We've been talking about potty training Clark since May and this weekend, to bring in the New Year with a bang, we finally did it!! Day One went AMAZING!!! I can't believe this boy is done with diapers!!
I read a book in May called "Oh Crap! Potty Training" by Jamie Glowacki, just thinking I would get a peek into the potty training process and found out in the introduction that by picking up that book I knew deep down that my child was ready to be potty-trained! It actually made sense and I wanted to potty train him shortly after his 2nd birthday but we had vacation plans soon after and I worried it would undo all our hard work. We decided to wait until Mark had more vacation days and do it over Christmas break, barely making the cut-off because the author states the prime time for potty training is between 20 and 30 months. Clark will be 31 months on January 10!
So this method is essentially the 3 Day Potty Training Method that has become really popular. It's one of the most popular and highest rated potty-training books and after reading it with Mark, we both agreed it made sense and we wanted to try it. We feel Clark has been ready capable (not supposed to say ready!) for months now and he took to Day One SO well!! I'm so excited / nervous for Day Two, supposedly the hardest day!
I want to document the entire process so here is a re-cap of what happened on Day One:
Clark woke up around 7:30 am and Mark brought him downstairs for breakfast, like he does every Saturday. After breakfast, I got up (normally Saturday is my sleep-in day but I was not about to miss this!) and we got ready to start! For several weeks now, we've been talking to Clark about throwing away all his diapers and that he's going to "go pee pee and poo poo in the potty like mama and daddy". The point was to get him used to the idea but not to overwhelm / intimidate him. He seemed interested, especially since he hates diaper changes these days, but didn't really give it much thought. Oh, except he was interested if we would be throwing away Dilly's diapers too! Haha, we told him no, Dylan would still have diapers.
So this morning after breakfast, I told him, "Clark, today we're going to throw away all your diapers! You're going to go poo poo and pee pee in the potty like mommy and daddy! We are going to teach you this and it's going to be really fun!" Then we marched him over to the diaper basket (which was full of Dylan's diapers only because we actually really did run out of his diapers just in time for this!) and let him dump them all in the trash. He thought that was pretty fun! Then it was time to take off his diaper. Not so fun.
He normally really resists diaper and clothing changes these days and even though we told him he wouldn't have to put a new diaper on, he still wasn't interested. So finally I stood up. pulled down my shorts and kicked them off! Mark followed suit. Then Clark stood up and did the same! Then I kicked off my underwear and Mark followed suit, hahaha. And sure enough, Clark took his diaper off! [I'll be happy to inform you that Mark and I both subtly got dressed again shortly after!]
So one big problem we were anticipating, being the middle of winter, was that Clark would be cold! Day One of our potty training method was a naked day! We let him wear a long sleeve shirt and socks but for the rest of the day, Clark would be bottomless. We thought he would love this more than he actually did (he went through a phase a few months ago where he LOVED being diaper-less before bath and would run around and shriek with laughter!) Shortly after his diaper came off, he tried to pull his shirt down over his legs and said, "I need pants."
We told him that today he would be learning to use the potty so he couldn't wear pants today and soon he pretty much forgot that he wasn't wearing them. We had set up camp in our bathroom with his potty, a bunch of new Christmas toys and books and his new sleeping bag to sit on. We weren't sure what to expect and nothing really happened for the first hour or so. Day One, in a nutshell, is supposed to be a naked day and a day where we do nothing all day but watch Clark! No chores, phone, outings, or anything but giving him our complete, undivided attention. Since I'm one of the world's best multitaskers and my mind is always thinking of at least 3 different things at a time, I was very nervous about this day!
So we played with him in the bathroom for awhile, a little on edge and not sure what to expect. Finally, Clark got up and walked out of the bathroom with one of his new toys. I quickly followed him and that's when I heard him say, "Ow!" and wipe his leg. I noticed some drops on the floor and called to Mark, "He dribbled!" Mark wasn't sure he had really peed but I knew as soon as I saw him wipe his leg (he hates being wet / dirty) that he had. I was very calm and composed and told him (just like the book said), "You peed on the floor. Pee goes in the potty. Next time you'll go on the potty." Then we sat him on the potty to see if he still had to go but he insisted he didn't. I cleaned up the pee (it was just a few drops) and we re-grouped and got ready to watch closer.
On Day One, you're supposed to spend all day watching your child and trying to learn their pee signals and pee schedule. For example, some kids do a potty dance, get a look in their eye, stop what they're doing, raise their foot, etc. right before they pee. We needed to figure out Clark's pee signals so we could help him make it to the potty. We also needed to see how often and when Clark was peeing. Did he pee 5-6 times an hour after drinking a sippy cup of juice? Or could he hold his pee for 3 hours after drinking a cup of juice? We quickly learned, Clark is a camel!
