Well Chase is basically potty-trained now and I am so happy! I say “basically” potty-trained because he still needs help unbuttoning his pants, and he still wears a diaper overnight because he doesn’t wake up to pee. But I’m fine with that, since I believe that every sleep-filled night is a major blessing in life anyway! We are very proud of Chase for being a big boy and wearing underwear now.
A few months ago I read the book Toilet Training in Less Than a Day, hoping to at least get some pointers concerning this daunting task (it really freaked me out for some reason)! I felt like Chase was ready because from 20 months old he did most of his poops in the toilet– he didn’t like the feel of poop in his diaper, and I didn’t blame him! 🙂 And then starting just a few months ago, whenever I put him in the bathtub, he would pee on command before I plugged up the tub. So we tried the Toilet Training in Less Than a Day approach. That wasn’t a fun day for me, but it was a start. He didn’t seem quite ready, though, because most of the time he would say “I have to go pee!” and he would already be standing in a puddle. I decided to wait a couple months so that maybe he would have more bladder control.
So recently he really wanted to start wearing his big boy underwear again, so I just told him that was fine but that he would need to keep it dry. We put the kid seat on the big toilet and put a stool next to the toilet so he could reach it (I didn’t want to deal with a little potty). We eased into the training more this time, and I think that worked well for him because he didn’t feel as much pressure. I didn’t take him to the toilet all day like some do, because he would resist and because I can’t remember things like that. I just praised and encouraged him a lot, asked him periodically if he was dry, and then sometimes I would reward him with a treat if he was. Then when he had an accident, I would make it very clear that we don’t like having wet pants and he would have to take off his underwear and put it in the hamper. It’s been about 2 weeks now, and he has had a few accidents of course, but we are excited for the “basic training” that he has completed!