Hurray for Potty Time!

When Carson was around 19 months, he showed an interest in going on a potty while we were in Dominican on vacation. I instantly went out and bought him his own little potty when we came home. He used it from time to time and liked it, but it wasn't consistent. When we asked him if he had to pee or if he wanted to go on the potty, he'd always say no. We didn't push it... too much. We did leave him without a diaper during the summer sometimes and he would pee on purpose on the carpet and thought it was funny. He wasn't ready for sure! We eventually just let it go and knew that when he was ready to use the toilet we would know.

A year later and he was still in diapers. I was getting really tired of chasing around a 32 pound boy and changing really disgusting poopy diapers. He also had started taking off his diapers at bedtime and throwing them out of his crib. Things were just not going well. We'd have to go in multiple times to put the diaper back on.  My husband and I were slowly going crazy. There's something so stressful about sleep. We had issues with Carson from 4 months to about 11 and every time some sort of challenge appears, we just loose it. I'm just being honest. It's the most frustrating thing I've ever gone through. We knew something had to change. 

So, one weekend we just decided to take the diapers away and use pull ups. Previously, if he had the choice, he always wanted his diaper and not a pull up.  It took him about 10 seconds to rip the pull up off. This left us with no choice but to go right to his big boy underwear, or nothing around the house. The entire weekend was just basically Carson running around with no pants on. He had a handful of accidents over 3 days. 

When he did have an accident, we took him to the potty and said this is where he should go. He tried to finish his pee there and negotiated with us for a potty candy. I gave in and gave him one just for finishing his pee there.
 
As far as how we decided to motivate Carson to want to pee and poop on the potty, we used a candy jar. I did choose to buy organic jelly beans and zoo animals. At least there wasn't any food colouring. Still, a lot of sugar, but it worked!If he didn't ask for a potty candy, we just didn't give him one. He got the zoo animals for poops. He always wanted 2 jelly beans too. He's a good little negotiator already! haha! I told him that once the jar was gone, there was no more potty candy. He didn't get upset or ask for more candy once it was gone. Another surprise to me.

That same weekend, I had plans with a friend of mine that involved me bringing Carson. Great, in the middle of potty training and someone else's house! I was just hoping for the best. When we got to her house, I showed him his potty seat and where the bathroom was. I told him to tell me when he had to use the potty. After about an hour, he told me he had to pee. He ended up doing a pee and a poop. I can't believe how excited I was about this!! I pretty much danced in the bathroom! My friend had a cupboard full of different treats, so Carson got something special for this. It was such a big deal to me that he went at someone else's house and told me about it. Especially the poop. That was his first poop on the potty.  Later that afternoon, he did have a small accident in his underwear. Another tiny poop. I didn't get mad at him. He was trying to come back up the stairs to get me. Nature just called... 

One morning, about 5 days into this whole change, I was getting him ready to go to the gym and wanted him to wear a pull up, he refused. I kept him in underwear and brought lots of clothes with me in case he had an accident. I was so nervous!! This was the first moment in his life that I've had to let go of control and trust him to lead the way. I had no idea if he was going to actually tell me or the girls at the daycare if he had to pee. 

I set up my bike for spin class with him and brought him to daycare. I think I asked him 20 times if he had to pee. A little paranoid. I just knew how much water he had before we left. I showed him where the bathroom was and who to ask to use it while I was in the spin room. He seemed to understand, but I had no idea what was going to happen.

I went back to pick him up with sweat still dripping all over me. I was so anxious about how things went. He surprised me, no accidents! So, I asked him if he had to pee again. He said he did. I took him to the bathroom and once we sat on the big toilet he said he didn't have to anymore. I had promised him a visit to Toys R' Us if he had no accidents, so I had to follow through with that.

Off we went. I was still very paranoid that he was going to have an accident, and this time at a store! I tried to make him pee, but he said he didn't have to. I showed him the bathroom, but all he wanted to do was go play with all the cars. After 30 minutes I convinced him to leave by bribing him with a cupcake treat. We made it all the way home with no accidents. 

Ever since this day, he has been in underwear and has maybe had a few dribbles of pee when he's really had to go. I can't believe how easy it was. Yes, it was more to think about for the first few times, but once I realized that he was going to tell me when he had to pee, I was able to relax and trust him. 

The other thing that has surprised us is how much he loves to poop on the potty. He's so proud of himself and likes to see it. Hahaa! Boys will be boys...

We have night time pull ups for bedtime. At first, he didn't even want to wear those, but now it's fine. He took them off too and said they hurt him. We just told him that all big kids need to wear these at night in case they need to pee. Eventually, he was ok with it and didn't fuss. 

I still can't believe it only took a few days to really say that we're confident leaving him in underwear. A few accidents at home and that was it. It's so much easier!! Especially not using the little potty. He's even graduated to the big toilet at home with his potty seat. No more wiping out poop... gross..  Going out has been great too. Carson will always tell me when he has to go potty and we've had no accidents. I'm so happy that this whole transition was easier than we expected. We didn't even read a thing about potty training. We just went with it. 

NO MORE DIAPERS!!! We have a few months to save that money until baby boy comes in June :)