Potty Training Update

Cory has started using the potty and wearing underwear all day with a high level of success. He still goes back and forth on what he wants to do at night, and I'm really all for diapers at night right now. One night he wore underwear and woke up and didn't make it to the bathroom in time. It severely upset him and he had a hard time getting into his day. He eventually came out of it and did fine the rest of the day. Yesterday he even went potty in a public restroom during a shopping outing. He also really enjoys being one of the 'big boys' at daycare and lining up at the bathroom door before lunch time.

Tyler wears underwear at home on the weekends and in the evenings when he thinks about it. He still wants his diaper on when he has to go poop and he will not wear underwear at daycare. I'm not sure if he's worried he'll have an accident, but I think so. He does really well at home so it's probably just a matter of time. He is very aware of the pecking order at daycare and is very sensitive to all the other boys. I think he wants to be confident he can do it before he makes the commitment away from home.

Amber, believe it or not, is also very interested in the potty. I think mostly because she wants to do everything the boys are doing. She has gone a few times, but mostly it's all about doing what the boys are doing. She does have awareness, though. I can tell when she's going and I ask her if she needs her diaper changed and she will say 'yes' when she does. I've read that there is a window of opportunity between 18-24 months and it would be a great thing to get all three done at the same time. I've also read, and experienced, that girls learn before boys.

It's such a big milestone and I can't believe that the kids are learning despite our rookiness!!

Potty Training

I always resigned to myself that since I have boys, they wouldn't want to be potty trained till they were 3. I know this sounds crazy, but the diaper changes aren't really that big of a deal, part of the routine, whatever. Too much going on right now and just easier to put it off and not deal.

I think Cory and Tyler are both ready. But I'm not sure I am! I don't know how to do this!

The story goes like this:

Cory tells me he's having pain while going potty in his diaper. He grabs at his diaper and cries and says, change my diaper. I ask if he wants to sit on the potty and he says yes. We sit, and sit, and sit. He doesn't go, but he wants to. So, I think something might be wrong. We collect some urine* and take it to the Doctor. Perfect, no UTI. Maybe he's ready to use the potty?

Now Tyler is very interested in this process and smiles and giggles and pees in the tub and says, look, I peed in the tub. So now every evening, the boys want to take their clothes off and their diapers and go potty. They've learned how to take off their pants and diapers on their own - not necessarily a good thing! Tyler has been successful several evenings in going pee in the potty. Yea, lots of joyous clapping and good boys!

And now the real hard part. Tyler has always protested naps. Now that he is in a big boy bed, he gets out of bed and creates all sorts of havoc in his room while he's supposed to be sleeping. I've come in to find him completely naked with clean diapers and wipes strewn all over the place. I quietly get him dressed and put him back in bed, but he's managed to be more persistent and patient than me, so has skipped naps the last several days.

Yesterday during nap we let Tyler cry for awhile. He wasn't stopping, so I opened the door to see what was going on. Oh. My. Gosh! Naked boy and Poop all over the place. He had taken off his diaper. Pooped. And then tried to clean himself off. Not good. No nap, plus the commotion got Cory up too. Ugh!

I'm not sure how to deal with this. Guess I need to find a way to keep the diaper on during nap, but doesn't that go away from the potty training idea where they need clothes that are easy to get off? Are they too young to really get it yet?

We bought 2 more potties at my mom's suggestion to put in their rooms, so at least they have a potty to use if they really need to while they're napping. I'm afraid that they may decide that it's more of a toy and tear it all apart, with everything inside, and scatter all over their room. That would be a mess!

So I guess we'll play it by ear. Continue to get them to use the potty as much as possible, but I'm definitely going to do something different at nap time. Maybe I'll have to lay down with Tyler till he goes to sleep...

* This is actually not too hard for a boy. The Dr. gave us a little bag with a hole in it and tape that sticks to him. We stuck it on and he filled the bag. The hard part was getting it off...