2.5 months and we're potty trained! *\0/* *\0/* *\0/* *\0/* *\0/*

Okay, that was supposed to be a host of cheer leaders at the end... did anyone get that?  You did? *\0/* =D

If you read my previous posts, you will remember that eons ago we started potty training.  Okay, not that long ago but it feels like it, only because we've had fairly good success with everything.  Derek has had his accidents, of course, but for the most part he's got it down.  Mind you, he's a toddler, so he knows the routine but still needs to be prompted and prodded.  Please hold down your wee-wee, please don't touch Mommy with your pee pee hands, flush the toilet first, don't play with the water...  We also have to help him on and off the big toilet and pull up his pants - he can't quite grasp how to get it over his little bum yet!  Overall though, we've got a potty trained 3-yr-old in our household.  *insert image of prancing parents joyfully tossing diapers in the air here*

Our new experiences are as follows:

1. Rushing to potty after waking.  This sometimes goes as smooth as butter.  Other times, he wakes up as if he's being attacked by the potty, blanket-kicking and all.

2. Remembering when to push fluids and when to stop them (no more 1.5 hrs before nap, 2 hours before bedtime).

3. Saying every 15 minutes "Let us know if you have to go potty!" and "Remember to keep underwear dry!" and "Let's try to catch the poo-poo today!"

4. Watching our soap supply deplete much quicker than before.

5. Potty calls 1.5 hrs after bedtime. =S

6. Remembering to take him to the washroom before leaving the home, 40 mins after leaving, and before going back home.  Can't kick it back and let the diaper do all the work!

7. Pack extra socks in the diaper activity and food bag.  Underwear lets pee travel all... the way... down.

8. Avoiding pee hands.  Derek likes to touch our face after holding down his wee-wee.  Uncool!

9. Cheering poop results like it's homecoming.

10. Exchanging diaper sales for extra laundry washes (but we don't mind!).

I'm sure there are more but that's enough to give a glimpse.  The main issues we ran into were poops in the potty (especially since we kicked off this whole training right after an episode of constipation) and night time nature calls.  I'll get into those over the next couple weeks.  Feel free to poke and prod me with questions about our experience; it was a bit of a blur so I can't remember things well enough to give a detailed report but questions trigger the memory. =)  We were also so busy I forgot to note things down in Derek's journal, which would have detailed things for us.

How about you?  What have you tried for potty training?  If you haven't started, what parts are you most wary of?  When are you thinking of trying?

Adventures in Potty Training! - Prep

Sooooooo we've arrived at Potty Training Weekend!  How fitting that it's during Labour Day weekend because it will definitely be laborious for us parents.  We've decided to try out the 3-day Potty Training by Lora Jensen.  Sounds intense but I figure go big or go home.  We (well, I) decided to download her e-book as an investment to at least help us wrap our minds around this training, even if we don't use her particular method.  I'm fairly convinced it will work, although we have a few factors working against us:

1. Derek had a major constipation problem that resolved only 2 days (Thurs) before our training day.
  We're concerned that his system may be thrown off by this recent bout and it may be another obstacle to deal with.

2. He stayed up really late the night before The Big One came out (Wed night).
  He didn't go to bed will 12:30am because he kept bouncing out to go potty.  He was trying sometimes and with his system so backed up, we couldn't ignore his "Potty!" calls.  Since then he's hopped out of bed for the littlest things, which he's never done before, making nap times and bed times rougher than usual.

3. As a result, he's also sleep-deprived.  =S

4. He had white carbs for dinner last night.
  He gets constipated with white carbs so we've switched everything to whole wheat.  We had pizza with neighbours and I didn't realize that the pie we requested for him wasn't whole wheat!  Benny usually handles his meal but was delayed at work so I was juggling Kristen and Derek and totally missed the non-whole wheat crust.  Boo me!  So Restoralax this morning to pre-emptively keep him regular.

5. We haven't wet-proofed his play area.
  Given the irregular nights we've been having because of his constipation, our plans to take out the foam mats and replace them with a rug got derailed.  Why no mats?  Because cleaning them is a pain and a half, and there are connecting pieces between the squares, and debris underneath.... so we'll have to do that this morning.  Speaking of which, we just finished the switch!  Pictures up soon. =)

Foam mats cleared out!

Rugs in!

Derek misunderstanding and bringing out his bucket of trains to go with his tracks that we put on the sofa during the transition. =P

These are the things we have done in preparation:

1. Buy and wash underwear - 25 pairs!
2. Buy and wash extra pajamas.
3. Fit mattress with absorbent Brolly sheets (http://www.brollysheets.com/; review of these to come after potty training!).
4. Print Thomas potty training reward chart.
5. Figure out which rewards to give when (almost all trains!).

Blue Brolly sheet on, red and green sheets waiting on the sidelines.

Aaaaand time's up.  Kristen needs to nap.  Benny's about to change Derek out of his last diaper.  Wish us luck!