Adventures in Potty training

Hey Guys!

So for almost a month I have been potty training Kayden. I decided to discuss the whole process with all of you, and hopefully share some of my insight.

How to know when they are ready

Kayden started verbalizing a lot more. Everytime I changed his diaper I would say whether he peed or took a poo. This help familiarize him with the differences between the two. We were also going through less wet diapers. It would be lunchtime and I often wouldn't have changed it unless he took a poo. This meant his bladder was growing and he was able to hold his pee for longer which was great. Kayden would also tell me when he peed. He would grab the front his diaper and wouldn't like how it felt. I knew it was time to get things started.

What you need

Pull ups and diapers (30$ for size 2T-3T and you get 74 in a box)

Potty seat ( We got ours online for about $14)

Wipes for the toilet (when you child poo's, they work great for toilets because they wont clog them) $3

Underwear (pack of 4 for $10)

Treat/reward

What I did

We started on a weekend because his dad was home and was able to help out. At first Kayden freaked out whenever we put him on the toilet. He didn't understand what was happening, but we continued to reassure him. We started using pull ups unless we were going out or Kayden was napping. We refer to them as underwear, and started saying that we don't pee/poo in them. The weekend was hard, he didn't actually pee in the toilet until atleast 3 days later. I was frustrated as well. The first week we put him on the toilet every 20 minutes, then 30 minutes the next week and so on. This allowed for a natural increase in the amount of time in between bathroom visits and he hasn't noticed that he needs to hold for a longer amount. Some people use stickers then give their child a reward after they get a certain amount. We chose to give kayden a small treat. Right now we are using skittles, 1 skittles when he pee's and 2 when he poo's. It has worked wonders for us. He is so motivated to use the toilet and runs to the bathroom when I tell him it's time to pee. It is true what you hear, you need to cheer loudly an make it seem like they did the greatest thing ever. Now I've toned it down it down quite a bit, I still cheer when Kayden does go to the bathroom but now he knows that he's done a good job so he does a thumbs up and he gets excited himself. The great thing is on the weekend his dad's home so his dad makes a really big deal out of it because he's not here during the weekdays to celebrate those moments so there's still a lot of excitement for Kayden.

Review on products

The first brand of training pants we bought was pampers and I will tell you I do not care for their version of it at all. One of the biggest things we did not like was we had trouble knowing which was the front and which was the back. On the box there was no clear distinction of how to put them on, I actually had to google it myself. I then found out the pattern that does need to remain at the front because that will fade once your child has soiled the diaper. Another thing I did not care for was the sides of the training pants. One of the things that Parents will find when they are potty trained their child is the ease of opening the sides if they do happen to make a mistake and go to the bathroom in a training pants. Kayden is amazing at peeing in the toilet, the one thing that I am trying to get him comfortable with is pooping in the toilet. He has expressed to me that he is scared, I don't know exactly what he is scared of but that is something I am working with him on. As a result he does still poop in his training pants and I did find when opening the side you really have to pull on them and you really do see a clear distinction between training pants and diapers and it is so difficult to open up the side you almost yanking it. And once you have opened up the sides you cannot close it back up it's basically opened it and then you gotta throw it out so that part was not a plus in my box.

I personally do not have a preference when it comes to diapers. I bought Huggies because it was on sale and it was something that I was able to easily find in my local Walmart. I was under the impression before purchasing Huggies that the pampers style was the style of training pants everywhere. I was so relieved to find out that Huggies was a million times better then pampers. One of the major pluses was a clear distinction with the front and the back of the training pants. Huggies clearly stated back on the training pants are there was no confusion. The pattern for the front of the training pants was bigger and it was more clear when it comes to your child to soiling the training pants. there was a picture within a circle and it was so much easier and quicker to read whether not the child has soiled the training pants then peppers. Also the sides of the training pants were quite similar to a diaper. If I would compare it to anything I would probably say it's almost like a Velcro and the great thing about it was if you did open it as a diaper you could quite easily close it back up and you would feel confident that it was still secure on your child.

Because we live in an apartment buying something for kayden to train on was difficult. Experts say it's important for toddlers to only use the potty in the bathroom so they associate going to the bathroom with that room. Also, once you take the toilet out of the room, and place it in the kitchen, bedroom, hallway etc for instance it can become a toy. We decided to get the seats that fit on top of the toilet. It helped save on space and Kayden loves it. There are two handles on the side for kayden to hold onto, and we can tuck it away nicely when he is not using it. With a tiny bathroom it such been such a relief that it doesn't clutter up the space.

My thoughts

Potty training is exhausting. You are constantly getting up and sometimes chasing after your toddler because they think it's a game. Sometimes you think they are never going to catch on, and yes, I have a few days where kayden rarely pees in the toilet and I feel like I'm back peddling. You honestly need to take it one day at a time and im just focusing on Kayden staying dry in the daytime. I don't want to overwhelm anyone. I keep it short and sweet on the toilet. I don't force him to sit if he's fussing because it's counterproductive. He knows there's an incentive if he goes and that's enough.