Paxton turned 2 in August.
He decided about that time, that he was going to “Pee Potty”.
{That means go pee in the potty in Pax-slang}
I got out the little potty chair, and the underwear and was SHOCKED at how well he did. Sitting to do his business for both pee and poop without complaint.
The little stinker was going to finally use his STUBBORNESS for good. Like the morning we ran errands for 2 hours, and I put a diaper on him, instructing him to stay “clean and dry”.
When we got home? He was totally clean and totally dry and promptly sat on his little potty to go.
“I DID IT!”
Wow.
The same week he decided to potty train, came the time in our family when we cut the binky! Age 2 and SNIP, off goes the tip. 
He was quite sad about that, actually almost disgusted by it. 
“EW. Binky Broken. EWWWWW. Put it up der.”
He gave them to me to “put it up there”, motioning to the shelf in his room. Later, he had me throw them away, cried once or twice about it a few weeks later and that was the end of that.
Guess my little buddy is a Big Boy! Right?!
Almost.
So here is the problem, he now only goes pee and poop on the potty when he is naked. If I put underwear on him, he pees them. What in the world?!
Guess who is running around naked all the time?
Yup, Pax.
I have potty trained 4 kids now, but this is new turf for me.
First of all, because this is the youngest child to do so well, second, none of my others were allowed to be naked all time, in case they would pee on my floor. They ALWAYS wore undies! OCD me couldn’t handle the messes. Guess being a mom of 4 makes you kinda laid back!? 🙂
He successfully went poop 3 times and peed like 8 times on his little potty today, and has only had a handful of accidents since we started in August, so I guess I can’t complain. 🙂
I sure don’t claim to have the answers, but while we are talking potty training, I wanted to share the 3 Readiness Signs for potty training.
I have banged my head on many a bathroom wall trying to MAKE my kids go potty in the big potty. I learned over the years, that it’s just easier to wait until they show ALL THREE readiness signs before even trying.
Destiny was 2 1/2. Tylan was 4. Avery was 3. Paxton at 2!?
No matter what, it can’t be your idea.
Not even if you are super stubborn, make cute sticker charts, make them sit in their poo diapers, encourage, or even buy a new toy and put it on top of the fridge as a bribe, no I meant, to be earned…..
It just won’t work until THEY are ready. Until their BODIES are ready.
Huh, what a thought!
Without further ado, here are the 3 readiness signs to watch for before embarking on what can be an oh-so frustrating journey!
3 Readiness Signs
1) Child says when dirty or wet. (This happens soon after they start hiding when going poop)
2) Can pull pants down and access the potty on their own. (this is important for those times you need them to RUNNNNN because you can’t clean the supper ingredients off your hands fast enough to go help)
3) Wakes up from at least nap time dry. This is a sign of bladder maturity and the most important step of all. If they cannot hold it during those few hours of sleep, they are not ready to train.
Trust me, I learned the hard way with Destiny. She showed 2 of the 3 signs at 18 months, so I started training her. She got scared by some runny (noisy!) poo and next thing I know we are in an all out War to use the potty. 6 exhausting months later, after trying everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING!!!! I packed the whole thing up and said FORGET IT!
A few weeks later, on her own terms, she asked for her big girl undies. She had 3 accidents TOTAL. It was a breeze. (In fact, I still had her original package of Pull ups leftover, that Avery used when she trained.)
Tylan was different, I had heard boys are just a bit harder to train, and it seems it can take them longer to be ready. My pediatrician told me the new potty training average is 3-4 years old for boys. (Rather than age 2-3 years like in the past.)
Ugh.
Do you know how BIG a 3 year olds poo is?
Do you know that I had that kid in the BIGGEST diapers money could buy, the Overnight version, PLUS rubber pants and he’d STILL wet the bed every night. His bladder did not “mature” until after he turned 3. Once that happened, he started to wake up dry and proceeded to train in a week and a half. I made him wear Pull Ups at night for a long time after for my own peace of mind, but he kept them dry.
If I’ve learned anything, it’s not to promote “False Starts”. It’s better to never start at all, then to stop and start, stop and start and confuse them. One day we poo in diapers, the next mom announces no more diapers, and I am supposed to sit down and go in this big hole? Then when it doesn’t work, we are back to diapers? How confusing! (Poor Destiny! I totally did that to her, several times!)
Here are some methods or tips we’ve picked up on the way, but as is true with everything else…..what works for one kid, does not work for another.
~Move potty chair out to the living room where it is easily accessed.
~Train in the summer if possible, less layers to deal with. Girls can be in sundresses for easy access.
~Let the child go naked so they can start to recognize the “I have to Go” sensation. Be ready to sanitize well and clean your carpets when you are through!
~Another option is big kid undies with a pair of rubber pants over it. The idea is for them to experience the wetness. Pull Ups still pull too much of it away from their legs. We save those for outings and sleep times and talk a LOT about keeping the “Big Boy Pull Ups” clean and dry, just like underwear!
~Do not go back to diapers. A lot of children will wait to pee and poo once they are on. It’s safe and familiar and doesn’t get them out of their comfort zone to be ready to learn something new. As soon as Paxton’s diapers run out, we will switch to pull ups at nap and night and outings for a season of time.
~As they get big enough to stand, {we wait quite a while before we start on that journey!} help boys aim better by floating Cheerios down in the water to aim for. We used to just tell Ty to aim for the hole down there and try to make his pee bubble in the water. Now that he’s older, if he misses several times in a row, he is “grounded” to sitting for a few days!
~When an accident occurs, have the child “practice” going to the bathroom from that location 10 times. If they had an accident next to the train table, then they had to run to their potty and back, 10 times shouting “I have to potty!” This helps them realize that no matter where they are, there is an easy route to the bathroom.
~REWARD REWARD REWARD! Destiny had a sticker chart. I made a curved path with squares. She got a sticker each time she went, 1 for pee, 2 for poo and 1 for staying dry at nap and 2 for staying dry at night. At the end of the winding path was a reward. She picked out a doll house she wanted reallyreally bad. At the end of 2 accident free weeks, she got it!
The other kids have gotten candy for doing their business, 1 for pee, 2 for poop. What can I say, we sure aren’t lacking for toys, so sometimes you just gotta use sugar!
I will keep you posted on Paxtons Potty Progress. This is uncharted territory in the Ferguson house, so time will tell if this is him truly training, just slower {and more naked} than the others?
Until then, I have some cute lil’ buns to squeeze!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
~T
4 little Fergusons 