Well, today was a much better day! Just in the stats alone: 7 accidents total. No accidents from 10:30 AM to 5:30 PM. Only 1 accident from 10:30 AM to 8 PM. I think he might be getting it!
The thing that's amazed me most is Ethan's attitude through all of this. He is having the time of his life. He giggles the entire time he runs to the potty, and he does a victory lap around the house after every success (prior to putting his underwear back on, which makes it even funnier). He's been a complete delight (other than being a mischief sometimes, especially with his returned obsession with sticking his hand in the potty water... gross!).
I'm much more encouraged after today, but I'll admit I would feel a lot better if it hadn't been for that 5:30 PM accident. I know that kids continue to have accidents long after they're potty trained, but I would really feel like he'd gotten it if not for that. Also, a couple of times he went this afternoon were the result of my saying, "You can't do X until you after the next time you use the potty" (nurse, feed the goats, etc.), so that wasn't really him realizing he had to go. I guess I'm just trying not to get my hopes up too high, and I'm also very nervous about going out with him in underwear.
We'll see how tomorrow goes, and go from there, I guess!
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Monday, July 30, 2012
3 Day Potty Method: Day 1
After Ethan's initial interest in the potty at 17 months, his enthusiasm began to wane. He went from only having 2 wet diapers a day (the rest being in the potty) to only using the potty twice a day (if that). Recently, however, he's been more interested again, and we've gone over a week at a time without having to change a poopy diaper, which is always nice. So about a month ago, I decided to investigate the 3-day potty training method several of my friends had raved about. You have to wait until your child is at least 22 months and set aside a 3 day period to do absolutely nothing but stay at home watching your child with rapt attention. And that 3 day period I set aside a month ago began today.
The first step of the method is throwing out the diapers. Since we use cloth, that meant a final wash and stripping in preparation for storage for an eventual kid #2. From now on, Ethan will be exclusively in underwear. The point of this is to remove any crutch the parent might have in starting potty training and also to make accidents readily apparent. As soon as the child has an accident, they are whisked away to try to finish on the potty. Rinse and repeat. And repeat. And repeat. The whole process is meant to be very positive (tons of praise, no negativity, rewards, etc.)
So how did day 1 go? Well, we survived. Ethan was NOT thrilled about his underwear at first. He loved that there are trains on it, but when I tried to put it on him, he started crying. He continued to be upset about it all through breakfast and would only eat sitting in my lap. We kept praising him and telling him what a big boy he was, and by the time Daddy left for work, Ethan was fine with his new duds. When he woke up this morning, he had peed on the potty, and he managed to stay dry until his first accident over an hour after waking. And then it began. You give them TONS of fluids to provide plenty of opportunities for learning. In total, Ethan had 20 accidents today. Some were bigger than others, and a couple of times he finished on the potty. Several other times, he realized he had to go, ran to the potty, and went all by himself (he'd usually preface such an event by telling me "Bye bye!" and running off)! In fact, he stayed in the same pair of underwear from 5 to almost 8! And he woke up from his nap dry, which he hasn't been doing lately after having done it for months earlier.
I'll admit we aren't sticking 100% to the plan. You're supposed to use underwear for overnight as well, but I'm just not sure I'm up to changing sheets in the middle of the night just yet. Instead, we're using the training pants we got 4 months ago. His "sleep underwear" (as we're calling it) looks and goes on just like his normal underwear but has a cloth insert that can be changed out 5 times. The main reason the method wants underwear 24/7 is to avoid a regression if a child realizes there are still diapers in the house, so hopefully this won't cause any problems since it's so similar. And since Ethan didn't use the potty before bed (or 30 minutes after I put him to bed when I took him to try again), I'm thinking the chances of him waking up dry tomorrow are pretty slim.
The method says the majority of kids won't get it until the end of day 3, and all of my friends who have used this method experienced the same thing. I'm hopeful that MAYBE Ethan will get it at some point tomorrow because I'm already starting to go stir crazy.
Potty training is certainly not for the faint of heart, but I'm glad we're doing it! And if you made it through all that, here's your reward: Ethan wearing his very last diaper last night!
