The FUN begins.....

For the past couple of months Sammy has told me when he needs to go to the bathroom. Me being a lazy mom didn't want to potty train him yet. I LOVE 30 months, I think it is a great time to potty train a kid. However, today he told me more frequently then usual and I thought maybe if he is so interested in this now is the time! I need to get my gear together (candy, juice, underwear etc), but I think we will start on Friday. He will be tied with Elizabeth for the earliest of our kids to train.

Here is what we have done with our other kids.

1. Don't go anywhere for a couple days. A week is best, but not always easy to do.

2. No pull ups. Just regular underwear for the daytime. Pull-ups though for nap time and night time. We have just worried about this later, because it is much harder to control the flow when you are sleeping. Lillian and Anna caught on right away with night time, and we never really had to use pull ups. Elizabeth took longer and Joseph is in pull ups still.

3. PUSH THE LIQUID!!! I buy juice boxes. My kids don't get those often, so they drink and drink and drink the whole couple days. Oh and salty food to keep them thirsty, is what they say.....but I haven't had to worry about that with my kids. OH you think you are being a good mom by buying a hundred percent juice, but DON'T for this (I don't think I need to go into more detail about that!!!). I suggest kool-aid or capri suns.

4. Candy for rewards. I tried stickers with Lillian, just didn't really work. Especially if you are training a younger kid. Stickers are fun, but they want the candy. Give the candy as needed. With some of the kids they needed a treat to even sit on the toilet. Then give them the candy when they pee/poop of course. For us the kids all had a harder time pooping on the toilet. For Joseph we put hot wheel cars on a shelf and he knew that when he pooped in the toilet he got a car. More of an incentive. Joseph just recently mastered this, so for our kids it does take time. Except for Anna, I need to give the girl credit. Once we really went for it, she had only one accident.

5. Put them on the toilet frequently. When they have an accident, don't say any negative words, just run them to the bathroom and have them sit on the toilet. I would say "Pee goes in the toilet." For everyone but Anna they peed zero times the first day. But then day two (or three if your name is Lillian!) they would pee on the toilet once, a light bulb goes off and you see more success after that. Some are quicker to catch on then others, so be prepared.

6. They clean the mess. I have had the kids clean up their pee on the floor and on themselves. I even have them put the dirty laundry in the hamper. It seems to work, cause even at a young age, who wants to clean!!! Especially a pee mess.

That is it. I used to do a doll role play with the girls, but Joseph wouldn't touch a baby, so I left that out without any problems and will probably do that this time too. With the doll you roll play with them going on the toilet, to get them more comfortable.

I will be completely honest here. I hate potty training, it is my least favorite thing about parenting thus far. I am sure the teenage years are far worse. But it really is not my favorite thing. Even when it goes perfectly like it did with Anna, you still need to know where the closest bathroom is at any store you go to. Always have to have a FULL change of clothes with you at all times. BUT we eventually all have to do it.

It will be nice to not have any diapers anymore. I have three packs left, so they can be "pull-ups" I guess.