Friday, September 17, 2010

Potty trained...? Actually...!

We've been working on potty training for months - a year, maybe. It's been a slow process... and I won't bore you, but we warmed up to the potty (sitting on it, flushing it, etc); we ran around naked nearly all summer (no diaper, means you have to figure out something else to do).
Dax was peepee potty trained fairly quickly - inasmuch as he knew how to go pee pee on the potty, and would do it when he had no drawers on. And that's awesome. And it happened like... a year ago, or something - I can't remember now... but he was a quick learner.

BUT if he had a diaper on, he was sure not going to let anyone know he had to go - he'd just use his diaper. And really, that's fine too. A mom forgets how great it is to go the grocery store, and not have any pitstops until you get home. You just forget about how, really, great it is that you don't have to go to a public bathroom if YOU don't have to... It's pretty convenient, a diaper.

Anyway, so just over the summer, I tried really really hard to reinforce the potty... we tried stickers (which are, actually helpful, if your child likes stickers) and charts (the charts mean nothing, but they hold a lot of stickers, when they don't make it on your kid's shirt), and finally fell victim to the M&Ms... 1 for pee pee (sometimes 2, when we had to backtrack a little in training), and up to 4 (!) for poo poo.

There's not a lot of stuff Dax won't do for an M&M. The kid LOVES chocolate. I had to get him where it... got him. You know? And it seemed to work. But he was still pretty comfortable in his diaper.

When "new school" started at the end of August, I realized, it was now or never. They told me that they would help me (which was great! the "old school" never seemed to remember that I was trying and so our efforts were basically wasted). So after two weeks at his new school... we did it.

It was Labor-Day Weekend, and I have him home with me on Fridays, anyway - so I had him from Friday, til Tuesday... and... I took off his diaper. ALL weekend! (not for naps and night-night - don't get ahead of yourself!) ;)

And you know what? The kid did GREAT! I was totally impressed!
We had an accident or two - and actually, they were at Honey's house, when I didn't have a good eye on him, but all-in-all, he was stellar.

Church was another matter... and I know that childcare has a lot on their plate when dealing with all the little ones - especially if they're potty training... it's rough... so  we sort of backtracked a little there. But NO big deal. We just kept plodding along.

And then today. A shining moment. Actually, several.

We went to play at Vanessa and Ethan's (from playgroup; Vanessa has a brand new baby girl, Addi - so precious). We took them food, and played with some new toys, and watched some movies. And not only did Dax pee pee (twice) - he poo poo'd! He called me from the bathroom, with his pants already around his ankles - and asked for his Elmo potty! Amazing! Thank the Lord!

THEN - we got home and Dax went down for a nap a little after 12:30. He woke up about an hour later yelling for me - he had to go pee pee! He even had a diaper on! "Want to go pee pee in the potty, Mommy!" So I dropped his diaper, and plopped his buns on the potty seat, and he went tinkle... and then... HE WENT BACK TO SLEEP!

I am just floored. And I tell you what - I had absolutely nothing to do with it - but I am SO PROUD of him! And thankful for the grace and patience God gave throughout the process.
:)

What I learned is that every child is different. There are a ton of methods out there, and I guarantee that your child will not fit any one of them perfectly... :)
Ok - up from nap, and time for snacks.
:)
-L.