Potty Training--Day ??

We stopped working on the potty training front for a while.  Jaiden just didn't seem all that into it.  And he has an attitude like his mother.  When he decides he doesn't want to do something, watch out! :) We went back to diapers, but didn't give up entirely.  Every once and a while, we would ask him if he wanted to use the potty.  If he said yes, success! If he said no, that's ok.  Then, at the end of the year, we decided to change daycare facilities.  (We loved our daycare, but the hours just didn't work.)  When our neighbor found out we were changing, she asked if she could watch him for us.  Score!  An at home daycare, with great hours, and a person we know and respect!  Can't get much better, right?  Wrong!!  She then said that she would be willing to work on potty training if we wanted.  Sweet!

We needed to get a couple of things for Jaiden so that he would be ready.  We still had two weeks before our neighbor would start watching Jaiden, so we thought it would be a great idea to get him comfortable with the process.  Jaiden and daddy went to the store and picked out new underwear, Thomas the Train.  Jaiden is absolutely obsessed with Thomas the Train.  We also pulled out his little potty to get him used to it.  Now let me just say, this all happened the last week in December to the first week in January.  Jaiden was only 2 years and 3 months old.

With the purchase of the new underwear, Jaiden was gung-ho about potty training.  He would have an accident and would come tell us immediately.  If we asked him to sit on the potty, he would do it right away.  Those two weeks were great.  There were lots of accidents, but Jaiden wanted to use the potty so badly that the accidents were few and far between.  Our neighbor was surprised at the level at which Jaiden was using the potty.  After a month or so, Jaiden was no longer having accidents unless we forgot to prompt him to use the potty.  He still wasn't recognizing the signs of a full bladder himself.  And then we hit a plateau.

Jaiden was doing ok with the potty training, but we couldn't get passed him not recognizing when he needed to go potty.  We were flummoxed.  He was getting frustrated because we were frustrated and all of the frustration was not helping.  We tried to keep calm, but after you clean the carpet for the third time that day it just adds up.  We would ask Jaiden where he was supposed to go potty.  He told us on the toilet.  And the next time he had to go...it would be on the floor.  We tried getting him to help us clean up.  He would say it was yucky and then the next time...he would go on the floor.  We didn't know what to do.

Then one day, Jaiden saw how daddy went potty standing up.  It was a brand new concept and Jaiden wanted to try.  Then he started to tell us that he needed to go potty just so he could stand up when he did it.  It is now April and Jaiden is doing well.  He still has an occasional accident, but he is recognizing when he needs to go.  And if he doesn't make it to the potty, Jaiden is able to stop it so he only has a little mess. It has been a learning process for us all.