I perched one of our plush Mickey Mouses atop the toilet tank, so Mickey could cheer us along in our potty endeavors, and "potty bubbles" were in the bathroom, for post-event celebrations, naturally. Every 15-20 minutes we would head to the bathroom to attempt getting business taken care of.
The first few hours went pretty well. A handful of successful pee-to-toilet moments were made. We cheered, we blew the bubbles, and high-fived Mickey. It didn't take long to figure Marcus was more interested in the bubbles than anything, but I figured whatever. We pressed onward.
Then, the fifth hour of training hit, and when I asked Marcus if we should go potty he would cry and run away from the bathroom. This went on for awhile.
After the third or fourth round of tears I decided neither of us were ready.
Fast forward to this week. I thought we might give the whole process another try. Maybe Grandma's house would hold a little toilet training magic. I snagged up some big boy undies - with Mickey on them, of course - and promptly placed them on Marcus.
Side note: I don't think I've seen anything cuter than a squishy toddler tushy in a pair of tiny briefs.
At first Marcus didn't notice and/or mind the underwear. It was immediately after I asked if we should use the potty that Marcus started crying, tugging for the underwear to come off, and again running away from the bathroom.
I'm not about to fight Marcus to go to the bathroom. The time will come when he's ready. As much as I'd love to ditch the diapers I keep reminding myself that no Kindergartener wears diapers.
At 2 years 3 months we're still not ready, and that's ok.
The first few hours went pretty well. A handful of successful pee-to-toilet moments were made. We cheered, we blew the bubbles, and high-fived Mickey. It didn't take long to figure Marcus was more interested in the bubbles than anything, but I figured whatever. We pressed onward.
Then, the fifth hour of training hit, and when I asked Marcus if we should go potty he would cry and run away from the bathroom. This went on for awhile.
After the third or fourth round of tears I decided neither of us were ready.
Fast forward to this week. I thought we might give the whole process another try. Maybe Grandma's house would hold a little toilet training magic. I snagged up some big boy undies - with Mickey on them, of course - and promptly placed them on Marcus.
At first Marcus didn't notice and/or mind the underwear. It was immediately after I asked if we should use the potty that Marcus started crying, tugging for the underwear to come off, and again running away from the bathroom.
I'm not about to fight Marcus to go to the bathroom. The time will come when he's ready. As much as I'd love to ditch the diapers I keep reminding myself that no Kindergartener wears diapers.
It TOTALLY is ok. Just over 2 years old for a boy is super young to be potty trained from what I've seen with friends/family. I was in your same exact position though and tried a few times too early and Drew had almost the same reaction. Marcus is a smart kid and later this year or next year sometime it will just 'click' for him! But yes, I do agree that little 'big boy undies' are super cute. :)
ReplyDeleteUgh, I have the exact same problem with Jackson. We tried for a few days while I was on maternity leave and it went pretty well the first day. We did the no underwear method too and he always went on the potty and didn't have any accidents. But it all went down hill from there. He would hold his pee as long as he could to not have to sit on the potty and would ask for his diaper to be put on instead of going without it. I know he knows when he needs to go because in the last week he's even called me in to put him on the potty when he was in the bathtub because he didn't want to pee in the tub, but he just doesn't want to give up the diaper. :-( I think physically, he's ready, but just not mentally yet.
ReplyDeleteDominic is now 3.5 and we are just now getting around to it. He does so well at daycare and at his dad's house, but with me he just goes potty. It's becoming more frustrating to me now then it was when he was 2 years old. Mostly I'm aggravated that he does it with them, but not me LOL
ReplyDeleteand we have those same Micky Mouse underpants and briefs are totally adorabs on them at this age!
Ugh. Potty training. First of all, it is MORE than okay. We're in a potty training funk with Emma. She was doing so well for a full month with limited accidents and then she completely regressed. We're back in diapers and I'm not pushing it until she starts to show more signs that she's ready for it again.
ReplyDeleteBubbles and a friend in the potty! I need to try that. Clay regularly takes his diaper off and sometimes runs to the bathroom saying "potty potty." Then we try to get him to pee. Nothing. Nada.
ReplyDeletePotty training is hard. I think you made the right call. He will let you know when he is completely ready.
ReplyDeleteOur little man wasn't really ready until about 3 1/2. He'd scream and say the potty was scary until then. It stunk that he was in diapers for so long, but I'm happy we waited. He's had maybe 3 accidents in the year since he was potty trained, so it was worth the wait for me.
ReplyDeletexo
Becky
Not a mom but I think it really just depends on the kid. My goddaughter was completely potty trained right after she turned 2. My nephew on the other hand, who is going to 3 in October isn't ready.
ReplyDeleteI'm not going to rush into it with Connor. I'll let him call the shots and work off his cues. Try that will Cheeks. Maybe giving him a little power will make it less scary.
