3 Day Potty Training: Day One

(Sorry there are no pictures with this post - I couldn't risk the camera being soaked in God-knows-what for the sake of a blog :))

The day has gone well, all things considering.  It started out very well - Felix was again dry when he woke up, and went in the potty right away.  I then started offering drink after drink, which continued until he finished his juice at 11:15am (I wanted to stop in time for him to be able to stay dry during nap) and then continued after nap until 5 PM (again with enough time before bed to stay dry).  We both started getting the hang of the pee thing around 9:30am - he would do his pee-pee dance that told me he had to go, and I would sit him on the potty, and he would go.  He did this several times.  Of course, he also had many accidents, but we ended up with more successes than accidents today, so this was encouraging.

The author of the 3 Day method stresses that your child will tell you he has to go, even if it's not with words.  Now, Felix does have a mild speech delay, but he is able to say "potty" and "pee pee" and "poop."  He often will tell us he has pooped or needs to poop by using words.  But, so far, he has not told me that he needs to pee by using words (although he is quick to say "all done" or "no pee" if I have misread his wiggling and sat him on the potty when he didn't need to go).  But, as of 9:30 this morning, as long as I am watching him, I can tell he needs to go so we (mostly) avoid an accident.  I am hoping that by doing this for 3 days, he will get it.  People who use the 3 Day method use words like, "It just clicked for him all of the sudden!"  I am confident we will also get that click.  When?  I don't know...

Of course, there had to be a wrench thrown into my plans today - Felix had some sort of minor stomach bug, which caused him to have 5 bouts of diarrhea today.  I caught two before they went in the underwear, because his posture changed, but the other three came on too quickly for me.  So, this was a gross addition to the day.  Thank goodness for OxyClean and Clorox wipes.  But, on the bright side, he got plenty of fluids and did not seem like he felt sick at all.  So, hopefully it is behind us now.

A load of laundry and dishes were done at nap - all from the morning's fun :)  And, I took a nap as well - we were all up at 5:30, and keeping constant watch on Felix's underweared bottom and then whisking a 35 pound toddler to the potty dozens of times a day is surprisingly tiring.

I put training pants on him at nap, just in case, and he woke up dry again.  This was the first nap that he has woken up dry, as far as I know.  The daycare teacher has said that he "does better" at nap than during waking hours in terms of holding it, but she has not mentioned that he has been dry.  So, this was a positive thing.  After nap, he only had one true accident, where I didn't catch the signs (or there weren't any).  Other than that, he did a potty dance and then went in the potty when I sat him down.

I have adapted the 3 Day method a bit.  As I have said, I put training pants on him at nap and bedtime.  This has not proven to be either useful or detrimental - since he has been dry every time - but it makes me feel more at ease.  This is especially true since the boys sleep in the same bed - it would be unfair to Asher to wake up in a wet bed (not to mention make it doubly disturbing to change wet sheets).  My only other adaptation is that I have put a potty chair in the living room with us, and have been primarily using that one.  The 3 Day method suggests not doing this, and teaching the child to run to the bathroom.  I agree that this is a good skill, but I am just trying to work on going in a potty - I frankly don't care where it is.  As he gains more control, and is able to even take the initiative to go to the potty on his own when he needs it, then we can work on running to another room.

So, at the end of Day One, I am tired, but not stressed - I feel it was a successful day.  I am looking forward to how Day Two turns out!