The first step of the method is throwing out the diapers. Since we use cloth, that meant a final wash and stripping in preparation for storage for an eventual kid #2. From now on, Ethan will be exclusively in underwear. The point of this is to remove any crutch the parent might have in starting potty training and also to make accidents readily apparent. As soon as the child has an accident, they are whisked away to try to finish on the potty. Rinse and repeat. And repeat. And repeat. The whole process is meant to be very positive (tons of praise, no negativity, rewards, etc.)
So how did day 1 go? Well, we survived. Ethan was NOT thrilled about his underwear at first. He loved that there are trains on it, but when I tried to put it on him, he started crying. He continued to be upset about it all through breakfast and would only eat sitting in my lap. We kept praising him and telling him what a big boy he was, and by the time Daddy left for work, Ethan was fine with his new duds. When he woke up this morning, he had peed on the potty, and he managed to stay dry until his first accident over an hour after waking. And then it began. You give them TONS of fluids to provide plenty of opportunities for learning. In total, Ethan had 20 accidents today. Some were bigger than others, and a couple of times he finished on the potty. Several other times, he realized he had to go, ran to the potty, and went all by himself (he'd usually preface such an event by telling me "Bye bye!" and running off)! In fact, he stayed in the same pair of underwear from 5 to almost 8! And he woke up from his nap dry, which he hasn't been doing lately after having done it for months earlier.
I'll admit we aren't sticking 100% to the plan. You're supposed to use underwear for overnight as well, but I'm just not sure I'm up to changing sheets in the middle of the night just yet. Instead, we're using the training pants we got 4 months ago. His "sleep underwear" (as we're calling it) looks and goes on just like his normal underwear but has a cloth insert that can be changed out 5 times. The main reason the method wants underwear 24/7 is to avoid a regression if a child realizes there are still diapers in the house, so hopefully this won't cause any problems since it's so similar. And since Ethan didn't use the potty before bed (or 30 minutes after I put him to bed when I took him to try again), I'm thinking the chances of him waking up dry tomorrow are pretty slim.
The method says the majority of kids won't get it until the end of day 3, and all of my friends who have used this method experienced the same thing. I'm hopeful that MAYBE Ethan will get it at some point tomorrow because I'm already starting to go stir crazy.
Potty training is certainly not for the faint of heart, but I'm glad we're doing it! And if you made it through all that, here's your reward: Ethan wearing his very last diaper last night!
Friday, July 13, 2012
Twenty-Two Months
Dear Ethan,
Yet another month has flown by. In two short months, you will be two. So hard to believe, and yet when I think of how much you've changed so far this year, it's amazing that it hasn't been so much longer!
You narrate everything you do, and at this point we are actually able to understand 75% of the words! You're up to 4 word sentences, and we're always amused by the phrases you concoct. It's amazing what all you pick up on when we didn't know you were listening. And it's amazing how much you've learned that we've actively tried to teach you. Today, I asked you if you wanted to go downstairs to get a snack, and you ran into your playroom and exclaimed "Clean up first!" before picking up all your toys. You are getting better and better with your letters and numbers, though your favorite letter is still "O" and your favorite number is "2." Colors and sorting have become your go-to activity, even in ways Mommy never imagined. Blue remains your favorite, but you will sort anything by color or shade, and lately you've become more picky about things getting mixed up.
You are so creative. In addition to the sorting activities you make up and all of your dramatic play, you're starting to come up with actual pretend scenarios. Yesterday, several of your blocks were "hot" so you and Mommy had to blow on them to cool them down and touch them very carefully if they fell. I certainly didn't expect this sort of thing already, and I'm thrilled to get to watch your mind work.
We've reached a point where food has become a non-issue, which I never thought would happen. You're still somewhat picky and definitely have your favorites, but there's no food I'm worried about you trying to eat, and you eat enough variety from each food group that meals have become easy at last. And as long as you're still nursing six times a day, I don't have any worries about you getting all the nutrients you need!