We weren't sure if he was holding his pee because he didn't have a diaper on or because we were watching or if he always pees that way. We never noticed when he wore diapers because we just changed them when they were wet. After another couple hours with no pee, Mark began to get discouraged. The problem was also that Clark wasn't drinking much. We hadn't been able to make a trip to the grocery store before starting to get his favorite "dada juice" (Capri Sun's and when he was little he thought the surfer was dada!) and popsicles as well as grapes, oranges, etc. So he wasn't that interested in drinking.
Finally, when my back was turned (I was actually running to get the book to read the chapter on Block One Dilemmas, because Clark was resisting sitting on the potty) I heard Mark yell, "Clark, stop!" I ran back and asked, "What happened?" Mark was freaking out and Clark was sobbing hysterically! "He peed, he peed!" Mark said and then I quickly told him, "You're not supposed to scold him! You scared him!" and Mark said, "It's okay," to Clark to which I said, "NO, you're not supposed to say that either! It's not okay!" Haha, seriously though, in the book she says not to scold but not to tell them it's okay either. You just state, "You peed on the floor. Pee goes in the potty. Next time you'll go on the potty." I told Clark this and then had him help me clean up the pee. And we began again!
Another hour or so later (lunch time), it happened again. I was nursing Dylan after his nap when I heard Clark sobbing. I came down and asked what had happened but I already knew the answer. "Clark peed on the chair," Mark said, as he was cleaning it up. Clark was sitting on the potty wailing because he had been sitting with his legs folded and the pee puddled up in his lap. As I mentioned before, Clark hates being wet, dirty, sticky, you name it! This is GOLD for potty training!!
By this third accident Mark and I were both pretty skeptical about how things were looking. Every time Clark peed I wasn't around and Mark didn't seem to be seeing much of any signals. He also wasn't peeing often enough for us to get much practice. But just like the author said, you never know when things are going to click and by the next pee, things started to turn around.
We were all playing by the stairs, with the potty inches away from Clark. Clark was doing stamps and Dylan was trying to eat them (typical). Oh, I forgot to mention that we were setting 30 minute timers in between pees and every 30 minutes were prompting him to go. The hardest part we were having was getting him to sit on the potty. We had to keep coming up with new, exciting things to show him when he sat (my craft bag, party supplies, a calm jar we made with water, confetti & olive oil) and were running out of ideas.
While we were doing stamps, the timer went off and we got Clark to sit on the potty. Then it happened. HE PEED!!! He was as excited as us!!! "I peed!!" he said and we high-fived him and I made up a potty song/dance on the spot (to the tune of Blues Clues): "You went on the potty, you went on the potty, you went on the potty, because you're really BIG!!" Then we asked Alexa to play some applause for him but instead she played Lady Gaga's, "Applause" hahahah!! So that became our official potty dance song!! We sang and danced to that song every time he went pee on the potty (9 more times by the end of the day!) I will never forget that song!
After Clark's first pee I started a sticker chart with him. If he went 7 times in the potty by the end of the day, he could have a special treat (aka CANDY!) Now, this is where we strayed from the author's advice. She doesn't recommend bribery but she does recommend making the method work for the child you have and making adjustments as needed. Rewards really work well for Clark (and the praise works wonders!) so I thought a treat at the end of each successful potty day was fair enough.
It worked like a charm! Clark didn't have a single accident the rest of the day!! Well, if you don't count that time he peed on the potty in his spaceship tent with a crown on his head and we made him wait so I could take a picture and then he was so excited when he got off he tipped the potty over and all the pee went all over him and the tent!!!
There are six blocks in this potty training method and they can each take varying amounts of time. Block One, peeing and pooping (Clark doesn't poop every day, more like every 3 days, so we did not tackle poop on Day One), in the potty, while naked, with or without prompting, should take anywhere from 1-3 days. Block Two is the same thing but with pants (no underwear) and Block Three includes outings. Block Four adds underwear and Block Five is consistent self-initiation. Block Six is NightTime and Nap Training! The idea is to get your child to go from clueless to I peed to I'm peeing to I have to go pee!
Well by the end of the day, Clark was running to the potty saying, "Wait I have to pee!" Uhh...does this mean we skipped Blocks 2-4?? Haha, I'm not getting TOO excited though because supposedly Block Two feels like starting over. Adding pants is hard because it adds privacy (what a diaper gives) and it's much harder to see their signals or to tell when they're about to go or have already started going so you may miss getting them to the potty in time. We are definitely confident though that Clark has successfully phased out of Block One and is ready for pants tomorrow! His little nakey bum will be happy!
Mark is passed out next to me and I don't even know how I'm still awake. Tomorrow I have to teach in YW so Mark will be on his own for about 90 minutes with both boys. Clark isn't able to go to church during this block so Mark will be staying home with the boys. Dylan will likely be napping the whole time I'm gone though so it should go okay. Wish us luck!!
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