Potty training!

Well, Cooper has been more or less potty trained for a little over a month now (pretty much how long this has been sitting in my drafts) ... so I thought it was time for a post!

About a year ago, Cooper was starting to show interest in the potty, so we went ahead and bought one for him. Every now he would sit on it, but we never pushed it, just wanted him to do it on his own. At the same time, the babysitter started having him sit on the toilet when the other kids went - sometimes he would go, sometimes he wouldn't.

Over Christmas, we got him some underwear and started putting it on him every now and then, but it always seemed to be a waste. We would try on weekend when we didn't have plans, and we were hit and miss.

Right before we went on vacation in April, she told us he had been doing pretty well (still in dipes at this point) and they were flipping the switch once he got back. That meant the thick, training pant-type underwear during the day. For us, it was still hit and miss whether he would go in the potty or in his diaper. Lots of times at home he wanted a dipe instead of a pullup, but we told him "boppers" as he calls them, are for bed and for babies. Ha! The Easter bunny even brought him some Mickey and Jake undies to help make them fun!

Over the course of the next four or so weeks, Cooper kept doing well at daycare. One Monday we talked about how well he was doing but would always go once in the diaper. So I made the decision to just send him to daycare in his underwear and see how that went. He pretty much had no accidents. He did really great at home, too - we're keeping him in regular undies, and diapers for bed only. Hubby had him pee first thing in the morning and right before bed, he goes before we put on the diaper. Sometimes when we get out on the weekends (or last weekend when we went to St. Louis) we will still do a pull-up to be safe, but he's still doing great. A few weeks back, he did wonderful with me at the grocery store and on the way home said "mommy, it hurt. I need to pee!" but thankfully held it in a few minutes until we got home.

Back the week before the huge babysitter debacle, the babysitter took down his name for the diapers and sent all but a few home. I'm so happy to have diapers more or less behind us, but a little sad too. Where did my 9 lb. 13 oz. baby boy go?

For a long time I was debating when to pull the switch and do away with the diapers at night, and Cooper just made that decision for us! Before going to bed on Sunday night, I tried to put on a diaper and he said "No! I want my Jakes.) So we put those on, and he's been in undies at night all week with no issues.  

I think potty training is so different for everyone, but thought I would bullet a few things that worked well for us:

• We didn't push too hard. We try to make going potty his idea.
• However, we are firm. Once we got serious, it was diapers for bed only, and we told him that. In the mornings (or if he hasn't gone for awhile) we always make him try. Lots of times he may say "It not working!" but that gives him the opportunity and we think, makes him think about whether he needs to go.
• Having a sitter do it was so great, because he was doing what all the other kids were doing.
• Honestly, I only did about 5% of the potty training, hubby filled in the slack. He often takes Cooper with him, and they make it fun by peeing on the weeds or the house (perks of living in the country.)
• Rewards. We did M&Ms as treats and made sure he knew that was why.

We are so proud of our little man, and have a little trip to St. Louis planned to help celebrate his accomplishment next month.




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