BIG Boy Success......

Finally! Warren is totally potty trained! I am sure many other moms understand what an accomplishment this is! It has been a long journey for us. Originally, I had read and heard from so many people not to even worry about seriously potty training until your kid is like 3 because mentally that is the best time for them. However, just after Warren's 2nd birthday he showed lots of interest in going potty and so I wasn't going to deny us that opportunity!

Initially, he did really great. He was waking up dry in the morning & having very few accidents during the day so I thought....great! this will be a piece of cake! Well, shortly thereafter the novelty wore off and suddenly my perfect potty training experience turned into much frustration. It seemed the biggest issue was that he didn't like the inconvenience of having to stop playing to go to the potty. I persisted for a while but it wasn't long and any time I would remind him he would run away from me and yell "I don't want to go to the potty!" I was at my wits end with the boy. Everything I read talked about how it needs to be a really positive and rewarding experience and I could see that it was quickly becoming anything close to that. So, I just decided to layoff and drop the subject for a while. He was back in diapers and while I wasn't thrilled, it was better than fighting it 8 times a day.

In December we found out that we were expecting a new baby and so for obvious reason's I decided to introduce the topic again. Potty treats, charts, rewards, cool underpants, lots of praise etc. but nothing seemed to really motivate him to do it on his own. It wasn't the fight it had become before but it still took a fair amount of coaxing on my part.

So, one day we are at Target and I see this toy that I had been looking diligently for, for months. He always loved playing with it at his friends house. I was just as excited as he was to find it. I put it in the cart and Warren is giggling and cooing his little heart out, admiring it for the rest of the shopping trip. So, we get in the car and we are driving home and I get this mean mommy thought. I decided that when we got home I would let Warren open his toy ONLY after he started to use his potty for at least a couple of days. I was looking for his motivation to be sparked and I though this may do the trick. So we get home and he gets ready to rip into it and I put it up high and explained the deal. Well, needless to say he was seriously ticked off about that. I did feel bad because it was a bit of the switcheroo for him but he got over it and best of all, it worked!! He started to use his potty and three days later I let him open his toy.

Eventually, I bought him his own little potty (we were originally using the potty ring that sits on the big toilet). He loved it and wanted to use it all the time. It was the kind that played a song everytime he used it. Eventually, he grew tired of the song and turned that off. Childs play. He is very independant and so I think the best part was that it was "his" and he could use it without any help at all. He has been doing really well and it has been a couple of weeks with zero accidents and so I finally feel like I am safe to announce that he is totally potty trained! Woo Hooooo! That is the best mothers day gift, EVER!