To Pee or Not to Pee

I never thought I would be sitting on the bathroom floor in tears when my son first peed in the potty.  Yet there I was, tears streaming down my face as I was hooting and hollering, making sure that my son knew that this was a big deal, a very big deal.  It was a huge moment for both of us, since potty training is just as much about the parent being ready as it is the child.

We used the 3-day potty training method which I thought meant if you follow the method to the book, that your child will be trained in 3 days. That seems pretty logical doesn’t it?  I really wish someone had told me 3 days was a hoop dream, and that it’s more like 2 weeks of cleaning urine off the wood floor and scooping poop out of newly washed Star Wars undies - trying my hardest to make sure the poop doesn't hit the floor.

If you are following the same method, here are a few tips that I wish someone had told me.  Make sure each bathroom in the house is fully stocked with the following: potty seats, Lysol, paper towels, 3-5 pairs of new undies and pants/shorts, M&Ms or some type of reward system.  I had such a shoddy system – no bathroom in our house was complete until after the 3 days. 

These seats are great for little boys who learn sitting down

Buy at least 15 pairs of undies before starting.  We started with 8 pairs and Blake soiled all of them within the first half day. I found myself running to Target mid-day so that he had something to wear while the laundry was running. I got back in the nick of time – I walked in to see Blake naked playing Hot Wheels in our basement. It’s a good thing I didn’t try on those cute dresses I found at Target that day!

Night training was easier than I expected.  We had about 4 nights of him wetting himself and waking us up.  Brooke and I would divide and conquer so that clean-up was quick and we could all go back to sleep.  Soon after, we started doing a “Dream Pee” and that solved the overnight accidents.  We carry him to the potty right before we are about to go to bed.  I sometimes perch my body in front of him so he can keep his head on my shoulder while he goes.  We bring him back to bed and all the while he hasn’t opened his eyes once.  

You will have anxiety going out in public, especially if you have 2 kids.  I tried to limit where we went as much as possible after experiencing how difficult this was firsthand.  We were at the ClubFit café having dinner and playing bingo one night.  I look up from my bingo card and see Blake doing a little pee dance, so I said ‘you have to go?’ He nods yes, but by the time I could get Emily out of her high chair, he went all over the café floor. After that incident, I realized I needed to be better prepared for being out in public with them.  I make him go potty before leaving the house or when I pick him up from daycare before we go anywhere else.  I am the annoying mom who is constantly asking if he has to go, and often take him to the bathroom even if he says no.

Nature calls!

Perhaps being patient is the best advice I could give to anyone about to go thru this.  Blake got the peeing thing down pretty quickly, but he struggled with pooping in the potty.  I was constantly asking my friends for tips, feeling pretty certain that I was doing something wrong.  It took about 1-2 more weeks of poop accidents before he was fully trained. 

We taught Blake to pee sitting down because reality is, that’s the only way I know how.  A few weeks ago he asked to stand up and now that’s his preferred method when he’s awake. Someone taught him to say, “hold the penis straight” while peeing and I nearly keeled over laughing.  I also asked Brooke if boys need to wipe if peeing standing up.  He said no, men just shake it.  So the next time Blake went potty, I said, ok just shake it.  And he shook his whole body (Head to toes) actually making more of a mess than what I was expecting.  Apparently when you say shake it, it means to shake the penis, not your whole body.  I guess I needed to be more specific.

At the end of the day, I can not even express how proud I am of Blake that he is trained.  It was an exhausting couple of weeks, but it was so worth it.  And anyone who tells you they trained their kid in 3 days or less is flat out lying (or just really damn lucky)!!

First day without a diaper!