Come Hell or High Water We Are Not Going Back to Diapers.

So we are officially almost six weeks into our potty training journey and it hasn't been as horrific as I thought it would be. Do not get me wrong we have had our share of accidents but its nothing like I feared. I think the key really was just getting myself in the mindset that we are not going back to diapers. Come hell or high water we are diaper free during waking hours. Now that doesn't mean that I haven't contemplated slapping a diaper back on Teddy in the past six weeks. I still have a great fear of going out for too long because we are still only at 85% success with him giving us a heads up that he needs to go potty. Also why is it that toddlers always desperately need to potty while grocery shopping or in a store as far away from the potty as possible? I mean you think they plan it or something. But that's a story for another time. I really wanted to share this update to tell you how we went about potty training not to rant about the lack of toddler bathroom etiquette.

I linked this to amazon so if you want to buy the book. I do not receive any kickbacks. I just really believe in this book. 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V3L8YSU/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?ie=UTF8&btkr=1

First at the suggestion of a friend I read the wonderful book by Jamie Glowacki, "Oh Crap! Potty Training". I really recommend this book for new to potty training parents or to the we have tried and its not working parents too. I mean pinterest searches are great and you can find a million and one ways to potty train on there. Oh and lets not forget that people are always willing to offer advice but if you are looking to avoid the well meaning advice and pinterest confusion (This is what happens when you read one to many blog posts about something and start confusing all the information) then I whole heartedly recommend this book. This book really breaks it down into simple, easy to understand steps to getting out of diapers. Now we chose not to night time train just yet since to be honest I am not willing to get up in the middle of the night at 39 weeks pregnant to make sure Teddy doesn't need to pee. We will tackle that hurdle in a few months once we have a routine down with our newest addition.

Now if you were hoping I would lay out all the steps for you then I am sorry. I really recommend reading Jamie's book and since potty training is her lively hood I wouldn't want to give anything away. However I will just briefly (because who wants to read multiple paragraphs about my potty training experience) outline how the first five days went for us.

Next came the "fun" part, no more diapers. Day one was great, and I mean that with complete sincerity. Teddy thought that using the potty was a great new game and I was on him like a hawk to make sure he used the potty. It was also nice that he did not really boycott the potty at all. I was prepared for resistance but met none on day one. Day two however was all resistance. I guess the newness and sparkle had gone of using the potty and it now interfered with playing. I swear all day he acted like going potty was an inconvenience. Needless to say this day we had a lot of accidents and a lot of frustration on Mommy's end. I know we were only two days in but I was really hoping for a potty prodigy that would just get it and get it quickly. Days three through five were better. Have you heard the expression take your expectations, lower them, and then lower them again? Yeah well that's what I did and we finally started seeing a routine and I did not have to prompt Teddy every half hour to go to the potty. Now this is not to say that he was fully self initiating (he still doesn't always do that at six weeks in) but he was starting to learn his cues and what it felt like to need to potty.

I am so happy that we tackled this milestone before baby girl gets here and to see the looks of pride and accomplishment on Teddy's face when he uses the potty is wonderful . As bittersweet as it is he is becoming such a big boy and potty training just gave him a little more of the independence that he craves. Now excuse me while I go sob because my baby needs me just a little less and is not so much of a baby anymore.

How did you go about potty training? Was it as horrific as you thought? I would love to hear about your experiences or if you read "Oh Crap! Potty Training" what did you think of it? Did it work for you?