Here is an update on how the week has gone, after our 3 Day Potty Training weekend (affectionately called "Potty-Palooza" - we had music, dancing, food, drink, portable toilets, and lots of mess - just like the real thing :))
Day Four (Tues): This day started out with so much promise. Felix woke up in the morning with only a slight leak in his training pants - it could hardly be called an accident. We had no accidents that morning, including on the way to daycare. Then, he stayed dry ALL DAY at daycare. I couldn't believe it. I picked him up, he stayed dry on the way home, and then peed in the potty around 5PM. I guess I got overly confident then, because I left him in the living room playing while I did some cooking. During that span of 45 minutes, he had two wet accidents. He just didn't want to stop playing I guess, but he didn't try to get my attention (in the other room) or go to the potty himself. I tried not to let it show, but man, I was discouraged. I also realized it was fully my fault for leaving him alone so I couldn't read his cues. But, to make matters worse, he then had two more accidents before bed - one poop before bath, and one wet pair of training pants after bath. And I was with him then. Sigh. I will admit, this was more than a little discouraging. It made me break down in tears - I hate to admit that I can be brought to tears by some pee, but apparently I can. The weekend was so much work, and then it felt like it was all for nothing - all in the span of 2 hours. But, we had come too far to quit, and I just had to concentrate on the good, and renew my efforts to watch his cues and encourage him to stay dry and use the potty.
Day Five (Wed): This was by far the best day yet. Felix woke up dry (albeit WAY too early - 4:30 am), stayed dry during nap, and for the entire afternoon and evening! He had only one wet accident in the morning at daycare - frankly I'm surprised this didn't happen the day before, since the teachers have 6 other kids to watch and he is not yet telling adults when he needs to go - you just have to read his body language and/or time his trips. I have to admit, I concentrated more on that myself after yesterday, especially in the evening. So, thanks to everyone's efforts, it was a VERY successful day!
Day Six (Thurs): This was generally a good day. Felix woke up dry (and at the late hour of 5:08 am!) and stayed dry while walking to my room and climbing into bed with me. So much better than an alarm clock! He had no accidents all day long...that is until I was cooking dinner at around 5:30 pm. Even though he had just gone, he had just had a cup of milk, so I guess I need to either keep an eagle eye on him or plan to sit him on the potty every 10 minutes during the dinner hour. The 3 Day method frowns upon "trips" to the potty (i.e., asking your child to "try") since you are not teaching him to listen to his own body. But, the author does say that once a child is trained, you can make trips to the potty. I know Felix is not yet trained, but he is getting there, and sometimes sitting him on the potty to "try" saves some time and accidents! After bath, he had a "leak" in his training pants, but he went the rest of the way in the potty. Then, at about 11 pm, I was awoken yet again by a little Felix climbing into bed with me, whining and grabbing his pants. I took that to mean that he needed to use the potty, and so we went, and he did! Even though I was disoriented and tired, I was thrilled that he got up to "tell" me he needed to go. All in all, a good day - with room for improvement from mommy!
Day Seven (Fri): This was a great day, and was much like day five - we woke up way too early (4 am - thank you to my annoying dog who needed to go outside and felt the need to wake the entire house), but Felix woke up dry and was dry all day, with the exception of one accident at daycare. I did a lot of "trips" to the potty, both in the morning and night. He is very easy going about using the potty, even when he doesn't need to go - he will follow me there, pull down his pants, sit down, then pop up and say "All done!" He is also recognizing our routine potty times - like right when they wake up or right before bath - and is going there on his own and starting to remove his underpants. Now to go to the potty on his own all the time...
Day Eight (Sat): We all woke up super early again (4:45 am) but...there were NO ACCIDENTS ALL DAY! However, there were a few sleeping issues - he has figured out that if he says, "Potty!" he gets out of bed, no matter what time it is (he uses this especially at bedtime). Hm. Not sure how to curb this new habit, because I really do want him to feel like he can use the potty whenever he needs to, or to wake up to use the potty, but he obviously does not need to go the majority of the time he does this. Also, he has decided it is fun to sleep with mommy, so he will wake up sometime during the night and crawl into bed with me. But, despite my lack of sleep, this was a great potty day - hard to believe that only one week ago we started Potty-Palooza!
Day Nine (Sun): Today was a great potty day! The boys had a sitter for a few hours today (hi Casey!) and she said that he leaked a little at one point, but then went fully in the potty a few minutes later. No accidents besides that. Not bad!
Day Ten (Mon): Good day again today, with only one accident at daycare...I didn't get the full story because his teacher assistant's English is not great, but from what I gather he had an accident between the time that he got up from nap and made it to the bathroom. But, still a good day. Tonight before bed, he said, "Potty!" independently twice - once to get out of going to bed, and then again a few minutes later to actually go. Hooray! He got a sticker and a gummy bear for that one.
I can say that, one week after completing Potty-Palooza, Felix is well on his way to being completely trained. He is consistently dry at night and nap, and is now having about 1 wet accident per day (with one day of no accidents)! We have shifted into a combination of "trip-training" and the 3 Day Method, but it works for us. The good news is that I can now easily cook dinner or do something else, and know that he will stay dry as long as I keep an eye on his body language and/or the clock to know when he needs to go. And, he is now telling me when he needs/wants to go at night, so hopefully that will translate soon to all the time. I could not be more proud of my little man!
Now, someone tell Asher to wait a little while longer until I am ready to start this process over again...
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