's as much as I could take.

8:00 - she wakes up, we take the diaper off and put on super fun Tinkerbell panties

8:20 - first accident at which time she says I spilled water, Momma.

9:20 - another accident, this time she realizes it is tee-tee

9:30 - starts to have another accident, but we get some of it in the potty.  Yea!  She gets a happy dance & a gummi bear and is smiling ear to ear!

9:30 - also at this time, Leyla decides well, if she can pee on the carpet, so can I.  Leyla is our dog.  :/

9:46 - another accident

9:55 - tells me she needs to go poo-poo.  We go in the bathroom, she sits down and then she says to close the door.  I close it.  Then she says she needs a crocodile from the hallway, so she gets up opens the door a crack, picks up an imaginary crocodile off the carpet and then sits back down.  I close the door back.  We repeat this for about 5 mins until she says she is finished.  I tell her that she told me she needed to poo-poo and she hasn't gone poo-poo.  She says she's finished and takes off bare-bottomed to the living room.  I put her panties back on her.

10:04 - she says poo-poo again, but when we get to the bathroom, she has already had an accident . . . both kinds.

11:21 - another accident, pretty small amount

11:39 - a tiny accident

11:50 - an almost full bladder accident in her booster at the kitchen table while eating lunch (do you know how hard it is to get those webbed straps out, especially when they are wet?)

12:20 - Napa time.  I've never been so happy to put this child in a diaper!

2:05 - I have to wake the kids up early so I can go pick my Nana up from the airport.  Emme's DIAPER has leaked and I still have to clean up pee.  Ugh!

Between each of these accidents, we had many false alarms and sat in the bathroom for long periods of time - or at least I tried to keep her sitting in there.  I tried singing songs, reading books . . . nothing kept her there long enough and as soon as we'd give up, she'd have another accident.  Because of the frequency and the small amounts of urine each time, it appears that Emme doesn't have the bladder control just yet.  I don't know.  I DO know that I was truly frustrated and will wait a bit longer to try again.  This whole thing reminded me of this post I read on Paige's blog.  Emme's "progress" sounds a lot like Kylie's, so I will come to the same conclusion as Paige . . . we will wait.

I Screwed Up!

Ok, so as they say...kids don't come with an instruction manual, so when it came time to potty train Jackson I kind of just followed others suggestions and read around on the internet a bit. We went out and bought that tiny little potty chair and had amazing success! I am really proud of Jackson and how quickly he picked it up! I've blogged about all of this before so I won't continue. Then the other day I asked my mom "So when did you teach Brennan (my brother) to pee standing up?" You can see where this is going... My mom says "Um, I taught him from the beginning." What? Why didn't anyone tell me you were supposed to teach them from the beginning? I'm a girl - I don't know that. I also saw a logistical problem with him, a kid who has no control over his stream, standing over that really low little potty. Sheesh! So our new task is teaching the kid to pee standing up! Gaaah! He does NOT like to go standing up - in fact, most of the time he can't. I will see him like physically trying to get it out, but it is like he is afraid or something and can't even make himself. At best a tiny trickle comes out, so I finally give up and set him down on the potty and he goes, no problem! It's so obnoxious! He did have some success at the Astros game on Sunday where the urinal went all the way to the floor, but no where else. Jackson sees Aaron go all the time and now I have resorted to pushing him off on other male family members so that he has tons of males "modeling" correct male urination. I know they all enjoy the audience, but I say it is partly their fault for not TELLING.ME.TO.BEGIN.WITH!!! So there! Haha! ;)

Consider It Done!

I'd say my little Wacko is potty trained! We went to the Children's Museum today and did not have one accident all the way there, while we were there or on the way back! That includes during an hour+ car nap on the way home! I am flabbergasted at his ability to pick it up so fast! I don't know why - he picks everything up fast and other things I thought would be grooling (giving up the papi, for example) weren't. He had been a bit constipated, but I gave him a few prunes and he had about 4 or 5 false alarms before he finally went. It was hilarious too! He said, "Mommy, I need to go poo-poo. It's the big one!" (Imagine it said with a hint of panic in his voice) So funny! I ♥ this kid! So now the only obstacle is nighttime & nap training. I am going to wait to tackle this until we move him to his big boy bed, which will be fairly soon!

