Potty Training: It has begun

Well. We did it. We took the parenting leap into potty training.

We were nervous. We weren't sure what we were doing. We didn't know if he was really ready. But we did it anyway.

It has not been great, but it hasn't been awful either. I think we are getting some where, but we aren't there yet.

We started the process Saturday by taking him out to buy special treats, a new potty, and underwear. We then sent him off to nap time with his last diaper on. When he woke up, it was go time.

There have been accidents, but nothing crazy or home-destroying. Here is a bit of our recap:

• We had a hard time getting into a flow with Calan. It took him a little while to get the whole wetness feeling. 
• He wants to get off the toilet quickly without exactly finishing, so we really have to push him to "empty." Once we started to do that we eliminated most of our accidents
• We are using pull-ups for nap times and bed times, which of course meant that he waited to poop till he was in his pull-up for nap time. It ended up being a bit of debacle because it gave him a bit of a rash, which made Sunday afternoon potty training a bit of a struggle, but his bottom is healing quickly because he isn't in a diaper. Hopefully this set back will be fixed tomorrow. 
• We need to trust a little more on him that when he actually has to go, he does go with us to the potty. He is getting a little resentful toward the potty and doesn't want to be forced to go. 
• We need to stay consistent and uplifting toward him. It is easy to lose enthusiasm as the days go on. When it's two steps forward and one step back, it is hard not to focus on the step back instead of how far we have come in such a short amount of time. 
• We let frustration get to us and weren't working as a parenting team on the same page. Once we kind of regrouped, it got better. Working as a team is ALWAYS the way to go. 

We are sticking with it. I really believe that he is ready and I have to keep reminding myself that it has only been a day and a half since we started. Potty training is a bit of a journey, but I hope to have him daytime trained by the end of this week. Let's be honest, I am not prepared to have 3 children in diapers, so we have a few months to get this right.

This week we are sticking to home. As soon as Calan starts asking me to go potty, we will venture out. I am hoping that maybe we will be able to go to our playgroup Wednesday morning since it is only 2 blocks from our house, but I'll figure that out once we get through Monday and Tuesday. I am taking it one day at a time.

I am proud of our little guy. He isn't thrilled about potty training, but he is doing it. This process hasn't been perfect and we are doing a lot of trial and error as parents, but we are doing it.

Here is the video that we watched in preparation for potty training;

Potty Training 1-2-3 from Growing Kids on Vimeo.