Potty Training 101

I've been afraid to post that Harrison is officially potty trained, but I truly believe that we're there. Harrison has actually been pretty easy to potty train; I've just been lazy about doing it. He started using the potty early last fall and you'd often find him like this:

Whatever works, right??? I kept putting him in a pullup or diaper because I wasn't ready to deal with accidents and having to carry an extra change of close everywhere just yet. Madeleine was an amazing potty-trainer and really never had an accident. Amazing. And, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to get that lucky a second time. So, I put it off. We actually got to the point where Harrison would ask me if he was wearing a diaper and if I said yes, he'd go on and go in it. If I said NO he'd use the potty. He would BEG me to put him in a diaper because he's a crazy-lazy boy and didn't want to stop to potty. Ha!

I'd decided beforehand that I was going to buckle down and get serious about potty training when Charlotte was born and we had those first few weeks with her where we wouldn't be getting out much. I thought that might be a good time to work with him. It didn't even take a week! He's never had an accident at home (although I'm sure as soon as I publish this post he will). And he looks so stinkin' cute in his little undies. His biggest holdup was going poopoo. I had a friend suggest that we "name" our poopoo based on what it looked like. I was willing to try anything and that worked! He still runs to tell me that he poopooed a Thomas, or a Percy or sometimes it's even a Dinosuar. HA!

He started waking up dry during naps and in the morning right away. A couple of mornings ago he even crawled into bed with me wearing only a shirt....he'd gone potty by himself and didn't want to bother putting his undies back on. :) The one drawback at the moment of the potty training is that Harrison will only go in his froggy potty. I've toted that potty many a places. I know, it's gross. But the alternative of cleaning up after an accident is grosser. (is that a word -- grosser?). And, I have taught him to go in a cup. So, I'm now carrying Solo cups in Charlotte's diaper bag for emergancy purposes. Laugh if you may, but I know that secretly, deep down, you're thinking "WOW. So smart. I might just have to teach my kid to go in a cup. Much more sanitary that public toilets." :)

For now, my next task is weaning him off the candy he gets every time he goes. That may prove to be more difficult than the actual potty-training.