…you guys, I don’t blame the kid. potty training is hard.

So I wasn’t going to talk about how we’re potty training Jack because really the decision was made on a whim. And I’m scared that as soon as I post it on the internet he’s going to relapse and I’ll give up and all hell will break loose. I mean, the kid just turned two last week.

We picked out Justice League (superman! the flash! batman!) underwear a day or two before we left on our trip for San Diego, and on Tuesday morning when he woke up in his bed back home I put him straight in “big boy” underwear. Again, it really was a spur-of-the-moment decision that I made right after Tyler left for work. Jack poops privately and has woken up (fairly) dry in the mornings these past few weeks, so I thought what the heck? let’s give it a go.

It’s been great! I didn’t really read up much about it. I had a vague plan in my head of how this was all going to go down, but I underestimated how long the days really are until Tyler gets home! Here’s the rundown, just in case Jack wants to look back on this and be really embarrassed one day. (Or in case this mama wants to remember how awesome he was):

DAY ONE: I put underwear on him, letting him choose which one he liked (answer: no preference.) I let him play around the house (here’s where our wood floors are the bomb-diggity-bomb) until he eventually had an accident. After he noticed, I thought he’d say, “uh oh!” but instead he just tried to sneak away like nothing ever happened. Sneaky, sneaky, Mr. Jack. And because I was a super-not-so-secret Sherlock following him around the house all day, when I noticed I’d make him help me clean it up right away. He hated that. Then we’d head for the bathroom and wait and wait and wait until he either had to go again or I gave up. He only got an m&m if he went on the toilet, or if he held it mid-accident until we got to the toilet. This went on all day, with probably a 50% success rate of going on the potty. I should also add I made sure to set a timer and take him every ten to fifteen minutes, and he was also drinking lots of rice milk and water. I also gave up after the third pair of soiled underwear and let him run around bare-bummed. He took a nap in his underwear (dry!) and slept in a diaper overnight. I had to do laundry this night to make sure we had enough underwear for the next day.

DAY TWO: Similar to day one, but more successes! He pooped on the toilet twice. He wore underwear all day and only wet two pairs. By the end of the day I realized that a) it was really testing both of our patience to sit on the potty every fifteen to twenty minutes, and b) we only had to sit on the potty that often because I was giving him so many liquids to drink! Duh. So by the afternoon I decided to significantly cut his liquids to a normal intake and things got better REALLY quick. Turns out if he drinks normally he can make it almost 2 hours without having to sit on the potty. That afternoon I realized that just as he needed to trust me that I would take him potty, I needed to trust him that he would hold it until I did. Underwear at naptime (dry!) and diaper overnight.

DAY THREE: I trusted him to wear pants, which was a great decision. I also just let him drink a normal amount of liquid, and it went great! As usual, I started asking him about every 30 minutes if he had to go potty or not, but he didn’t answer. By the end of the day I could tell he was getting really annoyed with me asking, so I stopped asking. I decided to just take him every hour or two and if he didn’t have to go, he didn’t have to go! I’d trust that he knew his body better than I did. I got a little upset when he refused to sit on the toilet before his nap, because then fifteen minutes later he pooped in his underwear. I made him stand over the toilet with me and wipe it out (yuck! that was way worse than a disposable diaper and I don’t know how you cloth-diaper mamas can do it!), which he hated. He stayed dry the rest of naptime. Underwear for his nap and a diaper at night (which was surprisingly full in the morning?).

DAY FOUR: I had a chiropractic appointment this morning at 8am, and decided to brave it with Jack wearing underwear. We were out and about for a little under an hour, and he had no problems whatsoever. He even went right as we got home. I can tell he’s doing much better now that I only take him every hour or two. I can tell he’s more in control because usually soon after he’s on the toilet he goes and we’re done. It’s much better than having to sit there for fifteen minutes just waiting and trying to keep him entertained! (Which we still do sometimes, especially before nap or bedtime when I need to make sure he doesn’t have to go). I was finishing up in the office after his nap when he did pee on me a little bit while watching a youtube video. His pants weren’t even wet? so I don’t know how it happened there. We went straight to the toilet and he finished going, and he got his m&ms. All in all, he’s able to be fully dressed without a problem. He wore underwear for nap (and stayed dry!) and he’s wearing underwear to bed tonight. I’m sure he’ll be wet in the middle of the night or the morning, but he has to learn somewhere and putting him in a diaper or pull-up (which is just a diaper!) certainly won’t help him learn to stay dry.

So all in all it really hasn’t been that bad. He’s pretty much potty-trained, wouldn’t you say? We have yet to brave a public toilet, but he’ll learn. I haven’t had to change his clothes or anything because when he does have an accident it’s really, really small. It’s usually because I didn’t set the timer and have forgotten to take him. :) I have been praying for patience and the Lord certainly has delivered. I am not a patient person (ask anyone who’s ever tried to do a sewing project with me!) but I’ve been able to handle this just fine.

It’s been great to really bond with Jack, too. I feel like he’s been ignored a lot this year because of my pregnancy and the birth of Amelia, so it’s nice to have one-on-one time with him again.

For reference, we’ve been using the baby bjorn potty seat that goes on the regular toilet. I’m debating on what to do about mornings (do I wake up at the crack of dawn with him to take him potty? maybe this will motivate me to be an early-morning runner if I’m already up?) so I’m open to suggestions there. He can’t undress himself yet or get up on the toilet quite yet by himself, so he definitely needs me there. And I don’t want to use a potty chair. I think my options are to wake up with him, oh joy! :)