Big Boy Underwear

I normally would not blog about such a thing as Potty Training but I felt it deserved its own post. Treyson will turn 4 in December and the other times we have tried it has been a complete disaster and I gave up. This time I promised myself no matter how hard it was, I would not give up for anything. I know this was going to be a hard thing for my son. It's hard for him to focus, he is go go go all day long and he just does not want to stop for anything especially to go to the bathroom. I honestly feel as adults we take going to the restroom for granted. We don't even think twice about it, it comes naturally. I think our parents went through the same things potty training us. I mean who would of thought that going pee and poo in the potty could be such a hard thing? Let just say it was pretty much a very difficult week for us. I cancelled all my activities, events, ect so I just could focus on Treyson and mastering the toilet training. He really loved his sideman and transformer underwear, he would wear a pare on his head everyday. I know, kinda weird but I let him because anything to get him to at least put the big boy undies on and sit on the toilet. The only problem was explaining to him that he could not wear them on his head in public...LOL! He did the one time we had to go out during training because of no groceries and it was very fun to get the looks we got. I just said 3 words when they would start staring..."POTTY TRAINING WEEK!" You will do anything to keep them interested! 

 We started with the little potty directly in front of the tv and him sitting on it for hours at a time. I made him down lot's of fluids just so he could feel what it was like to actually go. Every other time we have potty trained he has never wanted to sit on the potty or he was scared of it, so this to me was much progress then before. You have to know that Trey could care less if he is messy or dirty so I knew if there was an accident that it would not be a big deal to him and it wasn't. Porter was in constant copy cat through the whole progress. After Trey would sit on the potty then so would Port. He never did anything but he would say, "I did it, I did it!" just like Trey. I was going to do them at the same time but it got too stressful. We will defiantly start with Porter in Jan. Potty training is just one of those things of parenthood that you dread but you know it has to be done. I promised myself I would have a good attitude about it and just get it done. Treyson did ok, meaning there were many accidents the first couple days but at least he was trying and just excited about being a big boy. He felt he needed to strip down completely to go to the bathroom. This is something we are still working on. You don't need to be completely nude to go pee right...haha! There were days I wanted to scream. My carpet had so many pee lines in it, my couch suffered some accidents, as did my table, hallway ect. Oh how I love cleaning up poo off the table and seeing all the finger painting poo marks on my walls. It was great having my house covered in feces.  AAAHHHH!!! It was hard not to get discouraged but I was a least going to give it a week in half and if he was not doing better then we would try something different. 

Treyson really loved his spider man toilet seat and we take this with us in public. Let me tell you have fashionable it is to be carrying a toilet seat around with you everywhere...LOL! He prefers the little potty over the big one but I know that will come with time. He is going more and more on the big one. I had a lot of support from my family and friends. All the advice was awesome, some worked and some didn't. Here is what worked for us. 

Every 15-20 min I would dry check him. Toward the end of the week I could go longer. I would ask him, "Are you dry?" If he was then he would be rewarded. He really loved putting pennies in his piggy bank so that what he would get to do if he was dry. We then will cash that money in so he can buy a great big toy from the store as his potty prize! 

Every 30-45 minuets I would have him sit on the potty for a while and most of the time he would go. When he did go he got lots of praise, "spiderman" candy, and he got to pick a little toy out of the toy bucket (I bought some mall toys at walmart for 3 bucks. )  

When he had an accident, I would take him to the toilet 7-10 times and repeat over and over, "We do not go pee pee or poo poo in our big boy underwear we go in the potty!" It got old and sometime he would cry. He was quick to apologize. He would even tell me sometimes, "I need a hug mommy!" You could tell he was trying and it really was an accident. Sometimes he would tell me he had to go but already went in his underpants. I would repeat the process. Yes its exhausting!

He is doing much better this last week. Yes he has still had some accidents but they are few and far between and they are usually when we are in public. Now instead of carrying diapers with me I carry a set of clean underwear and pants in case he has an accident. Diapers are much easier to say the least. Oh the joys of potty training....

1. Constantly asking, "do you need to go potty?" 

2. Repeated telling him, "Make sure you tell Mommy if you have to potty. We don't go potty in our underwear." Also reminding him when he is at school or day care to tell someone if he has to go.

3. Dropping everything and booking it to the bathroom when your child says, "I need to go pee pee in the potty!" 

3. Having cleaning supplies on hand in case it gets really messy. 

4. Teaching them pay attention where the pee pee is going and that is actually going in the potty! (little boys like to shoot forward and up if yo know what I mean.)

5. Watching the time and tracking when he went last so I can make sure he does not have an accident. 

6. Cleaning up poop from underwear, especially in public...GROSS!!! 

The list could go on and on. 

I have to tell you about my most embarrassing potty training moment. It was an eventful Day at Sam's Club. I was looking at something when Trey takes off and I could not find him for a while. Then I see him with another women with his pants down buck naked! "I this one yours!" She just shook her head at me. Come to find out he went potty somewhere but most of it ended up on his pants. Whoops. I was completely speechless. I had just made him try and go potty too. UGH. Not sure if he was trying to find the bathroom or what, or he was just too lazy to tell me and really had to go...LOL. Needless to say I felt like the "Mother of the year!" 

It not perfect but it gets better ever day. Some days are better then others. Some days he will have just a little accident and then he will go the rest in the potty. I am fine with that. This is a struggle for Treyson and I know it's going to take some time. He at least has the concept down. I honestly did not think I was going through make it through the week of potty training but If I can do it, anyone can.  I am not a master or perfect at this but I am so happy that were getting through it together and that first week is behind us. My child was probably the most difficult child to train and he doing it. Heavenly Father truly helped me to have patients and long suffering with potty training. I am grateful. I am so proud of my big boy and that he wears his "big boy underwear!"