Potty Boot Camp

Earlier this spring Ryan and I decided it was time we thought about potty training. Jack seemed ready but we decided to wait until family visits and trips were over and we had several weeks to focus on the messy job.
Now how to do it? I looked to babycenter.com for help. Although it looked tough, we've heard good things about the 3-day plan by Julie Fellom and felt confident we could do it. Here's the link Potty Trained in 3 days or less.

I had to psych myself up do this but we set the date and there was no turning back... time for potty training boot camp.

Night before
Pulled out the potty and put it in the bathroom
Put towels on the couch
Put sippy cups with water all over the living room to encourage more "opportunities for success"


Day One
After Jack woke up, I showed him the potty in the bathroom and explained what it was for, then stripped him down and watched him like a hawk. Fellom suggests bringing the kid in every time anyone in the house has to go and giving lots of positive reinforcement with a "potty dance" or a treat. So this may sound lame but I couldn't come up with a good dance! I ended up going to the store for M&Ms by noon- classic bribery parenting. We had several accidents before our first success around 2pm, after that we had about a 30% success rate for number 1 and 0% for number two. BUT most of the accidents were in his booster seat which looks very much like a potty (at least that's what I'm telling myself). At the end of the day, Ryan and I were both exhausted from non-stop Jack supervision and major clean up at the end of the day. I'll be honest, I wasn't so sure I wanted to go on with Day Two but we're not a family of quitters (a nod to my dad) 


Day Two
Something must have clicked while he slept because Jack was on his A-game from the get go. He would go a little then realize it and run to the potty, he even started emptying the tray into the toilet! Fellom suggests going out for one hour, making him go before you leave, and having the child diaperless with loose fitting pants on. We did this and Jack was fine. We got home and let him play in his kiddie pool, which he prompted peed in, but he didn't wet his pants! Ryan took him out later in the day and he said "potty" went when he got home- no accidents while they were out. At the end of the day Jack had a 70% rate for number one and 0% again for number two.

Day Three
Ryan went to work so I was on solo potty-duty most of the day. Jack did great... until I ventured out with him. I thought a quick trip to Target and the mall playground might be possible. I got what I thought was everything I needed- extra pants, portable potty, Lysol wipes and took out his usual diapers. Following the Fellom program, he went commando with sweatpants. Target was fine, then I took him to the family restroom at the mall to show him the little toilet. He didn't go, but also hadn't had anything to drink so a quick trip to the playground was next. He went wild (as usual) but then kept coming over to me, then after about 10 minutes I saw the classic pee silhouette. I grabbed him before any damage had been done (or so I thought). Only to find I had left my little kit on the kitchen table- ugh! In a mad dash for the car, I managed to get covered in pee and bump into a friend (Hi Stacy!) who luckily understood the urgency of the situation and didn't get offended as I rudely continued to run/drag/carry 2 screaming kids without a chat. Besides our little adventure Jack's potty stats were 100% for number one (minus the mall disaster) and N/A for number two- he only went in his diaper at nap time.

After one week of the program, I feel pretty confident at home, although number two has still been tricky. We have gone out successfully a few times but we aren't as busy as we usually are. I wouldn't say Jack is fully potty trained but is getting there.

(batch of bare-bottom cookies coming right up!)


Afterthoughts
-This weekend was exhausting. We kept the TV mostly off the whole weekend so he could focus on getting to know when he had to go. Keeping the TV off meant keeping Jack entertained. Although I love playing with my little guy, singing the ABCs gets pretty old after about 5th time.
-Glad we waited until Catie isn't so needy. She can be content hanging out on the floor for longer periods of time. We didn't have any major issues with her while were in the bathroom with Jack... we must have lucked out. There was only one time Jack had to go at the same time I was feeding her and had an accident- that was on the first day.
- Summer is a good time for this method, Jack has been naked pretty much the entire week, and if we stick to the Fellom program- he will be in the nude for the next 3 months