Potty Training begins

For the past few months, Owen has been waking up from his naps completely dry. We have been using the potty right when he woke up in the morning, before and after naps, and before and after bathtime for awhile now. I decided that it was time we took the leap to big boy underpants this week since he's off from Preschool for Thanksgiving break. I am determined not to go back to diapers (except at night) because I believe he is ready.

All week I've been trying my best to get him excited about potty training by hyping it up every chance I got. Heck, I even started looking forward to it. (I think I was also trying to convince myself that it wasn't going to be as difficult messy as I was fearing.)

After swimming on Friday, we made a trip to Target so that Owen could pick out his favorite big boy underpants. I basically showed him all the boy versions and we got one of each design in his size, including a 2-pack of Gerber cotton training pants with waterproof outside which I thought would help us to contain accidents while still letting him feel wet.

Owen seemed to get the message that we were really going to do this. He even told his preschool teacher and his swim teacher that he was doing potty training this week, unprompted by me. It's starting to sink in. No more diapers for Owen.

This morning we got up, went potty and he picked out the Lightning McQueen underpants to start with. I brought his potty into the area between our kitchen and family room where we spend most of the day when we're home, and put a towel underneath it to help with any sprinkles of tinkle or poop accidents. I thought this would be a good tactic to have the potty close by so that it would be in his mind throughout the day and he could get to it quickly if he had to go.



A friend of mine said that her husband trained their son by putting him in underwear and setting a timer on 30 minute intervals. I decided that it sounded like a good idea, so that's what we did. I offered him an M&M after he went on the potty. We had a few accidents in the morning, but nothing terrible. What started to frustrate me was that he would pee on the potty, then ten minutes later he'd pee in his pants and say, "I had an accident!" and he thought it was hilarious. He also was refusing (along with throwing tantrums) to poop on the potty. "No Mommy! No poop! Just pee-pee!" was what he was saying all morning.

He refused to nap, so instead he played for awhile and then he said he had to pee on the potty. He sat while I was working on putting together our holiday cards on the computer. I looked over and he said, "I made poop on the potty!" all proud of himself. I was amazed. Tons and tons of praise, high fives and hugs/kisses, and some M&M's followed. I actually texted a picture of Owen showing off his potty full of poop to Ben, as gross as that is. I was so proud!

We did okay the rest of the afternoon, some successes and some accidents. Ben got home from work and I had to run to the grocery store, so I got a break while Daddy took over. I got a text during my first 15 minutes in the store: Poop accident.

I am just so thankful that he's no longer holding in his poops, like he was this past May when we ended up in the ER.

It was a long day. I hope tomorrow is better. "Owen, let's go potty!" is about the only thing running through my head right now.