Today Elliot's cold is on the way out, but we were stuck at home because Erik got sick almost 4 days later and was feverish yesterday. So spontaneously I thought, why not try it today. If he reacts like Erik did when I did this process of introducing the potty, then I will quit, but if he seems to take to it than yay for me. It was 9 am when I decided this so I had a whole day to try. So we headed downstairs for snack, I got Erik involved in the process and we took off Elliot's pants.
I decided to just give him juice, water, crackers, whatever he will eat or drink today so he just needs to go potty. I explained to Erik that Elliot was getting extra juice because he was learning to use the potty and Erik was really excited about the idea of helping his brother. So the journey began.
Luckily for me Elliot reacted completely different to the potty. I remember telling Erik our potty phrase "Erik pee pee goes in the potty so let me know if you need to go potty" and him being so stressed every time I said it. Then when he would start to have an accident and I would take him to the potty and he refused to sit down, but I was reading a book and going with that style and inflexible because I didn't know I could be and things with Erik got worse. Also Erik was a holder and would hold his pee for hours, like 4 hours at times. This made it really hard to catch mistakes when he wasn't having any mistakes. Regardless he is potty trained now, so we did get there although potty is still a weapon for him.
Today with Elliot a completely different experience. Almost immediately he leaks and I take him to the potty to show him how to go. He tries, doesn't get it, but the thought is registering. Then he gets up goes poop on the ground when I went to the other room to clean the mess. So I immediately put him back on the potty he finishes up by going pee and a little poop and doesn't freak out. As a matter of fact he is excited by the idea.
The rest of the afternoon he plays has a few accidents, I am trying to load him up on water and juice so he goes again. He finally goes a second time and does it all in the potty. Then we head outside. At this point he is really starting to get stressed. If he leaks a little he is noticing and getting upset at himself. At one point he was standing in his wagon and had an accident and got so mad. I just calmly brought him to the potty to explain where pee went and we were happy again. When he did have a small pee at one point during the late morning I quickly switch from my no reward philosophy to giving him a little "cookie" as a reward. After that he was a little more enthusiastic.
I think Elliot's cold is on the way out because he napped for almost 3.5 hours today and I had to wake him up. I think it actually accounted for his moodiness about the potty. He was just tired and cranky and having a hard time processing it.
Well after nap I just had success after success with this little guy. (no pictures because it was too dark). He woke up with a dry diaper so I knew it was coming and we played in his brothers room. A little leak and then a huge pee in the potty. He did it and I was so proud of him. Afterwards we headed downstairs for playtime, reward and more potty. Erik was excited because their new sippy cups arrived and I explained to him that the more we got Elliot to drink water the more he would go pee and the more we could practice. So all afternoon either Erik or I kept handing Elliot his new cup to drink and we got a lot of opportunities. I honestly am not sure if he was excited about potty or the reward and praise he was getting by going potty, but he kept trying. I actually hardly had to bring him to the potty downstairs because he wasn't leaking anymore. Then the more amazing thing happened. When Elliot was playing in the kitchen he said "potty" and then headed to the bathroom and went all by himself. HUGE for day one of training. I don't think Erik did that until MONTHS after I started the process. Then the other huge moment was when we were eating dinner and Elliot was squirming and I asked him if he need to go potty. He tried once, nothing. Then he was still squirming so he tried again and Eureka, a pretty big one. After that potty he didn't even ask for a cookie, just went back to his dinner.
diaperless during the day very very soon. Holding my breath for the next few days now.
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