Tallet turned 2. It was time to start thinking about potty training. I remember hearing about a 3 day method when my bro was a toddler, but I didn't really look into it. I headed to Facebook for potty training advice. I got lots of good advice, and some not so good. Another Mom in a mommy group recommended
this 3 day plan, so I went for it. I was skeptical at first. Three days didn't seem long enough. Here is my experience:
Woke up in the morning. Tallet and I had breakfast. Coralee came over for out workout. After she left, we started potty training.
In the days leading up to potty training I made sure we had all the supplies on hand. I made sure I had enough food in the house, and no plans so I could totally focus on Tallet and potty training.
The supplies I found useful were:
-potty
-flushable moist wipes
-20-40 pairs of underwear
-gummy bears
-stickers
-potty training chart
-small toys as prizes for completing a row on the chart
The first thing I did was to take off Tallet's diaper and put on gitchies. I explained to him that he was a big boy now and that he needed to keep those gitchies dry. Then we went and packed up all his cloth diapers into a box. I told him to say bye bye diapers. He helped me pack them up and chanted "bye bye diapers" the whole time. Then we went to the bathroom and I showed him the potty and told him that is where he needs to go potty from now on.
Throughout the day I would constantly remind him "Tell mommy when you have to go pee on the potty" and I would quiz him "Are your shorts/gitch dry?" and give him praise when they were dry. I watched him closely all day. If he started to have an accident I would take him to the potty. It was essential that I catch him in the middle of an accident. You get sick of your own voice repeating the same things over and over. But it works. I watched him closely for signs he had to go pee, especially before he started verbally asking. He would dance around or grab his crotch.
Rewards:
Peeing on potty - One gummy bear
Pooping on potty - Two gummy bears and a sticker on his chart. Once he fills a row he gets a small toy. We bought a multi-pack of hot wheels and will give him one at a time.
Day 1
10:40 - Started Training
10:45 - First accident. I went upstairs to get him a shorter shirt and when I came back down he said "I need help" and he had peed in his shorts.
10:52 - Large accident
11:30 - Large accident
11:37 - Medium accident
11:52 - Peed on potty, had a small accident beforehand
12:18 - Peed on potty, small accident beforehand
1:13 - Peed on potty, small dribble in pants
1:48 - Accident, caught him in the middle of it and he finished on the potty.
2:08 - Big accident, then finished on potty
3:20 - Peed on potty
3:35 - Pooped on potty
3:58 - Peed on potty. I asked him by accident if he needed to go.
4:55 - Peed on potty, gitchies slightly damp.
5:40 - Peed on potty, one drop in gitch
6:10 - small accident then peed on potty
6:42 - Peed on potty - told Eric to "Hurry, carry you" which means to carry him.
6:55 - Pooped on potty
7:03 - Caught him peeing his pants, then finished on potty
7:13 - Accident - then peed on potty a very small amount
7:35 - Accident, then peed in potty after.
8:00 - Peed on potty before bed.
Honestly, I was EXHAUSTED by the end of this day. I could not wait for him to go to bed. I was tired of staring at his gitch and hearing myself speak. It didn't seem like we were getting very far, but I knew it could take 3 full days so I still had hope. We are using pull ups for night because I don't have a proper mattress cover.
Day 2
9:30 - Wake up. Pull up fill of pee. Refused to sit on potty.
10:50 - Peed on potty. Asked verbally after me reminding him to ask me. Small dribble in pants.
11:15 - Peed on potty. Told me by "dancing" - No dribbles.
12:10 - Big accident, grabbed Eric's hand and showed it to him, then finished on the potty.
12:25 - Small accident, but then asked to go "pee potty" and had a big pee on the potty.
1:40 - * ASKED TO PEE ON POTTY*
2:35 - Asked to pee on potty, small dribble in gitch
3:15 - Asked to pee on potty, small dribble in gitch
3:40 - Asked to pee on potty, no dribbles!
4:25 - Grabbed Eric's hand and pulled him to potty, peed on potty
4:55 - Grabbed my hand and said "Go Pee" and peed on potty
5:30 - Said "I need help" and then peed on potty. Small dribble in gitch
6:50 - Grabbed my hand and led me to washroom, peed on potty.
7:30 - Bath
8:00 - Bedtime. Did not pee on potty before bed.
Today was a much easier day. He was grasping the idea of asking to go potty, and that was the main goal.
Day 3
9:15 - Woke up. Pull up full. Did not pee on potty.
11:00 - Went to bathroom alone, I followed him. He peed on potty.
1:45 - Asked to pee on potty
3:00 - Asked to pee on potty. Small dribble in gitch
3:15 - Pooped his pants. YUCK! Then he pooped and peed on the potty.
3:35 - Asked to pee on potty - dry gitch
4:45 - Asked to pee on potty - dry gitch
5:20 - Asked to pee on potty - dry gitch
7:45 - Eric and Tallet were wrestling and Eric caught him dribbling, peed on potty
8:15 - Did not pee on potty before bed.
This was by far the best day, and I think I could say that he was essentially potty trained. The pooping is hard because he doesn't always poop every day, so there are way less opportunities to teach him.
Day 4
I did not keep a log for this day. His pull up was dry in the morning. We were heading to stay at Hecla in a hotel for the weekend. It was a good day. I caught him dribbling once when Terry was spinning him in a chair. Other than that he was dry all day, and even pooped in the potty at night before bed!
Day 5 & 6
Were essentially perfect days, except on Sunday morning (Day 6), he peed a bit in his gitchies before asking to go potty.
Day 7 and beyond. He has pooped his pants once at Coralee's house, but other than that has been essentially accident free.
Needless to say, I am a HUGE fan of the
3 Day potty training method. It clearly works. Well worth the money. We still have a bit of work to do with the pooping, and we need to eliminate the nighttime pull ups ASAP. The method doesn't recommend them, and neither do I. I think it slows the training. I just bought a mattress cover so we probably wont be using Pull ups tonight. Last night he work up at 12 asking to go potty, and went straight back to bed after peeing.
I am sure he will have a few accidents here and there, especially in public when a potty is harder to get to. But that is ok, it will teach him he needs to hold it longer or ask to go sooner.
I would love to hear your stories! What has worked best for you?