Day 3 - PT Report

I have to say, I had doubts about 3-day potty training! And while Jackson is not 100% potty trained, he definitely has it down now! He had half an accident today and THAT.IS.IT! He stopped himself halfway through, called for me and ran to the bathroom to finish on the potty. The rest of the time, he told me he needed to go and he went. He still has a little trouble pulling his pants back up, but we're working on it! Another issue is that he is not pooping on the potty. He has not gone all day - not in the potty nor in his pants or even his diaper at naptime. I spoke with the doctor about possible withholding and he said as long as we feed him lots of fiber and fruit (no bananas) and sugar, even if he withholds, it won't hurt him. If he doesn't go tomorrow, I think I will give him some prunes or something to help him. Another success he had today was his first outing sans the diaper! We went to eat with my parents and were gone about an hour and had NO accidents. He did claim to need to go potty about 6 times while we were at the restaurant, but he was scared of the industrial potty so we only got a trickle one of the times and nothing the rest. Once we got home, he let loose! At least we know he has the ability to hold it! I have been looking into getting one of those folding potty seats. Does anyone have one of those? Is it worth it or should I just have him get over it? Tomorrow, we are planning on going to the children's museum with my mom while my dad & Aaron go deep sea fishing. I don't know if I should put a diaper on him or just go armed with changes of clothes & underwear. I am just so proud of the little guy! He's so grown up!

Day 2 - PT Report

*It's a LONG one!*

J had a fantastic day! He is slowly getting the hang on this. On the other hand, I am exhausted! It seems like I led, dragged or lugged Jackson to the bathroom every 15-20 minutes ALL day long and the rest of the time was spent asking him if he had "tee-tee or poo-poo that needed to come out." I am going to record the day, so that when I start this next summer with Emme (sheesh!), I will have something to refer to. Our day went something like this:

9:00am - take off his diaper, tee-tees in the potty and puts on his undies. Makes it through breakfast fine.

9:20am - preemptive trip to potty. nothing

9:30am - has an accident (1) in the floor, but immediately tells me. Sort of whimpering even - a vast improvement from yesterday where he appeared not to care!

9:35am - gave him grape koolaid and he drank 2 cups of it!

9:55am - starts to have an accident (2) while playing, but stops himself midstream and calls for me. finishes the job on the potty. he's very proud of himself! gets a gummy bear as a reward

10:15am -given another cup of koolaid.

10:45am - starts to have another accident (3), but again stops until we can make it to the potty. finishes in the potty and gets his gummy bear.

11:20am - lets a drop of urine in his undies before telling me and we run to the potty. I changed his undies since I don't want him to be ok with any wetness at all! (4) gets a gummy bear

12:05pm - preemptive trip to potty. little trickle, but nothing significant. lots of toots too.

12:15pm - started to have a pee & poop accident (5), but calls for me and he finishes on the potty. gets 2 gummy bears as a reward. brush teeth

12:45pm - has an accident (6) while eating lunch with cup of milk. finishes on the potty. gets a gummy bear. huge mess - pooling in his booster chair and escaping down through the strap holes to the kitchen chair underneath. it had to be washed and I had to convert another activity center so that he had a booster to sit in while the other one dried.

1:10pm - tee-tees in the potty before changing into a diaper for naptime. gets a gummy bear reward

3:00pm - wakes up. tries to potty, but has nothing. back in undies

3:20pm - gets another cup of koolaid

3:35pm - tells me he needs to go poo-poo, but tee-tees instead on the potty. we stay extra long to try & poo-poo, but to no avail. gets 1 gummy bear.

4:05pm - more koolaid.

