Hellobee

We bought Liam a little Baby Bjorn potty when he was around 17 months old. We talked about it and while he liked putting toilet paper into the toilet and flushing, he didn’t show much interest in sitting on the big toilet or his little potty. Then, one day in December, he pooped in his little potty. I was so proud! I made a big deal and he seemed really happy with himself. I thought about trying to train him after Christmas while I was still on winter break, but he seemed to lose interest again.

A few weeks ago, he got a really bad diaper rash, which is not uncommon for him. He has my sensitive skin and even prescription creams don’t help much. The best thing for his rashes is diaper-free time, so that’s what we did. Since it had been so warm in Southern California, it was no problem for him to spend the three day weekend running around the house and backyard without pants. I asked him if he had to go to the potty constantly, and it seemed to be sinking in because we had several successes that weekend. I still put him in a diaper for naps, at night, and when we left the house, but when I returned to work, I told our nanny what we had been doing and she seemed totally fine continuing with it. Luckily, she was really supportive and helped a ton with this whole process.

Enjoying some naked play time outside.

Over the next week, we continued with him being sans diaper at home when he was awake. Then, the following week, I bought a few pairs of underwear and tried them out. He had more accidents wearing underwear, for sure, but it got better after a few days. The next step was to try leaving the house that way. The first time I did this, I took him to Target, which is a three minute drive from our house. I brought an extra pair of underwear and pants with me, as well as a pull up and some wipes. He peed in the potty before we left and I asked him if he had to go right when we got there. He said no, so we shopped and I decided to take him to the bathroom before we left so he could try. He was not completely terrified of the public bathroom, but he didn’t want to sit on the toilet for long and he didn’t do anything in it.

When we got home, I realized I had forgotten something and he kept saying bye bye and didn’t want to get out of the car, so I decided to take him to Trader Joe’s, which is even closer than Target. Again, we tried the bathroom there and he was not having it, but he also didn’t have an accident the whole time we were out. This made me a little more confident because it showed me that he could hold it and that he wouldn’t scream his head off if I put him on a public toilet.

Showing off his new underwear.

I told our nanny to try taking him on their daily walks in underwear and to bring a change of clothes for him, just in case. She did and he didn’t have any accidents for several days. I took him to Old Navy that weekend and he successfully peed in the public bathroom there. I was SO PROUD. After that, I wasn’t afraid to take him out without a diaper anymore. He has had several public bathroom successes since then. He did have one accident at the grocery store, but I always bring a change of underwear and pants, so it’s not a big deal.

The next big step is that he has gone the last three days without peeing in his diaper at nap time. Today, I told the nanny that she could try putting him in underwear for his nap, but that she didn’t have to. It’s a big step and I can understand if she’d rather I try that for the first time on a weekend, so I left it up to her. My biggest worry is that he’ll pee, wake up, and not go back to sleep after we change him and the sheets.

Overall, I’m really surprised at how easy this has been for us. He is still so young (22 months) and he still needs us to remind him and to help him in the bathroom, but I can tell he really gets it and likes being dry (and most importantly, rash free). Hopefully we won’t have any regressions, but if we do, we’ll survive.

**Update: I wrote this yesterday, but today, he woke up at 5:30am yelling “Mama! Pee pee!” I took him to the potty and he peed and his diaper was totally dry. I’m really impressed, but also a little nervous because he usually sleeps until 8 or 9 (I leave for work at 7:30) and I don’t know if I can handle him waking up that early everyday. Well, I know I can handle it, I just won’t like it!