Thursday, June 3, 2010

Potty training, in two easy steps

Zoodle is consistently peeing on the potty. He tells me when he needs to go. He has pooped on the potty three days in a row. He stays dry in his undies during naptime, and though we keep a diaper on him at nighttime, it's dry in the morning a majority of the time.

Ladies and gentlemen, my 26-month-old is potty trained.

Want to know my easy, two-step plan? I'll share it, just for you--free of charge.

Step One:
Have a kid with an easy, compliant temperament.

Step Two:
Try whatever potty training method you want; it'll probably work.

See, I know from experience that when a child (*cough*Chickie*cough) has a more independent temperament, he or she may not respond well to any of the myriad potty training methods, if he or she doesn't want to be trained.

I know that "my" quick success with Zoodle doesn't have much to do with me at all. It's all connected to Step One, having a child with an easy temperament...and of course I didn't have any control over that.

So...no magic formulas here. At least not any that are foolproof! I'm just going to bask in the glory of a child who was pretty easy to potty train. (I'll admit, I think I deserved it this time around!)

8 comments:

~Abbey~ said...

i hear ya with this one! I have potty trained 3 with 1 more to go. The 1st one wasn't so bad, the 2nd was EASY and potty trained at 15 months! the 3rd...oooooyyyy! plainly defiant. she was trained with no accidents for a while-a couple months-now just laughs adn says pee...and proceeds to pee whereever she stand. uuugghh!

Kara said...

We started potty training Lizzy on a whim last Thursday, and she has now gone 4 days in a row without any accidents (even dry at naptime!). I figure this is karma paying me back for the first 6 months of her life, where she cried pretty much from sunrise to sunset - I suffered through colic, but get easy potty training in return! :-)

Bobbi said...

Way to go Zoodle!

And way to stay sane, Bath!!

I'm sure having Big Sister around to encourage him and show him that big kids pee & poop in the potty also helped. :)

SurvivorBlessing said...

I think that you did deserve this one!!! Congrats!

Sandra said...

I completely agree that you "deserved" an easy time of it this time around, Beth. I wouldn't have wanted you to have to go through what you did with Chickie again, EVER!

Good work, Zoodle! I'm glad everything came out okay (pun intended). :)

Faith said...

Hip Hip Hurrah!!

Megan Fletcher said...

I could not agree with your two steps more! Asa pretty much trained himself. He was "ready" around the 2 year old mark, but got an upset tummy when we were first trying (a method), so I gave up. About 5 months later he yelled from the bathroom one day "come wipe me please". He had taken off his diaper and gone poo in the potty. He did that for the next 2 days and I decided there was no way I could put him back in a diaper. He had accidents almost daily for the next 3 weeks (in those really thick undies, but not in diapers) and then one day he was done and has been trained ever since. I did the same with Jenna, his twin, about 5 more months later, when she showed readiness herself. I'd have to say that getting rid of the diapers and not going back and forth was what seemed to be best for both of them, who have completely different temperaments. But, there are definitely different ways to do it. I think the key is letting the kiddo lead on timing.

congrats on not buying diapers any longer!

Janell said...

Woo Hoo! Congratulations Beth! Potty training, especially with a, shall we say, more difficult to train child, is right up there with lack of sleep on my list of the things I like least about parenting young kids.

My second child was also MUCH more easy to train than my first. In her case, though, it definitely wasn't because of a compliant personality. :) More like, she is fiercely independent, really WANTED to do it, plus has always been very in touch with her body and hates the feeling of her skin being wet.

Either way, it's worth a big celebration in my book. Way to go, Zoodle!