You are so strong-willed and stubborn sometimes, but those "Terrible Twos" behaviors are balanced out by your gleeful, mischievous grins and copious hugs and kisses. In short, you have us wrapped around your little finger, and it doesn't hurt that most of your tantrums are still more adorable than anything else.
I can't wait to see what the next few months have in store!
Love,
Mommy
Yet another month has flown by. In two short months, you will be two. So hard to believe, and yet when I think of how much you've changed so far this year, it's amazing that it hasn't been so much longer!
You narrate everything you do, and at this point we are actually able to understand 75% of the words! You're up to 4 word sentences, and we're always amused by the phrases you concoct. It's amazing what all you pick up on when we didn't know you were listening. And it's amazing how much you've learned that we've actively tried to teach you. Today, I asked you if you wanted to go downstairs to get a snack, and you ran into your playroom and exclaimed "Clean up first!" before picking up all your toys. You are getting better and better with your letters and numbers, though your favorite letter is still "O" and your favorite number is "2." Colors and sorting have become your go-to activity, even in ways Mommy never imagined. Blue remains your favorite, but you will sort anything by color or shade, and lately you've become more picky about things getting mixed up.
You are so creative. In addition to the sorting activities you make up and all of your dramatic play, you're starting to come up with actual pretend scenarios. Yesterday, several of your blocks were "hot" so you and Mommy had to blow on them to cool them down and touch them very carefully if they fell. I certainly didn't expect this sort of thing already, and I'm thrilled to get to watch your mind work.
We've reached a point where food has become a non-issue, which I never thought would happen. You're still somewhat picky and definitely have your favorites, but there's no food I'm worried about you trying to eat, and you eat enough variety from each food group that meals have become easy at last. And as long as you're still nursing six times a day, I don't have any worries about you getting all the nutrients you need!
You are so strong-willed and stubborn sometimes, but those "Terrible Twos" behaviors are balanced out by your gleeful, mischievous grins and copious hugs and kisses. In short, you have us wrapped around your little finger, and it doesn't hurt that most of your tantrums are still more adorable than anything else.
I can't wait to see what the next few months have in store!
Love,
Mommy
Monday, July 9, 2012
Confession
I've been cheating on this blog. After several weeks of not feeling like writing, I decided I needed to get a lot out. But I wasn't sure I wanted to get it all out in "public." So on Saturday night after Ethan went to bed, I turned to an old blog I never really started. 10 single-spaced pages and over 5000 words later, and the words are still pouring out. Since none of it is really Ethan-related, you're not really missing out on anything good =) But as long as I continue to find my catharsis there, it's unlikely I'll be updating here as much.
A few bullet points to tide you over:
- Ethan had his first swim lesson at the Y today. He loved it, except for when the lifeguard changed shifts, at which point he puckered up and wailed like he hasn't in months. Apparently he didn't care for the new guy.
- Ethan now attempts to sing along to the ABC song and does the motions for "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes." It's as adorable as it sounds.
- We've been exploring museums lately to beat the heat. The weekend before last we went to the local children's museum and this past weekend we went to the state museum of natural sciences. Ethan loved them both!
- Friday marks 22 months. Wow.
P.S. To preempt any speculation, when I say it's not Ethan related, I also mean it's not pregnancy/parenting related. No I'm not pregnant. No I haven't been pregnant since Ethan. No we're not trying. So no worries!
A few bullet points to tide you over:
- Ethan had his first swim lesson at the Y today. He loved it, except for when the lifeguard changed shifts, at which point he puckered up and wailed like he hasn't in months. Apparently he didn't care for the new guy.
- Ethan now attempts to sing along to the ABC song and does the motions for "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes." It's as adorable as it sounds.
- We've been exploring museums lately to beat the heat. The weekend before last we went to the local children's museum and this past weekend we went to the state museum of natural sciences. Ethan loved them both!
- Friday marks 22 months. Wow.
P.S. To preempt any speculation, when I say it's not Ethan related, I also mean it's not pregnancy/parenting related. No I'm not pregnant. No I haven't been pregnant since Ethan. No we're not trying. So no worries!
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