Potty Training Thoughts

At the start of last month, we began the process of attempting potty training with Caden!  I'm a little nervous since I've never done this and want to make this easy as possible for everyone.  Here are some thoughts that have come to my mind:

Showing off his Ninja Turtles underwear he picked out

• Potty training is not for the weak.  It's hard work.
• 3 Day Potty training is a lie. (Now I won't say we didn't have some improvement after 3 days and I didn't do everything they say to do like wake the child up in the night, but we were far from being trained after 3 days)
• I felt like we'll be going to the bathroom every 20 minutes forever.
• This is probably the only time I've wished my kids went to day care so they would train him for me.  
• A plus of potty training is that it really does help you not fall behind on your laundry.
• Best advice I've received on potty training came from the kid's pediatrician who told me just to go at his pace.  Seriously helped in me not getting discouraged when not much has changed after 3 days.  In my opinion too this is the only way you will get true success.
• Thank you Lord for M&M's!  (A great incentive for the little guy indeed, but I could tell after a few days he needed a little more of something to help increase the motivation, so since he loves watching YouTube videos on my phone I would only let him watch them for 4 minutes every time we had success going to the potty)

Yay for M&M's!

• Going naked really does work.  I did the first 3 days putting him in underwear, but for Caden he didn't really see much difference between that and a diaper, so he just went when he needed to and wasn't grossed out enough by peeing and pooping in his underwear to stop.  After several days with not much improvement (we were peeing no problem when we'd go every 20 minutes, but that was about it), I decided to try the naked route and I'm not sure if Caden was actually catching on to potty training or if the no clothes was the trick we needed to help him figure it out.  Probably both, but I honestly think the going naked route helped us make a huge amount of progress to becoming fully potty trained.
• You think you've perhaps mastered one area only to have accidents the next day.
• Just because there are accidents doesn't mean he's not getting it.
• You still have to make him go even if you ask and he says no.  (Finding the balance between making them go and waiting for them to realize it before an accident is a hard one)
• Don't overload their little minds with too many instructions at once.  Once I felt Caden was somewhat getting it and we started back on underwear/pull ups, he would just start pulling off his pants wherever he was and run off naked to the bathroom.  Not ideal, I know.  My thought process was let's focus on going in the potty not our pants and then we'll get to not taking your clothes off until you're in the bathroom.
• I've seen a lot of kids get some big present when they've become potty trained, but my personal opinion is that the parents deserve a nice dinner not the kid. (We'll probably do something for the little guy, but seriously Momma deserves the big gift here!)

Graduated to underwear, but when you don't have much notice
on when you need to go, minimum amount of clothing is best!

After almost 2 months of potty training, we are doing pretty good.  Nap time/Nights I put him in a pull up and about half the time he stays dry, but I think that is just luck.  My personal thought is if we haven't fully mastered day time when we're awake how can I expect it when you're asleep?  Maybe that's wrong, but like I said this is my first go around.  When we go to church or out for a bit, I will usually put him in one then too just in case there's an accident, but he's been doing well staying dry then.  At home he does great and I don't have worry too much, so we are getting there!  I'm hoping by the time school starts in September, we will have a good hold on it.  Not sure when I will feel like he truly gets it and accidents are a rarity, but I look forward to that day and I know we will get there!

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."  Proverbs 22:6