4:20pm - tells me he needs to poo-poo, but again only tee-tees. try to get him to poop. gets 1 gummy bear.

4:55pm - tells me he needs to potty & tee-tees. still no poo-poo. gets 1 gummy bear

5:25pm - preemptive trip to potty. nothing.

5:40pm - another preemptive trip to potty and he tee-tees. gets 1 gummy bear.

6:15pm - has a partial accident (7) in the floor and finishes on the potty. gets 1 gummy bear

6:35pm - makes it through dinner.

6:55pm - preemptive trip to potty. tee-tees, and tries but still no poop. gets 1 gummy bear

7:25pm - tee-tees on potty before bath

7:45pm - tee-tees in potty after bath and then into a diaper for bed. gets 2 gummies for bathtime pottying. brush teeth.

So all in all: 7 accidents and 15 gummy bears. I should have chosen something healthier, but he is really working for these gummy bears! His love affair with gummies started at school. Whenever they would read Brown Bear, Brown Bear, his teachers would give them gummy bears. My mom used raisins with me and M&Ms with my brother. Some people use stickers. I think you go with what works! Gummy bears work for us. I don't see us potty trained by tomorrow, but definitely by the end of the weekend is a feasible goal!

Day 1 - PT Report

Jackson had one more accident today (for a total of 3), but he did wear a diaper for naptime and when I had to leave the house this evening. When we got home, he went tee tee in the potty (and said "take a picture of that!" Ha!), so I guess it is somewhat registering with him. My frustrations today stem from it seeming to not bother him at all when he has had an accident. I had to remind myself that he is used to diapers where he would feel wet some. I was also frustrated that I could not get him to drink very much! Tomorrow I am going to make Kool-aid or lemonade and see if he will drink that. He calls it "juice" and loves it because he almost never gets it or real juice, for that matter! I think he'll drink gobs of it and then need to go potty more.

This morning Jackson didn't want to put on undies unless Emme wore some too, so Emme sported some Thomas undies over her pj onesie! Hope she doesn't develop a complex or gender identification issues. ;)

She seemed ok with it at the time.

Cutest little derriere I've ever seen!

He forgot to pull up his undies before washing his hands.

Potty Training

We started potty training today, but as the day wears on, I'm not sure Jackson is ready. Before now, he has gone potty on the big potty a handful of times. He will occasionally tell us he needs to go potty, but more often tells us immediately after he has gone potty and wants a diaper change. I took him to buy his own potty chair - something I said I wasn't going to do, but our doctor said it was important for him to have the leverage with feet on the ground. I also felt he would have ownership of his potty if he got to pick it out & knew it was just for him! He is happy to sit on it, went poop in it before his bath last night (it was only a little bit, but we celebrate small victories!), and just finished a poop in it now. But so far, he has had 2 accidents since 9am. One while we were playing blocks in the floor. I kept asking him every 10 mins or so if he had poo poo or tee tee that needed to come out and he kept saying no. Then at 10:30, I went to pick Emme up to take her up for her nap and I stepped in a wet spot. I then felt Jackson's underwear and he was wet. I have no idea how long he had been wet - it could have been very long because he was climbing all over me just minutes before, but he never even cared that he was wet. So we went to the potty to try and do more. Nothing. So we got washed up a bit, changed underwear and went back to playing. I continued to ask him if he needed to go about every 10 mins. I gave him a salty snack at about 11:15 and a cup of water. At noon, I noticed him grunting a bit and I asked if he needed to go as I was feeling his underwear, he kind of whimpered and I said he could finish on the potty. He sat down and finished, but again I noticed that he had peed also and didn't tell me. It's like he doesn't care about being wet, so this leads me to think he is not ready. I know there have only been 2 accidents so far, but I still don't know. I guess only time will tell! Both times I have not been angry or scolded. I have said things like "You wanted to go potty in the potty, but forgot to tell Mommy. That probably makes you mad being wet. That's ok, we'll get you cleaned up. You'll get better!" Any suggestions? Pray that God will grant me patience!