We did it! Well, Nico did it! He “mastered” potty training. The first part of this series was published on November 28, 2016. At the time I said, “check back in a couple of weeks to see our progress.” Well, here we are almost a year later. About a week after the initial post, we did not actively start potty training again until about two weeks after his second birthday, the end of June. Nick got the concept and then went through regression. At some point we also added a puppy in need of house training into the mix. There were definitely days when I couldn’t get that pee smell out of my mind, when I felt like giving up. But he finally did it. Today I share with you some insight into potty training, a little more about our experience, and hopefully some support for all of you embarking on this journey with your little ones.
Part 1
What took him so long?
If you recall, in the first part of this series I talked about how some parents swear by the quick 3-day trainings. I ready countless of articles from parents how their little ones mastered potty training in one weekend. I have to say, this is definitely impressing but this was not the case for us. Maybe we approached it the wrong way? We have carpet throughout the house and I was hesitant about him having accidents. Nick used diapers more than we would have liked because we were very busy those first few weekends. I think this definitely confused him. Then finally a few days into it I said, enough. We picked up a few extra pairs of underwear and decided to go all in. We put the diapers away and did not look back.
I have to admit this was a bad move on my part. During my research I had read that sometimes having your potty training toddler in “pull-ups” is a bad idea because it confuses them. It’s a “safety net” because they know they won’t be wet since it is technically a diaper. So why was I potty training him still in diapers? I guess you can say this was easier for me, it meant I was able to take him to his little friend’s birthday parties and not worry about him having an accident. But if I could do it all over again, I would get rid of diapers since day one of potty training.
Once we got rid of diapers completely it only took a few days for Nick to get it.
Don’t be so hard on yourself.
When Nick continued to have accidents and my house smelled like pee (which was probably all in my head) all I could think about was those amazing parents who potty trained their children over the weekend. Why wasn’t I as lucky, I thought? Finally it hit me. My neighbor had told me that her son at 2 ½ mastered potty training in a day, a few days later she told me how there was still accidents here and there. It all has to do with how you define “mastering.” The truth of the matter is that accidents are bound to happen.
Nick has been potty trained for about two months. A few weeks back I took him to my office in LA, unfortunately traffic got a little heavy. I tried to pull over as soon as I could, but by the time I found somewhere to park he was already wet. I knew he had held if off as much as he could but the situation was just not in our favor. This doesn’t mean he’s not potty trained, it just means he’s human.
I still remember the day I finally knew he was potty trained. It was a Friday night and he and I went to a #targetrun by ourselves. We had been in the store for a while when he said “pee-tee?” I took him out of the cart, pushed the cart into an aisle and ran to the front of the store for the restroom. I kept on telling him to “hold it.” Finally, once in the stall he went. No accidents. I was extremely proud of him and I knew he was too.
Bumps on the road.
Since becoming a parent the word “regression” has become my number one enemy. Nick began to have accidents again after several weeks. He would just pee in his pants, almost as if the past few weeks had not happened.
Its easy to become frustrated, trust me. I wanted to yell because I knew he was capable of doing it right and was choosing not to. But remember, motivation is key when potty training. Potty training regression is normal. Know how to identify it so you can nip it in the butt as soon as it starts.
Sometimes kids get too involved in playtime or TV and wait until the last minute. Make sure to continue watching for signs. We sometimes can tell Nick has to go and hasn’t told us anything, we ask and even if he says no we take him over to the potty. We can’t avoid all accidents but we can at least try.
One thing I have noticed is that he tends to wait longer to tell us when at home than when out and about. Its possible he has realized the restroom is easily accessible at home whereas in public its not. He also had very few overnight accidents, which is amazing.
The best product ever.
I chose a very simple potty for Nick. No noise or distracting design. For pee he actually uses the small container that came inside of the potty by itself and for number two we assemble the top part of the potty on our toilet.
Sidenote: Grasping the idea of going number two was a lot easier for our little guy.
I have to say though, that the best product ever is what Nick calls his “pee-tee” cup. I found this portable potty urinal for boys on Amazon. At first I thought it looked weird but honestly it is the best invention ever. It is easy for me to pull out the cup either in the bathroom or somewhere private for Nick to use. It does not spill and it is cute which encourages Nick to use it. There is a version for girls but I do not know if it works just as great as this one does. This product also helps us stay away from the public toilets, which can carry so much bacteria.
(This page contains affiliate links, via Amazon, for which I receive a very small amount of compensation. However, all views and opinions are 100% my own.)
What worked for your little one? Leave a comment below if you felt like giving up during potty training. What finally made it “click” for your little one?
XOXO – Elle.
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