Potty Training

Ahhh! Potty Training! I never really thought of this as a big deal. When we potty trained Luke it was extremely easy. We were preparing to move and I just told him when we moved into our new house he had to start using the potty instead of diapers. I put underwear on him and I'm not even sure he had an accident after that. There were times when he peed off the back steps. That was usually because he was outside and didn't allow enough time to get to the bathroom.

So, we started potty training Matthew- well, we started about a year ago. No go. I decided not to try again until he was 3. He wasn't even near being ready. So, when he turned 3 I started trying again. I started doing research on different ways to potty train your child. How little boys are different than girls. Blah, blah, blah. I tried everything. We made charts and bought stickers. We threw Cheerios in the toilet and told him to try to pee on them. I ran water while he sat on the toilet. I made him walk around in his underwear all day. We went through 10 pairs of underwear and he hadn't even sat down to try to pee in the toilet. Needless to say, it wasn't going well. So, I decided to bribe him. I bought a big package of M&M's and made little baggies of M&M's so he had a reward for going. He could have cared less. Wasn't even the least bit interested in them if he had to go pee in the toilet to get them. I bought videos and books. NOTHING! I couldn't even get him to TRY!!! Back to the drawing board.

I decided yesterday to read to him while he sat on the toilet. It was first thing in the morning and my idea was- the longer he sat there, he would eventually have to go. Well we read a couple books and 30 minutes later he hadn't gone. Jacob was trying to get in the toilet and it was beginning to look like we were going to be hanging out in the bathroom all day. I knew this couldn't last much longer, so I tried coming up with a solution. I decided to try to find Luke's potty chair. I found it and took it out into the living room and had him sit on it while he watched cartoons. Still nothing. He got bored with it very fast and was running around the house "in the buff". So, I had to come up with something fast. I finally decided to give in and offered him some pop. I put a very small amount in a cup and told him he had to drink it while he sat on the potty chair. (You see, I'm not big on any of my kids drinking pop. Luke still doesn't get pop except on very special occasions. Even then he hardly drinks any of it.) Well, he sat down and pretty soon I heard him say- "Mommy I peed!" I was shocked and excited. I clapped and made a huge deal out of it.

By the end of the day he only had one accident and that was when he took a nap. I knew the biggest hurdle would be to prove to him that he could do it. We even took a trip to McCook to Pizza Hut to celebrate and he still didn't have an accident. He even woke up this morning with a dry diaper!! YAY!! I am very proud of him!

I am also proud to announce that Nathan also went potty in the potty chair once yesterday. He still isn't sure what all the fuss is about, but I made a huge deal out of it anyway. He refuses to go since, but I am sure in a few months he will want to be big like Matthew. I'm not going to push it too much! I am just excited to have one trying to use the potty before the next baby comes!