So we bought him a potty seat (the kind you put on the actual toilet) a few months ago because he had been telling us when he needed to go #2. But he did not want anything to do with it so we just forgot about it. I had no desire to potty train him yet as he still was going all the time and I didn't want to pressure him. Honestly I figured I'd wait until he was nearing three years old. I kept hearing to wait until they're ready and that the kid will start being interested in the potty etc. But then one day I wondered what would happen if I talked to him about it to spark his interest. (I have now learned that interest does not equate readiness and vice versa.)
So with really no hope that it would do anything I just mentioned to him one day that big boys wore underwear and diapers were for babies. He latched onto that so fast. I don't think he even knew what underwear was at that point but every diaper change for the next two days he'd tell me diapers were for babies. So I started telling him big boys had to use the potty to get to wear underwear. We went to the library and got a bunch of books and a few videos about using the potty and they were all he wanted to read for the next week. After this potty talk had gone on for about two days, I decided to jump in and give it a shot. So the same day we got the library books, we started talking about going potty constantly, about the people we knew who wore underwear, and used the potty, about what to do when you need to go potty, etc I also went and let him pick out some underwear at the store. PS, they do not make underwear small enough to fit my 2 year old with his 12-month old bum. But slightly saggy underwear on that tiny bum is adorable.
I told him to show me what a big boy he was in his underwear. This is the pose he went with.
I have heard of people who potty train by letting their kid run around in naked. I figured underwear would be better because then he could feel if they were wet or dry. The day after we bought his underwear and got the books I decided to put him in underwear for few hours to see what would happen. So I put him and his stuffed elephant in a pair of underwear and I helped Atticus sit on the potty to feel it out and then he helped elephant sit on the potty. I'd also planned to give him some salty snacks so he'd increase his liquid intake but he didn't really take to that so I forgot about it. For the next three hours it was a constant conversation about whether he and elephant were dry. I made him feel his and elephant's underwear each time. The first hour was uneventful. The next two, he wet his pants 4 times without even an attempt to use the potty. The next day we tried again after church, for a few hours. I honestly don't remember if he made it to the potty on his own or not but I feel like it was much more uneventful. I think he used the potty but we put him up there.
Monday the kid stayed dry all day. I was still constantly asking him if he was dry. Which to answer he would say "Ya, I dry" and then jump with his legs apart, stick out his tongue and say "Bluh". I started being worried I had given him a complex because Tuesday morning he woke up with a dry diaper. We kept him in underwear all week and he started telling us he needed to go. He'd get one mini M&M for going (at first just for trying but after a day or two, he only got one if he went.) He only had a few accidents that week and they were usually just a dribble which he would then stop and run to the potty to finish. Although that weekend he had a full on accident in my friend Jennifer's parent's basement. I think that was my fault though as I had failed to physically show him that there was a potty there. He was so sad about it, poor kid. By the next week he was having fewer dribble accidents, waking up consistently with dry diapers and we even started running errands in his underwear and I took him to church that way. By the next week, when he called from his crib around midnight that he needed to go potty, I knew we were in the clear.
His manly pose after the first time he told us he needed to go without prompting and made it to the potty in time. And Dan's ugly pose.
Going more than tinkle was a little rougher. When he was in diapers, he would hide to go do number two. So that first week when he was constantly in underwear it became a problem and by the third day without him going (and crying about it when I told him he could do that on the potty too) I stuck him in a diaper for about an hour to let him take care of business. A few days later when it was obvious he couldn't hold it in anymore. I told him I'd give him two treats if he went on the potty. Then I put him on the potty, gave him this noisy guitar toy that I never let him play with (and he now only gets when it's time for #2) and left him in there. He was upset but it took about 10-15 minutes. The next time I told him if he did it without throwing fits he could have a toy (Dan got him this dumb little light-up, spinny toy.) And that's all it took. Over the next two weeks or so he got back to his regular schedule. He plays the guitar and wants his privacy but that's all it take. If he catches me peeking at him he gets mad and tells me to go away. It also sometimes takes him a few tries before he'll tell us that's what he needs to do. He'll keep saying he needs to tinkle and then nothing. He'll do that 2 or 3 times in 30 minutes but then he'll ask for privacy and go.(He literally says "I need pricey!" and I think it's adorable.) He also hasn't done that outside of our house yet. He had a #2 accident while he was being babysat about 2 weeks ago because he kept telling her he needed to go to his house. So we'll have to work on that.
Showing of his new spinning toy. I actually think we didn't give him this until the first time he told us he needed to go #2
So maybe this happened, and a lot more of him playing outside in just a t-shirt and underwear, whilst this has been going on. Don't mind our gross yard.
The best part of all this is when he randomly announces to strangers that he tinkled or poo-pooed in the potty. And my favorite: when he told the lady at the distribution center that he had Mickey Mouse on his bum (Mickey Mouse underwear) and then tried to show her.
