Let the potty training begin!

I’ve gotta be honest, I’ve been nervous about potty training Elijah since I found out he was going to be a boy. Everyone has heard those terrible stories about how difficult it is to get a toddler boy on board.

I will also be honest, that I was in no rush to get him out of diapers. Mostly because he is pretty shy and uncomfortable with it – so I didn’t want to push him.

Well I decided to give it a try when Logan (Elijah’s older cousin by 3 weeks) showed me first hand it can be done! One evening while we were watching him he said he had to go potty, and so he did!

Please don’t read this as a comparison! My mom pointed that out to me – she thought I was comparing the boys. Naturally as a mom it’s hard to not compare sometimes (like why my kids STILL don’t sleep through the night…), but this time I think it was more of a conviction for me to not be lazy and teach my boy!

So on Monday (the 5th) we started. After some hesitation and Elijah peeing through all of his undies we own (3 pairs), I decided just to let him go bottomless. That was the best idea. He peed river all over my floor and he was completely captivated! He had never seen what his bits were capable of doing. So I had been teaching him to sit down – would you believe that just on that same Monday he went to the potty nearly 10 times. More than that, he only chose to stand up!

It was seriously the funniest thing to see him peeing in his potty while using both his hands – high above his head – bracing himself against the wall.

So that’s the story. Since then it hasn’t been going so great. While we’re out he still pees in his diapers without feeling a need to tell me. He also REFUSES to go poo. He will request a diaper just for me to change it less than 5 minutes after he’s had it on. Also, he goes to a mother’s day out program twice a week and I don’t think they are going to be very supportive about it.

He does so well at home that he goes potty on his own and doesn’t even care to ask me for a sticker to put on his poster (that I was so proud to make for him). So now I just have to focus on having him poo on the potty and making him aware to ask me when we are not at home.

Since I love to share pictures, this one was appropriate.  (His potty in the corner now has a towel under it – he isn’t the best aimer). He told me he was cold so he had to wear his hat – not pants, socks or even a diaper. Only a hat….too funny.

I’ll keep you posted how this is going….