I’ve been saving this post for about a monthmonths. I was afraid that if I posted this too early I would jinx myself and been in potty training hell forever.
I really didn’t plan on potty training when we started, it just sort of happened. I was initially planning on following the 3 Day Potty Training Method and doing this in one shot with both Aiden and Roman. Well, that’s not quite how this happened. Aiden has been showing signs of readiness; wanting to sit on the potty and occasionally peeing on it.
^^That was written in November. Tonight I read my college friend’s blog post on potty training her second son and it reminded me that I had yet to finish this post. So let me pick up where I left off and give the complete saga of how I potty trained the twins.
As I was saying, Aiden was all about it and couldn’t wait to put on those cool Thomas the Tank Engine underpants. So, I just went with it. Threw caution to the wind and said, Ok, I’m going to leverage this enthusiasm, say a prayer, take a shot, and run.
Looking back, Aiden WANTED to be ready, but physically wasn’t quite there. The first weekend, it wasn’t so bad, but I was constantly asking him, “Do you have to go potty? Do you have to pee,” every 5 minutes. It’s pretty exhausting stalking your toddler to catch him before he wets himself, and then watch his twin brother, and then, oh yeah, take care of an infant. He only had a few accidents and then Monday came and I brought him to daycare (I was still working at the time) with about 14 pairs of underwear and 7 pairs of pants.
Everyone looked at me like I was crazy, except for his lead teacher. She loved potty training kids…she should probably be checked for that, but hey, who am I to complain if you’re all for training my kids.
Yeah, so that first day at daycare, he went through about 6 pairs of pants and underwear. When I picked them up, talked with the Director and his teachers…tell me what to do! I have no clue what I’m doing…do I go back to diapers? Push forward? They said, if I was willing to keep going, so were they…bless their hearts.
So Aiden trudged along, accidents here and there, but really took him a few months..yes months, to really be fully day trained. I was stressed, tired, and a frequent customer at the local wine store. I rewarded with M&M’s, Matchbox cars, Little People figures, anything that would entice him, I had no shame, I went for it.
While all of this was going on, Roman refused to go near the potty, didn’t want to sit on it, go near it, nada. So cool, I’m not even going to try until you pretty much ask me to go potty. I know I wanted to train them at the same time but then I thought about it again. Why? I mean, yes they’re twins but they are two very different kids; and every kid has their own timeline, so I scratched that initial plan. I also learned that diapers can be pretty damn convenient. Oh, you just peed in your diaper, ok, give me one minute and I will change you; vs. Oh you have to pee NOW??? Well shit, now I need to find a bathroom asap and drag all three kids there as fast as I can.
The boys turned three in March and Roman still did not show any interest. As recommended by one of my fellow MoMs friends, I read “Potty Training Boys the Easy Way,” and let me tell you, this was amazing. LOW stress…let me say that again, low stress people. The gist of this method is, every morning ask, “Do you want to wear underwear or a diaper?” and they choose. For a while Roman chose a diaper. End of discussion. Well one sunny day in April, Roman responded with, “Underwear!” when I posed the question. The first time he had an accident, I asked, “Where are you supposed to pee?” His response, “In the potty.” End of discussion, ask again which he wants to wear – for a while he asked to go back in the diaper. This routine was short lived. Eventually he wanted to wear underwear all day and didn’t need to be reminded to go potty. The whole poop thing took longer, as he waited for a Pull-Up but he eventually got there. I did have to reward him with M&Ms when he poops and pretty much threw a parade for him in the bathroom…I dangled a brand new toy lawn mower if he didn’t have any poop accidents for a week. Even now when he poops he gets SO proud of himself when he tells me, his face lights up like a Christmas tree, it’s pretty adorable.
So there you have it, two very different experiences but we’re finally there (night training isn’t happening but I’m cool with that b/c changing sheets at 2am is not my idea of fun, and they’re just not ready).
A few tips I’ve learned along the way:
- Having boys learn to pee standing up is less messy – if they’re not tall enough, have them stand on a stool, lean forward and hold onto the toilet seat, they’re already perfectly aimed. Just don’t talk to them and make them turn to you…
- They sometimes did better running around the house naked; they were more inclined to initiate potty visits
- Short on space in your bathroom, or just don’t like a lot of clutter around? Buy this built in potty seat.
- In a public restroom without a step stool? Stand behind them and let them stand on your feet
- If you’re in the car a lot – this is great for travel.
- Have wine on hand
You want to know what’s funny? The littlest man, Lucas, asks to have his diaper taken off and sits on the potty at least once a day now, stands next to Aiden and Roman pretending he’s peeing along with them and tells me when he’s pooped. I’ll humor him for now and play along with his game, who knows, this kid might potty train himself before his big brothers are night trained.
Whether you go about it with the 3 Day Method, or the “Easy” way, good luck, eventually, they will be trained and this will be behind us all soon enough…and then we’ll cry that our babies are all grown up.
Please Put the Seat Down 