I read a book on potty training, so you know, I thought I was an expert. My plan? Let him wear thin undies and take him to the potty throughout the day. Without fail, he went to the bathroom a few minutes after he got up from the potty. All. Day. Long. I mean, Day 1 was just laughable.
So was Day 2.
I went back to the drawing board, a.k.a. google, and did a little research. Babies who were cloth diapered, on average, potty trained a year earlier than babies in disposables. I think that has less to do with the kid, and more to do with the fact that mama is tired of diaper maintenance. Don't get me wrong, cloth diapers today are super easy to use, but having your kid use the potty on their own is even easier.
Cloth diaper kids are used to feeling wet. Oliver would pee, and he wasn't even phased by it. He just kept playing despite having pee pee pants. He'd pee, and I wouldn't realize until I saw giant puddles on the floor. On Day 3 he went naked from the waist down. We have hard wood floors, so I could hear him going to the bathroom. As soon as I heard that little splashing sound I'd drop whatever I was doing and run to him. Usually the terror of seeing me charging towards him would be enough to stop him midstream and he'd finish in the potty.
Day 4 I was tired. We went through a 12 pack of paper towels like they were dollar bills. I thought I should give up. He wasn't making any progress. Surely this entirely new concept should be easy to grasp for a twenty-two month old. Right? Out of desperation we bought him a new potty that looked like a car. He called it a "bus." Everything with wheels and an engine is a bus. I say if he pees in it, then he can call it whatever he wants.
Day 5 he said, "pee pee potty." And you know what? He actually did. He loved his "potty bus." It was awesome. I cried a little bit. He peed in the potty a second time that same day. He pooped beside the potty. Yay for progress.
Poop. I mean, I hate poop. It smells like poop, and it was making me crazy. It was our biggest challenge in this whole process. The book I read told me to stay calm. When they have accidents simply put them on the potty and tell them to do better next time. What books say and real life are different sometimes, okay? Oliver didn't want to sit on his potty long enough to poop. He'd rather poop while he played. Who wouldn't really? He'd poop on the floor, and yell "yucky!" I think that's toddler for, "That smells. I wonder who put that there?!"
You did. And you know it.
After cleaning up poop #15,087 I just screamed. I just let it out. Oliver started screaming too. We screamed together, and then we laughed.
One day, I forget which one, he sat on his potty bus for longer than usual. He stood up, pointed in the potty, and shouted, "airpane! airpane!" Which translates into, "Look Mom! I pooped in the potty! I'm so excited!!!!!" Or maybe it was shaped like an airplane. Not sure exactly, but it was awesome.
Here we are a few weeks later. Poops mostly go in the potty. Oliver stays dry at nap time and bedtime. We celebrate his successes by waving good-bye to them as they flush. He looks at me, and I can see it. I see how proud he is. He feels a sense of accomplishment. It's funny, because I do too.
