Adventures in Potty-training: Genesis

Well, we've officially started potty-training in this household. For real this time. We've had two nights with two successful urinations. This was cause to dance around like a monkey and blubber such things as, "Big boy! Going potty on the big boy potty! Woo-hoo! Look at YOU, ya big boy! Goin' pee-pee on the potty! I'm so proud of you!" The 2 year-old that caused this ruckus began to look at me like I had lost my mind.

So, guess what? I'll be updating this with frequent posts about our "Adventures in Potty-training." Fun, huh? Oh, you have no idea.


Day 1 of the potty-training started out, well, more as Night 1. We asked toddler if he needed to go potty in the big boy potty before his bath. An hour and a half LATER, after promising to buy him a pony AND his own country if he went pee-pee, we had a SUCCESS STORY! His reward? Oh, well, you know: getting to wear big boy underwear (over his diaper) to bed, getting some chocolate chips to eat, and getting to watch an episode of this Franklin cartoon that he LOVES.

Needless to say, he went to bed cranked up on sugar and feelin' pretty proud of himself. His father and I proceeded to pass out right after putting him to bed.

Potty-training is HARD WORK.

So, today upon his rising from bed at 11:30 in the morning (don't EVEN get me started about how much I'd love to do this again! And yes, he goes to bed anywhere from 8:30-9:00 p.m.), I ask him if he wants to go potty. Still rubbing sleep out of his eyes, he agrees to sit on the potty, but nothing's really happenin', you know?

I let him drink so much liquid throughout the day that I'm afraid he's going to explode, and every 15 minutes I ask him if he wants to go to the potty. If he could expand his vocabulary enough, I swear he'd ask me, "Mom, seriously, do I LOOK like I'm an 85 year-old man who has to pee every 5 minutes? I don't think so..."

I then decide to let him run around in his big boy underwear with NO diaper. Here's my rationale: He's ALWAYS worn a diaper. Maybe he has no idea when he's peeing because it just feels the same as it always has. Maybe if he's in actual underwear, he'll notice a difference if he starts to go.

Within the first 15 minutes of breakfast I hear, "Uh-oh, Mommy!" and turn to find my son staring at the puddle o' urine on the floor. (Note to self: Buy some Pull-ups at the store that LOOK like big boy underwear so my hardwood floors don't roll over and die on me each time he has an "uh-oh.")

I say, "That's okay! You just went potty! YEA! Now let's go sit on the big boy potty!" We did this all day long, and NOTHING HAPPENED.

It's like he's a camel or something and can store up liquids in a hidden hump so that he won't have to pee at ALL the entire day.

So, tonight before bed, he goes in and potties! YEA! Life is good! He then runs out at me shouting, "I went pee-pee in the potty!" and I do my monkey dance for him again. He then tells me he gets to watch Franklin AND eat chocolate chips! It's like Christmas over here, folks!

The problem, however, is this: Once the Franklin episode was over, he realized that he had to go to bed and couldn't watch another episode. So, he told us he had to go potty and ran back in the bathroom. Of course, the child's bladder was on strike at the moment after all the work it had done the entire day, so no such luck. We reassured him that that was okay, that sometimes you just don't have to go. This was NOT what he wanted to hear. He bawled. He bawled and said he wanted to go potty. How do you explain to him that he might just have to wait until tomorrow to get to watch an episode of Franklin again--after he potties? It was heart-wrenching, I tell you. He was REALLY trying to go on the potty!

So, there you have it. Day 2, and we've had two successes.

I read up on this whole potty-training stuff, and someone said, "Make sure he doesn't have ANY distractions around him or he won't go."

Really?! I'm going to assume this person did NOT have a 9 month-old at home, too. Because I've either got one distracted toddler or one ANGRY baby for being put on hold while I try to help his brother sit on the big boy potty.

Any suggestions out there?


Oh, and here's a question for you:

Have you ever had to utter the words, "Hey! Quit biting my shin!"?

Let me ask you THIS: Have you ever had to say that to a HUMAN?

My 9 month-old apparently thinks he's a Schnauzer.