ReplyDeleteThere's no need to rush. Maddy is turning 3 next month and she just started training. Her doctor actually told me that kids shouldn't even start being introduced to the potty until they are *at least* 3 or older because they just don't "get it" until that point. Truth be told, if we didn't have Maddy in the day care she's in now, I would wait a little longer (Her day care insists on starting training now). We still have a few days here and there where she'll cry and fight going to the toilet but overall, it has been OK. Take your time. I mean, parenting is challenging and stressful enough without adding more to the plate that doesn't need to be there. Kudos to you for listening to your son!
ReplyDeleteAND THATS OK is right!!
ReplyDeleteWe tried with Zoey a couple of months ago and it was a huge failure. Every now and then we let her run around naked and she has no accidents, but doesn't go in the potty either, she must just hold it! I will try again maybe in another month or so, but I'm honestly not too worried about it, until we have our next kid sometime!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you posted this... it "feels" like everyone is in such a hurry to potty train right now. Espically for girls. Callie "gets" the potty but she can barely keep a diaper dry more than 30mins so she's not ready yet regardless of all the other "readiness" signs. If she asks to sit on the potty we do, we talk about it, she follows me, etc. But she's not really ready either and that's OK. He'll be ready when it's time just like all the other big changes and that's ok because that's just him! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you posted this! I've been reading about so many people who started their kids potty training at 2 and I'm terrified of it. Mainly because I don't know how to potty train a boy, but also because I just don't think Mason is ready. He shows interest in the potty....er, uh, sticking his hand in the water of the potty. I think he has no interest in potty training, and I think I am going to wait until he's a little older and can understand a little more what's going on and that he needs to give me a cue about needing to go to the bathroom before it happens. It's ok! Every child is different and that's ok too.
ReplyDeleteOh, I bet that little tushy is adorable in mini briefs! Although I have very little potty-training experience [only as a nanny], I think it is safe to say that you will know when it is time, so good call Mama. I can't believe Marcus is potty-training age! Seeing everyone else's babie's grow fast is scaring the dickens out of me. Time. Slow. Down. PLEASE!?
ReplyDeleteI know this is a shallow comment, but I like the undies, very cute!
ReplyDeleteYou are right there is nothing cuter than a toddler tushie in undies! We decided to give it a whirl with Hayden almost exactly a month ago. We figured we'd try before the baby came and pray it worked and if not then no big deal. He has been in underwear all day except for naps and nighttime. He was doing SO GREAT until this week. Now he's got some kind of allergies/stuffy nose thing going on and I think he just doesn't feel good so he doesn't think about pottying. He has had a few accidents this week. I will clarify that he has only gone poop on the potty like 3 times. That is a WHOLE different ballgame. I don't know how we're going to master that one. Everyone keeps telling me that it just takes longer, so who knows. I say all this to say that I am just so surrpseid how long it is taking. It's been a month and he's still not pooping on the potty and has occasional pee accidents. I kept reading about these people who's kids were trained in 3 days totally and I just don't get it. Maybe he is/wasn't totally ready, who knows. But if Marcus is crying when you mention the potty then I agree, probably not the right time. Not that you want to reward with food (I didn't want to at first, but it's worked for us), but Hayden has really taken to M&M's. He actually says M&M's when he has to go potty instead of saying potty haha! He was really adamant about getting a treat after he went for about the first week and a half and now he rarely asks. Just a thought!
ReplyDeleteYou are right, it's totally ok! All that BS about girls being ready at 18 mo and boys at 2yrs ... well la-di-da if that works for some, but it's just not realistic. And it's not a race against other kids the same age. I really thought Aiden was ready when he turned 2 but my sitter talked me out of trying (I don't think *she* wanted the hassle) so I waited. At 2 1/2 (Xmas time, what??) I said "OK" and we went w/ it and he did great! W/ Bren he was NOT ready at 2, but at 2 1/2, we had just moved down here and Aiden was just heading off to Kindergarten, I decided to give it a try. Bren did a little bit of freak out mode and try to refuse to go to the bathroom, but that's when I had a brilliant idea that Bren needed to teach Bobby, his stuffed boy. "Oh Bren! Bobbie needs to go potty! Let's show him what to do!" Bren would scoop up Bobby and off we'd run to the bathroom. He'd pull down his shorts, sit him on the potty chair then pull down his owns pants and sit on the big potty. They'd both sit there together and go potty and it worked! he just didn't like the idea of going by himself I guess. So, moral of the story, wait. Don't push it.
ReplyDeleteWe also did a chart system. When they would go potty they got to put a sticker on a chart I made them. Once that chart was full they got to go to the store and pick out their own package of undies. No candy treats for us, I thought that was silly. Why are we rewarding them w/ sugar?? Maybe a nice big glass of water so they are ready to pee again in 15 min, ha ha! :)
all of my kids were over 3 when they were potty trained!
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