Oh, potty training. This was definitely the hardest parenting task to date, and by no means was it successful. I am not writing this down as a "how-to", so much as a recap of our experience so I can remember for our next kiddo.
We tried the Lora Jensen 3-day potty training method when C was just shy of 2.5 years old. This method basically involves cutting out diapers cold-turkey, putting your child in underwear 24/7 (including while sleeping) for 3 days, and constantly reminding them to let you know when they need to go potty. Unlike some 3-day methods, you do NOT put them on the toilet every "X" minutes to "try".
There were a LOT of accidents. A lot. Some of my friends (mostly with girls) said it "clicked" with their kiddos after the first day, and the number of accidents drastically decreased. That was not our experience! After 3 days, he did not have a single successful potty episode - every single #1 and #2 was an accident.
It was so helpful to have done this while he was still sleeping in a crib, since the crib mattress is waterproof (no worries about soaking through to the mattress) and crib sheets are SO much easier to change than mattress pads, sheets, and bedding on a larger bed.
Some supplies that were critical for this endeavor:
- Potty seat (we used The First Years seat)
- At least 14 pairs of underwear (we were still doing laundry daily!)
- Folex (or other carpet/rug cleaner)
- Disinfecting spray, like Clorox Clean-up (for hard surfaces)
- A pile of rags for cleaning up accidents
- Old towels or disposable incontinence pads for every absorbent furniture surface (i.e., upholstered couch)
- Oxiclean spray for #2 accidents
- Plastic bags for containing soiled clothing in case of an accident in public - we used the Munchkin bag dispenser
- Kandoo flushable wipes (toilet paper works but this works better IMO)
- Juice or some other "enticing" drink to increase fluid intake
- Waterproof liner for carseat (this one is approved for use with Britax carseats, which is what C uses) *please do not use a liner unless it is made by your car seat manufacturer and approved for use with their carseats! These are crash tested by the manufacturer to ensure they are safe and are only compatible with the car seats they are tested on!
- Treats for rewards (we used mini M&Ms for #1 successes and mini Milky Ways for #2s)
We did at least one load of laundry daily consisting solely of underwear, rags, towels, and crib sheets. After 3 days, we did see SOME improvement - although he was still having accidents frequently, he was staying dry for long periods during nap and at night (when normally he was a heavy wetter while sleeping).
Unfortunately, starting on day 4, we had to return to work (and C to daycare) so it was into a pull-up he went. The 3-day method discourages the use of pull-ups, but we didn't have much choice - he was nowhere CLOSE to being able to go to school in underwear. At this time, he was the only child in his class working on potty training, so we weren't getting much help from school (there wasn't the "peer pressure" aspect since all the other kids were in diapers). However, anytime he was at home, he was in underwear - including naptime. We did make him "try" to use the bathroom before nap to minimize the chances of an accident in his crib.
Things slowly started clicking, and within 2 weeks, he was regularly telling us when he needed to go to the bathroom and having fewer accidents. Luckily, around this same time, he switched to the older preschool classroom at school which was FULL of kids potty training - so he was encouraged to use the potty at school by all of his friends doing the same. It was a slow and steady process - and there were a lot of mini M&Ms and Milky Ways consumed - but he was fully daytime potty-trained in about a month.
After the initial 3-day method, we decided to hold off on overnight potty training - after several weeks, he was still having accidents every night and just wasn't ready. Since he was moving into a big boy bed with baby #2 on the way, I couldn't handle changing sheets daily (they're so much harder to change than crib sheets!) He turned 3 a month ago and still wears a pull-up at night, although he wakes up dry about 75% of the time now, so he is getting there on his own without any effort on our part.
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