Ethan hit a major milestone this past week, he is potty trained! I wasn't really planning on tackling potty training until after he turned 3 this Summer when he was wearing shorts instead of pants to make it easier. However, a few weeks ago the head teacher at Ethan's daycare asked me if we were planning on potty training Ethan soon. She said that he had gone two days without using his diaper and was going on the potty exclusively. One of the other little girls there was being potty trained so he wanted to use the potty too. He had gone a few times before at home but not consistently so I didn't think he was ready. I thought, "what the heck, we'll give it a try." I went that day and bought him Thomas underwear I knew he would love and some pull ups and prepared to spend the weekend potty training.
On Thursday night I showed him his new underwear and he seemed really excited.
On Friday morning I put him in underwear but no pants and it didn't take long for him to have an accident. I had done some research and almost every article I had read said to have them be naked. So I took off the underwear and it was a naked day, ha! He started to go one time and I told him to stop and go to the potty and that was the last time that weekend he had an accident. He just kind of got it and understood the feeling and how to control it from that point on. He did great the rest of the day Friday. He would get an M&M every time he went and he abused that system a little the first day by going potty about 20 times. I didn't want to discourage him though so I let him go any time he wanted to and he always got an M&M.
At bed time he was so upset that I put a diaper on him because he had done so well that day. I knew it would be a while though until he could make it through the night in underwear. I told him I would put his underwear on top of the diaper and that made him happy!
On Saturday he was still doing great and we were getting a little stir crazy from being in the house all day the day before so we thought we would test him by going out to lunch to see how he would do. We took him to his favorite choo choo restaurant as a reward.
He did really well. He went a couple of times at the restaurant and told us each time. He continued to do well the rest of the day. We decided to go to the Shedd Aquarium on Sunday and that would be a big test. I was nervous because it's a longer drive and I was worried he would get distracted and forget he had to go.
Relax Mom! I'm surrounded by water, but I don't have to go!
He did awesome! No accidents and he told us every time. I was really feeling excited about how great he was doing and the quick progress he made.
And then he went to daycare on Monday. He had one accident three of the days that week. He always did great with us and never had an accident but for some reason he wasn't telling the teachers at daycare that he had to go. One night we were walking around the neighborhood and a girl rolled by on a scooter. Ethan said, "Ethan wants a scooter Mama." We actually were planning on getting him a scooter for Easter and I had it all picked out and everything. I saw the opportunity for some motivation and used it. I told him that if he went 7 days without an accident that he would get his scooter. He did great all last weekend but then he had to make it the full week at daycare with no mistakes. I held my breath each day when I walked into daycare hoping that he would still be in the same pants he was in that morning knowing he did well that day. And he did it! The teachers said that he was doing great and telling them every time he had to go. He would also tell them each time that he was getting a scooter for going potty, ha! The motivation worked!
On Thursday afternoon when he got home from daycare, this is what he saw when we pulled in.
The face of success!
We are so proud of our little boy. He has always handled changes and transitions well like taking away his pacifier, moving to a big boy bed, etc. He also was very motivated by our praise, M&M's and of course the scooter! He's continued to do well. I'm sure there might be an accident here or there but so far so good!
