At 17 months after learning his potty patterns, we bought his first potty chair, a bunch of books, DVD's, sticker charts, candy, you name it... and he just wasn't ready... Then he turned two, and he still showed no interest in going to the potty. Then two and a half rolled around, and STILL nothing, nada, zilch!
I spent countless hours reading through potty training tips online, and talking with friends getting their experiences... and still to no avail; Jax just wasn't even willing to try. Then about 3 weeks ago, I found an article online that really interested me about a woman who's little boy, just like Jax, was far more intelligent than most, could do most things 3 and 4 year olds weren't doing, but he refused to use the potty... finally on this little boys own time, he came to his mommy and asked to use the potty... well that's kinda what we are going through now.Dean started taking Jax in the bathroom each time HE went, and putting Jax up on the big potty just to try it out, when FINALLY last week, he went! We hooped and hollered and jumped up and down, and even though it was going on 10pm, we loaded him with candy and presents, and showered him with praises... The next day, we were driving to Nashville, and not certain that we were even about to start the process. I think Dean and I were just assuming this was a freak one time only thing, and we still had a ways to go before we really needed to be ready. On our way there, when we stopped to feed Liam half way, Dean was optimistic and decided to take Jax into the restroom and try... Low and behold, he went POTTY on a different toilet!!!! Thankfully, just in case, I had brought his Hershey Kisses along, and he didn't wait more than 2 seconds before his hand went out asking for his candy!
The rest of the weekend, we got a potty attempt here and there, and again, I thought ok... well see, we still aren't there yet. Then on the way home... well that's where Jax decided to use his new signal...
30 minutes into our drive, from the backseat comes... "My tummy hurts... I have to go Pooootttttyyy". Dean and I looked at each other, and pretty soon Dean was going 10 over and speeding to find the next bathroom. Dean took him out, and sure enough, he had saved a few dribbles to put in the potty. Then again... and again... annnnnd again... "I HAVE TO GO POTTY! My tummy hurts!!". Needless to say, it took us MUCH longer than 4 hours to get home that day... Over the next few days, Jax retreated some, and learned it was ok to have accidents, but he would be rewarded if he came and told Mommy or Daddy he had to use the potty! He still isn't quite there when it comes to telling us he has to go potty, but we've figured that just telling him, "come on lets go..." usually results in something in the toilet.
Well TODAY... (Day 1) I decided to let him go diaper-less, and see what I got. I brought his potty chair into the playroom and instructed him to sit on the potty each time he thought he had to go. After about an hour of me checking in every 10 mins, I heard a "Mommmmmyyyy Jaxon went POTTY!!!". So I went in to check, and sure enough... he actually sat on the potty chair all by himself, and went pee!! Since starting this post, Jax has gone BY HIMSELF about 10 times!
I just hope that the amount of rewarding and treating doesn't end up in a ton of baby teeth cavities! Dean is off to the Dollar store to replenish our prize bag, and hopefully pick up some sugar-free treats for him! We are however, giving in to pull up's. While we are at home, I plan on keeping him naked, or in undies until he totally get's it... but when it comes to nap and bedtime, and his master plan of trying to get out of sleeping by asking to go Potty 200x, the diaper's lose their form, and the sticky tape, becomes, not so sticky. So we're going to try pull up's and possibly putting his potty chair in his bedroom at night to avoid an hour and half later bedtime!
Day 2 - On day 2, we had a great day! Jax only had two accidents, one in his undies attempting to get to the potty, and two, after jumping and running around playing, he was out in the living room, and thankfully got to the kitchen just in time to make an impressive puddle. He said sorry, and helped Mommy clean up. I explained that accident will happen, and it's ok. Then the BIGGEST part of the day... Jaxon had gone and hid in a closest and was trying to go #2. He got some out, and I think was really embarrassed it wasn't in a diaper, so I grabbed him real quick and sat him on the potty, staying with him until he was done. Drum roll please... Jax POOPED in the potty!!! The next big thing was getting him down for a nap. I told him his pull-up was just like his big boy underwear, and we needed to go potty before nap so he wouldn't make a mess in his bed. After he went potty (potty chair in his room), he took an hour and a half nap and woke up DRY! ;)
Today... Day 3 - we are off to a GREAT start! Jax slept from 10pm-8am, and once again, when he woke up from sleeping, he was completely dry! We had put his Elmo undies under his pull-up, and both were dry!!! So far so good today, and no accidents other than a little mess on the actual potty chair!I'm so excited about Jax becoming potty trained, but know that it's still a ways off before he's fully day and night trained. I am so proud of just three day's progress and hope it won’t be more than a week before we get it down! It's such a little blessing to see his excitement over his accomplishments!!!
So for the Adventures in Potty Land... we're on our way!
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