Potty Training

Yes. You read that right. I am potty training my 20 month old. I have been doing 'limited' training, and not really PUSHING him, just getting the idea into his head, so he can start to wrap his mind around the whole idea, and most of all, I just want him to start being aware of those muscles down there, and learn how to control them. I have to say, he has been a CHAMP! The first time he sat down on the potty, we told him to go poop...and he went poop! 

So I'll walk you through what I did since a couple people have been asking me. First of all, Easton is SOOO into learning new things right now, and that is why I jumped at the opportunity now, instead of waiting until a year or so from now. I read a lot of different tips online, and talked to a few friends who had trained both boys and girls, and I kinda came up with my own plan. First, I printed out a progress chart, then I went to Wal*Mart with him, and let him pick out underwear, a potty seat, treats, reward toys, stickers, a potty book, pull ups, etc. When we got home that night, like I said, we set it up, and we put him on the potty, and he went. That first time I think was luck, but it reinforced my drive to go ahead with the whole plan the next morning. 

Day one, he got up, put on his undies, and I got him his drink after breakfast. I kept refilling his sippy cup of juice to constantly have fluids in him. I set a timer on my phone to go off every 15 minutes, I set it to a loud and fun ringtone, so as soon as he heard it, he knew exactly what it meant. He would run to the bathroom, and get so excited to sit on the potty. I would read his book with him, it's an Elmo book with sound buttons, so he thinks it's pretty great to read and make sounds. While he is sitting, I've found it's best to either be in the bathroom with him to distract him so he can relax and go, or I'll just completely leave the room and let him focus on his own. He always poops when I leave him alone to do it all on his own. 

If he does go, he get to put a sticker on his chart, and then gets a treat, either a jelly bean for pee pee, or a starburst for poop. I try to make a HUGE deal about it when he goes...we high five, we dance, we give kisses and hugs, we call grandma or dad....go all out and make him feel AWESOME about what he just did! 

If he starts to have an accident, I'll stop him and hurry to put him on the potty. He doesn't get a treat after those times, even if he finishes on the potty. Also, on his potty seat, he has a little 'splash guard' so the pee doesn't go all over the floor while he is sitting there, but he likes to play with the guard. So if he goes pee while the guard is down, and it goes all over the floor, he also doesn't get a treat. The other time he doesn't get a treat or sticker is when he just sits there, and nothing comes out, so if he doesn't go, no treats. 

This method has worked great for us, after he started to get the hang of it, he would empty his bladder more at a time, so I stopped using the timer, and kinda just kept an eye on him, and would guess around when he would need to try and go again, and when I put him on again, he would go a lot. So I do think that he is starting to 'hold it' better. 

Naptime, bed time, and any time we leave, he is still in a diaper. I don't really know how to transition him into that amount of potty training restraint. But for a 20 month old boy, I think he has done great! If any of you have tips for training them for sleep time and going out, PLEASE leave a comment for me!

I have LOVED not cleaning up all those poopy diapers, and it so fun to see him be so proud of himself!