Potty Training Adventures: Day One

I've decided to journal our adventures with potty training so I'll never forget all the fun we're having! :) (This will probably totally bore 99% of you)

I decided to go with the 3 Day Potty Training program. I didn't want it to drag on forever and I had heard great things about it, so why not? Basics of the program that are different from others: have the child throw away ALL diapers, put them in underwear and a T-shirt, stay by their side ALL day long, tell them constantly thoughout the day 'Tell Mommy when you need to go potty,' and 'Remember to keep your underwear dry.' If they start peeing, you immediately take them into the bathroom so they can finish on the potty, LOTS of praise, do NOT have them just sit on the potty and TRY, do NOT have them sit on the potty and read books. The theory is that they need to associate the feeling of needing to potty with actually going, not just someone telling them every 10 minutes to go.

So, overall we had a good day. We set out a tarp on the living room floor with a trail of towels to the bathroom. We pretty much just played on the tarp as much as possible (hard to keep him on it, but not too bad). For the most part he would pee just a little bit in his underwear, I'd rush him to the bathroom, and he would finish going on his cool little Elmo potty. I gave him a sticker any time he peed in the toilet - he wound up with 17 in all! That's a lot of peeing. Most of the morning I was the one to catch him and take him to the bathroom, by the afternoon he was acknowledging that he had peed and twice even told me before he went. So definite progress. Oh, and he woke up from nap time completely dry! Unfortunately, he peed right after getting up on our way to the bathroom. I was fully expecting to change sheets after naptime, but was pleasantly surprised.

Bedtime, however, I've already had to change the sheets. We stopped doing liquids at 5pm, and he went to bed at 8. He woke up around 10pm with wet underwear/sheets. But we're dedicated to sticking with nighttime WITHOUT using Pullups, or any other nighttime diaper. They don't recommend doing that if you really want them potty trained in 3 days.

So, that's day one. We survived and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. We made progress and I'm hoping for more breakthoughs tomorrow!