For at least a year I have been dreading the “big transitions” that come at 2 years old. I know every child hits these milestones at different points, but I figured we’d start to tackle them after Little Piñata turned two. Just two days after his birthday party we started weaning from the pacifier and it went really well! My plan was to wait until August to start potty-training because we were traveling some in July and didn’t want to take long road trips with a potty-training toddler.

But, a few weeks ago, Little P started unexpectedly showing some signs of readiness. When he was about 18 months old we would put him on the potty before bathtime (we have a soft seat that goes on a regular toilet seat that we got as a hand-me-down that is similar to this one), but he only went a couple of times and they were definitely both accidents since he seemed very confused as to why we were cheering for him and giving him a special cracker. But, after he turned two, we started just putting him on the toilet every night before bed in preparation of what I thought would be the “disaster” of potty-training in the weeks to come. And he actually started peeing every night, which we took as a great sign!

Then, one day when we came in from playing in the baby pool I put him on the potty thinking maybe he held his pee the whole time in the pool, and he went on the potty again! I did the same every time I brought him in from playing in the pool in the following week and each time he would go! Of course, each time he went we made a HUGE deal, called all of our extended family members and gave him a Bunny Cracker (which is a very special treat in our house). We also took this as a sign that he was more ready that we thought he was.

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I decided to do an experiment the next day to see if he was “really” ready. I had heard so much about the 1-3 day potty-training where you stay home all day and keep them naked so they quickly know what being wet feels like and don’t care for it. But, in the coming days I didn’t have 1-3 free days where I could just stay home, but wanted to jump on the opportunity to start the official potty-training process if he was really ready. So, that morning I decided that I would just set a timer and bring him to the potty every 45 minutes and see if he would go. If he was dry when we went to put him on the potty (whether or not he actually peed), I would give him a cracker and make a big, huge deal. And it worked! He had just one accident that whole morning, which I thought was pretty good for the first “official” day of potty-training.


Washing hands after using the potty is almost as exciting to this kiddo as the cracker for some reason.

I had watched this video a while back when a friend posted it on facebook, and even though I didn’t follow the principals exactly like they stated, we pretty much followed their concepts and have had pretty good success so far! He doesn’t often tell us when he has to go, but will tell usually tell us the truth if we ask him. We just put him on there regularly (before and after meals, before and after we go somewhere, after an hour has passed without him using the toilet, etc.) and since we started the process a couple of weeks ago, he hasn’t had more than one accident a day. He even went 4 days in a row without ANY accidents! That was quite an exciting streak for us.

But, I definitely wouldn’t consider him fully potty-trained yet. We still put him in pull-ups when we’re out running errands or if he’s in a childcare setting (like at church or the gym). He also definitely wears a diaper during nap and at night. And he’s only used the toilet twice for #2 as he tends to still go when he’s wearing a diaper. And he also still sits instead of stands to go pee.

I actually wonder when I will truly feel comfortable having him in underpants when we’re out and about, and I really can’t imagine doing it during nap and bedtime for quite some time! I think I’d rather him be in a diaper at night than waking us up to help him use the potty. But, I feel like 2 diapers a day and occasional pull-ups is not bad for his age. I’m glad we’re not in a rush to get him potty-trained for preschool, but I do want to continue to “strike while the iron is hot.” So, if he ever DOES wake up dry from a nap, I’ll probably start using underpants then too. Despite my intense fear of having to change the crib sheets every single day!

So, that’s our progress so far. We’re doing pretty well, but still have a ways to go. How did you start potty-training with your little one? How did the transition go for you?