Saturday, November 14, 2009

A Very Successful Saturday

Jameson has been fighting diapers recently. REALLY fighting them, and he really isn't much of a fighter. The hysterics that would ensue during a diaper change were a little ridiculous. I couldn't imagine that he was ready to make the switch, but we have been preparing for a few months now. We bought a potty chair in June and it has sat in front of the tv, in his bedroom, in our bedroom and the pot part of it has been used as a bucket in the bathtub. All the while it just sat there totally unused for its purpose. He was getting used to it, getting to know the toilet. Ha ha.

Fast forward to this week. I received my research material (aka potty training books). I picked up a few pairs of training pants in anticipation of the day he might be ready. Also they happen to be cheaper here than in Vienna.

After a battle today I decided, what the heck, we would try the underpants, if he got tired of them or it wasn't working I would fight the battle later. I decided to use the "The Potty Boot Camp" By Dr. Suzanne Riffel. Mainly because it was a quick easy read and it seemed like I could follow her suggestions. We had already done the prep work, so we moved on to the the first lesson.

The idea is to spend a few days at home, ditch the diapers for good and permanently move to the underwears. I gave him the option of wearing a diaper or putting on the underwear, but I told him, if he chose the underwear he would have to go "pee" and "poop" in his potty. He nodded his head. The hardest part was actually getting him to "make" pee for the first time. Sitting on the potty for five minutes was hard (my child is active) but I set him up with "The Little Einsteins" on an iPod and he was very content. We read books, and it was during "Barnyard Dance" that he peed. (Yet another reason to love the book!) He had one accident before he had actually peed in the toilet and it was my fault, I knew he should "try" to go because it had been a while, but he was enjoying washing his hands (read warm running water doesn't mix with a potty training child). He stayed dry through his nap and for the rest of the day. After the first time he peed in the potty he totally got it. After that it happened very quickly. A minute or less he was on, he was off. He wanted a high five and knuckles. His favorite part is flushing the stuff down the toilet then washing the bowl out to put back into his potty chair. I am so proud of him tonight I could burst. He is 20-months-old! Even if we totally go backwards tomorrow, I am STILL proud of him! I could tell that he was pretty darn proud of himself too. At bedtime he acted like such a "big boy."
Jameson with his loyal subjects.

Notice the large water bottle, as the book advised I got him fruit juice, and all he wanted was water.

Now the book of choice today was "Everyone Poops" By Taro Gomi. He would say "boop" on every page, but he loves the page which has a Giraffe, a Lion, A Gorilla, a Crane and a little boy eating. He goes through all of the animal sounds, then turns the page and says "boop!" I love it. That is what we are taking on tomorrow, wish me luck.

2 comments:

Alison said...

OH I laughed so hard during this whole post...go Jameo! Good book choice :) My personal favorite is I have to go by Robert Munsch...HILARIOUS!

Jennifer said...

Wow, I'm impressed! How awesome...keep us posted on how he does!