Potty Training

We began the potty training process about a month ago with Austin, and I thought I would share a little timeline of our progression for all of you who will be potty training kids in the near future.

1. For the first week and a half, it was pure agony. I almost gave up. Austin absolutely hated sitting on the potty.... he would cry and scream every time... he would sit on the potty and play with toys, read books, do puzzles, color, play playdough... do just about anything but actually go in the potty. Then he would get up and wet his underwear. When he did actually use the potty, it was always a big surprise for all of us when he stood up because he never realized it when he went.

2. Then, he had a breakthrough. All of a sudden, he realized when he was going. We had our first full day of dry underwear. He would still cry every time I put him on the potty (which was about every hour or so), but he would go in the potty, and he would keep his underwear dry. At this point, we were staying home almost all the time. It was really lame since I like to get out of the house and do things, but it was a necessary practice in order to continue our potty training success.

3. In the most recent weeks, Austin has stopped crying when we take him to the potty, and this past week, he has actually used the potty at church, at a restaurant and at a friend's house. He has also started telling me when he needs to go sometimes. I am still the one who does most of the reminding though. We have had several successful outings to the store where he stays dry the entire time and relieves himself when we get home. Austin wears underwear at home, but we put him in pull-ups for naps, bedtime and when we leave the house. He usually can stay dry for his nap and when we leave the house, but he doesn't have bladder control at bedtime yet. However, he does use the restroom when he gets up in the morning now, which makes planning for morning outings much more predictable. For the first few weeks, he would wet his diaper in the morning before getting out of bed, so he wouldn't have to go for 1-2 hours in the morning.

My piece of advice is this: Potty training is a process. I don't know how many books I've read that present the idea that you can potty train a child in less than a week if you are consistent and disciplined. This is just not realistic for many children. If you go into potty training thinking that you are going to have it completed in a certain number of days or weeks, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. Some children may pick it up quickly, but at least in our case, it has been a process. Expect it to be a process. Plan to stay home all the time and be miserable for awhile, but eventually the child will catch on and start making potty training milestones. Those little successes will encourage you along the way.

By the way, I have no advice for bowel training at this point because we have not mastered this skill. Like I said, potty training is a process.