Potty Trained at 2!

Hello everyone! What have we been up to lately? A LOT.  Potty training, Caden's birthday party, and my one and only little brother got married!  So I apologize for the lack of blog posts lately. 

I've gotten a lot of questions about how Caden was potty trained so young and so quickly! So I thought I would share the method we used and how we did it!

To start I didnt anticipate that we would even try until Caden was closer to 3.  A lot of women I know waited until then and it was so simple and easy and the child was ready on his/her own.  So I was in no rush.  But Caden loved to use the potty!  Around 18 months I bought him a potty seat so he could sit on the toilet and just use it when he wanted.  To be clear it was a seat. NOT a potty chair.  I know lots of kids use potty chairs and that's cool if that's your thing but I personally think it's yucky! haha.  And I wanted Caden to be comfortable on a regular toilet so no matter where we were he could use the potty and not rely on a little potty chair.  And let me tell you I'm so glad I made that decision! He can use any public toilet without fear!

So anyway I would ask him occasionally if he needed to pee pee and he would go potty no problem! And he was doing the typical indicators of being ready to potty train. Like telling me he needed to potty. Being able to take his pants and diaper off. Taking naps and waking up dry. 

So becuase i was considering trying to potty train my friend Jennifer recommended the 3 day technique she used with her son.  It's called 3 Day Potty Training by Lora Jensen.  It's an online e-book that I paid $24 for.  I wish it cheaper obviously but I'm super glad I bought it because IT WORKS.  And it's not a "my way or the highway" kind of thinking either.  She lays out different tips and techniques that you can adapt for your child. Even for those full time moms whose child goes to daycare! Or ladies whose family members help watch the child. 

To prepare for not leaving the house for three days I made sure I had everything we needed.  Went grocery shopping, bought new elmo underwear that I knew he would be excited about :) and a plastic mattress cover for his mattress.  I found one at walmart for a cheap $3 bucks!  I also made sure to get the big chores out of the way so that I could focus only on Caden. 

We started the day by having him take his last few diapers and throw them in the trash! I planned it so I only had 2 left. This helped him see that he was done with diapers and moving on to Elmo underwear!! We said all done with diapers! He was very excited :) I printed a potty chart to hang on the wall next to the toilet to give Caden a sticker every time he used the potty!  She gives you a few charts to choose from.  And I put a little dish of jellybeans and marshmallows as rewards every time he went! If he just sat there and didnt go then he did not get a sticker or treat but I still praised him for trying!

I think the biggest part of this method is consistency, patience, and attention.  It was like a 3 day play party with me and Caden so it was fun and not hard or frustrating for him.  As far as he knew Mommy was playing with him all day and he got treats for going potty! haha. 

The times that he had accidents he was not scolded or punished. we simply said uh-oh! and rushed him to the potty to finish his business. Then when he finished in the potty we celebrated BIG! we jumped up and down and said hooray! you went pee pee (or poo poo) in the potty!! You're such a big boy!!!  Then he got a sticker and a treat.  Then we reminded him that he needed to keep his underwear dry.  He caught on to that pretty quick. 

This method is also for night time! What we do for night time is make sure he gets no fluids 2-3 hours before bed time. 3 hours is a lot more difficult than 2 but it pretty much gaurantees a dry night if I can do 3.  I talk to him a lot about making sure if he has to go potty he wakes up and tells mommy. And that we need to keep our underwear dry. I also pray every night for him to have a dry night! hehe. Then a couple hours after he's fallen asleep I get him up and have him go potty one more time. I was super worried he would want to stay up and we would never get him back to bed but he is pretty much asleep the entire time. It's pretty funny too! Poor Caden using the potty in his sleep :)  In the morning I do my best to be up before him so I can see him start to stir and get him up to use the potty. 

For day time Caden is completely potty trained. It's AWESOME.  Night time is a different story. Occasionally when I go in for his night time potty he's already wet himself (and is still sleeping). So I have to change him and his sheets, have him use the potty then put him back down. And sometimes in the morning I go in to get him up and he's already wet himself again! :(  Its not every night, some nights he does awesome! And we make sure to celebrate them! So I really struggled with not buying pull-ups for night.  In the book she says it's best to not go back to diapers AT ALL.  He can take naps without accidents no prob.  But at night he just cant control it.  And I started to really get upset about it.  But then I had to remember....he's only 2!!  And he's not waking up and purposely peeing himself.  He has no idea that he's wet himself until I wake him up.  So after a few weeks of washing sheets and jammies almost every single day. I decided it's ok to put him in pull ups at night for now until he's old enough to control it.  I'm still going to continue to tell him he needs to stay dry and do my best to help him recognize when he needs to go and wake up. 

So there you go! My big boy is potty trained :) And what a relief to not have to buy diapers! Let me know how yall are doing!