Going Potty!

 It's a subject that raises lots of eye brows; anxiety; frustration; under the breath whispered disapproval and smug smiles.The build-up often requires months of preparation; book purchases; the stock piling of undergarments; watching the long term weather forecast looking for a spell of good weather; ensuring the washing machine is in tip top condition; sticker charts and sweeties (or beads if you have a sugar aversion) and the purchase of a suitable recepticle whilst your little lad or lady is wearing their L plates.

What is this big event of which I speak?

Potty Training of course!

Potty Training is the toddler right of passage as they leave behind the nappies that rather nicely protect their little tushies from tumbles and stumble (or dribble) towards the coveted title of "Big Boy or Girl".

Pirate Pete (Amazon)

After months of debating; wondering when I'd have some spare time to dedicate towards managing the big event; ignoring endless comments from my sister about why Pip was still wearing nappies; reading Pirate Pete; trying out wee's on the big boy toilet; talking about the big event and quite frankly waiting for some better weather Pip woke up on Good Friday with the news that from today he was going to be a Big Boy and ditch the daytime nappies.

I'll be honest and say that I've been very laid back about the whole potty training business.  I feel no sense of expectation about when the deed needed to be done.  I felt no need to compete for the title of Youngest Potty Trained Child in the World, nor had any sense of competition with anyone else's children.  Pip hadn't wanted to ditch the nappies at Christmas and quite clearly stated he still wanted to be a little boy!  So I approached the big day with a very realistic sense of what will be will be.  If he worked with the plan then that was brilliant.  If he wasn't feeling ready then we would just delay until the summer holidays.

So armed with lots of new elasticated waisted joggers and trousers and shorts; a ton of new boxer shorts; Katie's old potty; a new wall mounted urinal; a new portable potty; some Smarties and the first week of the Easter Holidays totally clear we turned our attention to mastering the potty.

I have to say my 3 and a half year old son was a total star!  He cottoned on very quickly to what was expected of him.  By Day 2 he accepted that the era of the daytime nappy was gone forever and turned his attention to getting as many wee's in his variety of potties as possible.  The urinal was a massive hit (literally as Pip loves aiming for the spinner at the back of the potty).  

New Frog Children Potty Toilet Training Kids Urinal for Boys

Of course we had accidents in those first few days.  The washing machine was on permanently and we used up a lot of kitchen roll and I remembered how much I hate emptying potties with poo in them (why does that seem even worse than grotty nappies?) but slowly and surely the accidents became fewer and fewer and the sense of pride and achievement in Pip's eyes and smile was clear for everyone to see.

On Day 3, which was Easter Sunday I told Pip I wasn't giving him Smarties for using the toilet because he had so much Easter chocolate to eat.  He was totally cool about it so we stopped Smartie rewards on that day and never looked back.  Motivated by High Fives and lots of praise Pip has been happy and going about his business.

On Day 4 I accidentally put him to bed without a nappy on. It was a total oversight and not planned and I didn't even realise until he asked to go to the toilet the next morning.  I was amazed - he had been totally dry all night! I was enormously relieved at this because he'd crept into our new bed during the night.  I would have been very unhappy to have the mattress christened so quickly! I then had the dilemma of having to consciously put him to bed minus the nappy the following night to see if it was a fluke.  I didn't feel confident to be honest and made preparations with a waterproof sheet on the bed.  I was right.  He wasn't ready and it had been a fluke but his overnight nappies are almost close to being ready and he is taking his nappy off to have his morning wee so I'm seriously impressed with him.

In the middle of the first week of the holidays Katie hurt her foot doing one handed cartwheels in the lounge so a trip to the Minor Injuries Clinic was required.  You can imagine how excited I was about taking a newly potty training boy for several hours wait there.  Armed with our new "My Carry Potty" we set off and my little man managed to get all his wee's in the right place, even asking to use the toilet in the waiting area.  Thankfully nothing was broken in Katie's foot so we were on our way home and dry again within 2 hours.

My Carry Potty (ebay)

Feeling more confident after that event we started going out and about. Pip was utterly amazing.  He had far fewer accidents than I carried spare clothing for.  We managed long days out with confidence, going out to country parks and play areas.  Pip started taking himself off to use the potty and the big boy toilet on his own.  He confidently mastered doing poo's with great maturity and is slowly starting to be able to hold his wee whilst we find a toilet or are driving in the car.

Pip has now gone back to Pre-School excited that he can use the urinal with all the other boys.  We've only had a few accidents at school which highlighted we perhaps needed a few additional pairs of trainers just to be on the safe side.  This was followed by a few days of him not quite getting to the toilet or potty on time.
 "I missed it" said Pip glumly.  We reassured him and told him how proud of him we were for how well he was doing and he was quickly back on track, taking control of his own bodily functions with great independence.  We do have a little issue of him wanting to flush the toilet before wiping himself and also putting far too much paper down the toilet just for fun but it's what I'd expect from a little lad.

Three weeks on he coped on a day out to watch the Brighton Marathon last weekend.  I put him in a pull up for the drive and the day (don't judge me) just for my own convenience really but told him that it was just there to protect him.  Bless him, he stayed dry for the whole day.  Not one single accident or wee in the pull up. Considering we had stayed overnight in a hotel and had a busy day I think that is a major achievement.  In fact I think I can now be so bold as to say I think he's cracked it!

My little boy is now a BIG BOY!!

Well done Pip!