I am so proud of Fawn...he has done great at this potty-training thing. And, frankly, I'm pretty proud of Buck and me too -- we were scared to jump into this process but I think haven't made too many mistakes along the way (or not too serious of mistakes, that is!). I wanted to share some quick thoughts I had for those of you about to embark on the feat -- not because I have any good wisdom to share, but because the best tips I got were from other moms. I didn't read a potty training book -- just tried to trust my gut (and, more importantly, my friends). If you know me, you will be SHOCKED that I didn't study up. Maybe I'm becoming more mellow or perhaps the thought of using my limited free hours reading about potty training was just too much for me.
1. Cloth pull-ups are awesome and totally worth the money. I bought mine at Swaddle in Homewood. I use them more as an underwear "cover" when we're out for a long day or when we're eating out or when Fawn's at school or church. We never wear them at home, but Fawn can be pretty sensitive and I'd heard through the grapevine that some kids get very embarrassed when they have accidents in public. Knowing that accidents do happen, I decided that thwarting off some embarrassment for Fawn was probably a good idea. Let me be clear...cloth pull-ups do not prevent clothes from getting wet. But, they prevent a puddle.
2. While big boy (or girl) underwear is fun, be ready for some battles. Fawn is the proud owner of both Handy Manny and Thomas the Train underwear. It was a big incentive to get out of diapers. Little did I know that there would be more tears over which underwear was clean rather than actual use of the potty. He's gotten much better, but for the first few weeks would absolutely come apart if one of his favorite pairs was dirty. And, he simply cannot understand why I will not let him repeat underwear if he doesn't have an accident. Try explaining hygiene to an almost-three-year old. Anyway, if you have a strong-willed little one beware -- looking back I probably should have started with all white underwear to prevent the battles. Lesson learned.
3. Get ready for more laundry because of #2 above. (I don't think Fawn's an outlier on the underwear preference issue -- in fact some of the girls in my Sunday school class and I are all having issues with this.) I used to prescribe to a rigid laundry schedule in which I did all of our laundry on the same day of the week, every week. Only exceptions being (1) someone got sick and we had to do linens to prevent further infection or (2) Buck brought home nasty clothes from the farm. I loved the one-day, laundry day. It was a good day for Fawn and me to have some calm, at home time. It felt very efficient. And, the repressed hippie in me knew it was better for the environment (and my power bill) to use the dryer for one day only because it can stay hot and start hot. Now, to keep Fawn somewhat appeased, I feel like I'm constantly doing laundry. As soon as I have enough clothes for a load, I wash it. That way Fawn's favorites (Pat the Hammer) are clean as often as possible. I figure when the new baby arrives the more frequent laundering will be a necessity anyway.
4. Don't worry about naps or night. Caveat: This may be totally wrong in terms of the "right" way to potty train your child. In fact, when I told my neighbor we were still doing diapers for naps and bedtime she was somewhat alarmed and said that her boys were totally potty trained from the get go. Mine isn't. Oh well. I can't be constantly washing and changing sheets at 7+ months pregnant (or with a newborn)...so for the foreseeable future we're still in diapers while sleeping. I will say, though, that I think Fawn is close to ready to be diaper free -- he wakes up dry 90% of the time. But, lazy mom here isn't even willing to change and wash sheets 10% of the time.
5. While disgusting, the cutesy, little potty is really a great way to start off. And, while you're at it, invest in a good step stool or two. Fawn only used his turtle potty for the first few weeks -- and we went through TONS of Lysol wipes to keep things clean. Then, after a weekend away he proclaimed he was a big boy and didn't need a little potty and hasn't used it sense. Thank goodness! I don't miss the turtle at all. Fawn has a step stool in our hall bathroom on our main floor and in his bathroom upstairs -- so there is a "child-friendly" bathroom on each floor of our house. Definitely worth the $13 a pop I spent at Home Depot. Fawn has now declared that both of those bathrooms are his and that Buck and I are to use our own bathrooms. Fine by me.
6. Diversify your treats. We did leftover Halloween candy (smarties and dum dums) at first, then paired down to gummies, marshmallows, chocolate chips, then to stickers/stamps. Now he doesn't even ask. I should have mixed it up from the beginning so he didn't have an expectation of a particular reward.
7. Be ready for regression. It hasn't all been smooth sailing. Fawn will go a couple weeks without any accidents and then boom, we'll have a couple days in a row with several accidents. I think we are definitely headed in the right direction, but Fawn isn't one of those kids who was completely potty-trained from the get-go. It's still so much better than changing diapers, though!
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