For real. Without the special ninja turtle cup, he wouldn't have drank enough tea to go to the potty every 10-15-25-30 minutes. "Tea turns into pee-pee, not water or juice." - wisdom from a 2 year old
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| the ninja turtle cup. he was allowed to watch as much TV as he wanted as long as he drank while watching....is that completely terrible?!? |
One Sunday evening, I decided to try potty training. We had tried before with little success with #1, he'd only poo in the potty. Then, he broke his leg and the Hulk Leg (here) hindered potty training.
Then, he was doing well with #2, still not #1, when he announced, "sorry guys. I pee pee in my pants. sorry." Meaning, he wasn't going to use the potty, so we should give up (life with a strong-willed child, can I get an "amen"?!)
THEN, we were making progress again, then his brother was born (here). He then decided that ALL of the diapers and wipes in the house belonged to him. This made for interesting newborn diaper changes when we had to chase him to get the necessary supplies.
(can you just laugh or cry with me already?! ha!)
So, on that random Sunday evening, I thought, "We'll try now. It'll only be for a few hours, if he's frustrated and quits, it'll be bedtime anyway, so it's worth a shot!" He'd been giving me signs like, telling me he was peeing...(is that a clear enough sign??).
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This is what I did:
1.) Cheerios / I dropped a few Cheerios in the toilet and asked if he wanted to shoot them with pee pee.
He thought this was AMAZING, and asked for more Cheerios (to increase his odds of shooting one. ha!)
2.) Cup / I chose a cup I knew he thought was amazing (it was still new to him), a Ninja Turtle water bottle. I filled it with his choice of drink (tea) and gave it to him. I gave him pretzels, too, in an effort to get him to drink more.
3.) Clock / I set a timer for 10 minutes. He loved the timer! He still does - whenever he hears it, he runs to the potty. In these times, my husband and I refer to him as "Pavlov"...except our guy pees when he hears the bell. ;) (he'll love me for this post when he's older, I'm sure of it).
4.) Once he was dry after every 10 minute session (or irritated from being interrupted every 10 minutes), we bumped up the increments to 15 minutes. Then, we moved to 25 minutes. If he was wet before one of the increments, we would shorten the increments again.
5.) A few days later, the wonder of the Cheerios had faded (he was eating them from the cup on the bathroom counter while sitting on the potty..ha!) I let him go on his own. He had a couple accidents, but I blame the water he was playing with. Every so often, we'll remind him to go, but for the most part, he can go an hour or so between trips to the potty. He wakes up in the mornings dry, but we're not risking it with undies for awhile.
Now, he loves undies! We just remind him to go every so often, but we have mostly dry days (except when he's playing in water....I can't blame him too much for that!)
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| so grown up! |
Here are my steps and supplies to potty-train in this way
1.) Let him choose a cup he will want to drink from him. Let him choose a beverage. If it's full of sugar, just grin and bear it - it's only for a few days... the end justifies the means in this situation!
2.) Be prepared to spend a few days in the bathroom all day long...I was juggling an infant at the same time...so, my guy ran around "nakey" for a bit because I couldn't feed my little guy and run back and forth to the potty with my oldest (you do what you have to do sometimes!)
3.) Use Cheerios in the potty for him to learn where to aim.
4.) Set a timer (I used my phone). Start with 5 or 10 minutes, whatever makes you the most comfortable - you know your boy. After he's dry between increments, increase the time. Keep him full of snacks and liquids. If he eats tons of crackers or snacks so that he will drink a lot, don't cringe too much - it's necessary!!
5.) Call anyone important to him for praise after the first few times of being dry and using the potty (my family members received many calls at work. ha!)
6.) When enthusiasm begins to lag, praise him with a small incentive (we used a piece of candy, bc candy is a rare treat around here).
7.) When he's consistently dry between longer increments, let him go for awhile by himself and see if he goes to the potty on his own (if he doesn't, clothes can always be washed!). If he's getting frustrated with stopping his playtime to potty, ease up a bit - my guy refused to go if he became frustrated, so I chilled out and watched to see what he would do. Sure enough, he said, "Mommy, I feel sparkly" and we RAN to the potty. (Sparkly was his own definition. I couldn't love it any more!)
8.) Reward his potty training success with a trip to buy a special toy or new undies. We have a friend who had a cake made for her little girl. Whatever your guy would like, go for it. You've both earned a celebration for your many many many trips to the potty. :)
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