Hellobee

It’s time, folks. As much as I was dreading it, Little Lion had shown enough readiness signs that we knew it was time to ditch the diapers. I found this article from Lucy’s List (which references the book, Oh Crap. Potty Training by Jamie Glowaki) really helpful, and we used this as the foundation of our strategy, though we were open to doing whatever seemed right as we progressed.

Exposure

Little Lion’s exposure to using the potty started pretty much as soon as he could follow me to the bathroom. This includes our bathrooms at home, as well as public restrooms when we are out and about. Shortly after his first birthday we purchased this little potty to put in his bathroom. While I am not usually a fan of flashy toys that play music (and this one does all of the above), I love that this one offers immediate reinforcement when any liquid enters the basin of the potty. LL loves this potty, and thinks it is really fun to flush!

Practice 

Around the time LL was 18 months old, Mr. Lion started having him sit on the potty right before bath time. After a while, LL picked up on the fact that he could pee in the potty, and after several months could do so on command. We didn’t force this (we had decided to hold off on any formal potty training until after Baby Lion arrived and was out of the newborn phase), so if he didn’t want to sit on the potty we didn’t force the issue. He went through phases of wanting nothing to do with it, and phases of using it every night. Mr. Lion continued to offer, and he continued to practice on his own terms.

As we got more and more confident of LL’s ability to use the potty, we started talking a lot about underwear, how pee and poop go in the potty, and how someday he was going to put his pee and poop in the potty instead of his diapers. We continued to practice, and watched for signs that he was ready.

One day as he was nearing 2 and a half, we decided to give him a try going naked from the waist down. He was successful at using the potty a couple times that morning, and only had an accident when I stopped paying close attention. At this point he was still not able to take himself to the potty when he needed to go, but was pretty compliant about trying when he was asked. We repeated this process for a couple hours at a time over the next few weeks.

Boot Camp 

Once I was pretty confident in LL’s ability to use the potty regularly, we decided to jump in. We picked a time when we could be home for several days in a row, cleared out our calendars, got our gear ready, and mentally prepared for the worst (even though we hoped for the best!).

We picked a time when things were going relatively smoothly with Baby Lion and when we didn’t have any travel on the horizon. Once we committed to going diaper-free, we were really hoping we wouldn’t be going back.

I was completely amazed at how smoothly things went from here. I don’t know if it was because LL was super excited about cookies, or whether Mr. Lion had just done a stellar job practicing with him for so long, but from the first day LL had no pee accidents. He used the potty every single time. Day 1-5 LL was completely naked from the waist down. I moved the potty to the living room, and we basically just played and watched tv there for the following 5 days. Unfortunately LL came down with a really nasty virus and had a high fever for 5 days, starting on day two, so he didn’t have the energy to do much else anyway.

Many people move on to underwear and/or pants after the first day, but I decided to hold off on pants until we mastered pooping too. This proved a little more problematic, as LL was never really bothered by pooping in a diaper and I am not completely sure he understood what was happening. After a couple accidents and some teaching about where to go when you feel like the “poop needs to come out,” we brought out the mini Tonka trucks and things got serious. Once he saw that little dump truck, the boy was on a mission. Since then, every morning we have pulled out a new small prize that he gets to keep after he has pooped in the potty. I am a little nervous about what will happen once we run out of prizes, but hopefully by then he will be so used to our new routine that he won’t protest too much. If not I might have to hide some cars he hasn’t played with in a while and use those instead.

After we mastered the pooping, we moved on to making him wear shorts. He doesn’t like pulling them up or down himself, but he gets a second cookie if he can get his pants off by himself before he goes to the potty, so he is trying a little harder. The clothing aspect is definitely the hardest for him, but I am sure in a couple weeks with lots more practice he will have this down too.

Outings 

We needed to go to the doctor on day 6, so we ventured out of the house in just underwear. That same day we made a second trip to Target later in the day. Both outings lasted about an hour and a half and we came home dry both times! Had we been out longer I would have had him try to use the potty in either location, but I was pretty confident in his ability to hold it that long by that point. This will be our next big milestone!

Naps and Nights  

I have noticed that LL’s diapers at nap time and night time have been considerably less wet than they were before, but he is not waking up dry yet. Until he goes a week completely dry we are going to keep him in diapers for those times. I did try to put him in the cloth training pants under a Flip trainer one time, but he woke up cold and wet and very unhappy about the situation (though it did keep his bed dry, so this will be a good option in the future).

Here’s the gear we relied on:

1. Gerber Training Pants – These are great for when you have to leave the house. They are a little more absorbent, but still feel like regular underwear.

2. Disney Cars Underwear – LL initially was very resistant to the idea of wearing underwear, but these ended up being his favorite! “Keep Mater dry!” is a frequent request around our house.

3. Flip Trainer Covers – We use these covers over his underwear if we are going to be in the car for a while, and at night. They aren’t absorbent, but they do serve as a barrier and prevent small accidents from requiring a wardrobe change.

4. Animal Cookies – We don’t usually keep things like this in the house, so cookies are a special treat to LL (though I would not be above doling out the M&M’s if I thought it would help!). I found these on clearance at Target and I knew LL would be excited about the little tractors especially!

5. Small Toys – LL loves all things with wheels, so I stocked up on little cars and trucks to use as a reward for pooping on the potty.

6. Clorox and Lysol – Accidents happen. I don’t typically use bleach as a cleaner, but I knew we were going to need some on hand for cleaning up potty messes.

7. Little potty/ potty insert – We got this potty because it offers immediate reinforcement by singing when any liquid enters the basin. It also makes realistic flushing sounds and the seat becomes an insert when LL uses the big potty.

8. Stools – We have a two step stool similar to this one by our bathroom sink and a smaller stool in front of the potty. These allow LL to reach where he needs to go easily.

9. Sink Extender – We had these already, but they make washing hands in the bathroom much easier since I don’t have to hold him to hover above the sink. He can turn the faucet on by himself and the stream of water easily reaches his hands when he stands on his stool.

10. Mesh Shorts/ Wide leg pants – These are really easy to pull up and down and are easier for LL to manage on his own. He still needs some help, but he is a lot more successful when in one of these types of bottoms.

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Overall things went unbelievably smoothly. I am not naive enough to believe that there wont be any setbacks, but at this point I am feeling much more confident about getting out of the house with my big kid in his big kid underwear!