Time to put on your Big Boy Pants

Just a few weeks ago, the idea of potty training was enough to make me want to sit down on the floor, cross my arms and pout.  I did not want to hassle with it!  To tell you the truth, a little part of me thought maybe I should just let my kid hang out in diapers until he decided on his own that it is uncool to wear diapers to school.  However, I had several motivating factors that made me think that now is as good a time as any.  First, my niece, who is two weeks younger than my son, has been using the potty for several months now.  Now I am not trying to tell you that I think that our son has to keep up with his cousins, but I do use other kids his age as a guide to see what Josiah might be capable of doing.  I also felt like I should be taking advantage of the one on one time we have now, since we have no idea when another kid might come into the picture....that is just the nature of adoption folks.  So, I decided that there is no time like the present.

 Today marks the first full week of potty training our little man.  I have to say, I couldn't be more impressed with how easily he has picked the whole thing up.  That's not to say that he is totally potty trained, or that everything has gone perfectly, but for such a little person, he learns so fast!  He went through the whole day today without any accidents and has even kept his diaper dry two nights in a row, which I definitely did not expect!

Now, before you go thinking that I am some kind of super mom, you should know that I had no idea how to potty train a kid on my own.  I wouldn't have a clue how to begin.  So, I was looking for some kind of explicit guidance, and fortunately, I had a friend that gave it to me.  She had used a potty training book called Potty Training 1,2,3 with her daughter and recommended it.  I took one quick look at the book and decided that if someone felt confident enough to tell me that I could potty train my kid in 1-3 days and they were going to tell me exactly how to do it, then I was willing to give it a try.

In just less than a week, we have gone from several pees in the potty along with several pees in the pants/on the floor (and no poop anywhere), to dry big boy undies all day and some acknowledgement that he may have to go use the potty when he is walking around with cheeks clenched making strange nervous noises.

To ease any burning curiosity you are feeling...here's how it went down:

 Pre-Potty training day - a few weeks prior to potty training, Daddy took Josiah to the store to pick out some sweet big boy undies, which we have been talking up for months! Then, the day right before potty training began, we went to the store to pick out some juice and "special snacks" for the big day.  I told Josiah that the following day we would teach Mr. Bear to use the potty and that he could learn to use the potty too and that he and Mr. Bear could share some awesome potty training day snacks.

 Auntie "Lala" and Josiah checking out the new undies!

Potty training day 1 - With my schedule cleared for the next three days, we got down to business.  During breakfast, I gave Josiah some super dry cereal bars and offered him plenty of the grape juice that he helped to pick out the day before.  Soon after breakfast, Josiah and Mr. Bear (our potty training helper) suited up in their new big boy pants and we went to work.  First, we sat Mr. Bear on the potty and went through all the motions of pee (a little cup of water poured into the toilet for sweet sound effects), flush, wash hands, and special treat (neminems [M&Ms])  for a job well done.  After Josiah helped Mr. Bear, then it was Josiah's turn.  With plenty of grape juice pressing down, his first pee of the day was a success!  To be fair, this was not his first time ever peeing on the potty.  He has tried a few times before and already knew that if he bears down he will push pee out.  The rest of that day made me think that maybe I was getting ahead of myself.  Although we had many successful pees in the potty, we also had four pees either in pants or on the floor!  I was afraid that maybe Josiah was ready to push the pee out, but could not recognize the sensation that he needed to pee and hold it in until the time is right.

Josiah spent the day teaching Mr. Bear to do lots of things!

Potty training days 2-7 - Amazingly, with each passing day, Josiah has moved just a bit closer to being fully potty trained.  I wasn't sure how long this would take, but I am totally thrilled with how far he has come in this short time.  The book that I mentioned earlier, Potty Training 1,2,3, shares many testimonials that children are totally day and night trained in just 1-3 days.  This is way closer to reality than I expected.  I would say we are not there yet, but we are to a point that is manageable.  I feel like we can go out of the house and expect Josiah to keep his pants dry and clean until we get to a potty.  He is also beginning to acknowledge that he needs to use the potty when we ask him, although he doesn't really seem aware enough to tell us without us asking.  He has only pooped in the potty two times now (and has only pooped four times total), but even that seems like a triumph as he has had struggles with constipation from birth.  Both times that he pooped in the potty, he has earned a sucker.  I knew we were going to need to bring out the big guns to convince him:)  He was beyond thrilled with his ring pop sucker!

  All in all, potty training has not been the beast that I made it out to be.  I was really worried about the consistency that it would require of me to get him trained and keep him trained, but it has been much more relaxed than I expected....or maybe I have been much more relaxed that I expected.  Either way, we're on the right track!

Now that he wears big boy pants, he thinks he should learn to drive next!