Potty Training . Oh Boy!

Potty Training

Are we ready? 

Well, do we have...

One excited little guy who's ditching the diapers for good... check!

Adorable underwear with little man's favorite characters... check! 

 "Boo Juice" picked out by said little guy to keep things "flowing"... check!

 Snacks hand-picked by very same little guy for rewards... check!

We are using "1-2-3 Potty" which is a Gary Ezzo book (one of the author's of BabyWise). To keep it simple, Ezzo suggests the method of rewarding dryness by asking, as needed, your little guy/gal to check themselves. If they are dry and clean when you ask, they get a small treat. In our case its a pretzel M&M or a cheese ball. His method also has mommy/daddy put them on the potty as needed {with CJ we go first thing in the morning, right after his nap, about 45 minutes after meals,  if he has had lots to drink: every 10 to 20 minutes, and if he has taken it easy on the drinks: every hour}. If they do "go" in the potty, they get a "double reward" or, in our case, half a pack of gummy snacks. If not, we congratulate the effort and try again in a few minutes, again, depending on drink consumption. *Right now we are sticking with Pull Ups for nap and night time. He usually wakes dry but, with this bulging belly I'm strutting around, I can barely make his bed so I'm not taking a risk at this point.

Day 1: We had far more successes than accidents,16:4, which is great! He only asked to go four times and the rest of those times were by my prompting. {Miss Mak was very clingy and whiney which made everything seem harder. Thankfully Hubs took her out for lunch and Oma took her after her afternoon nap until bathtime. Thank the Lord for support!}

Day 2: Once again, most of the potty visits were my prompting based on how much he drank and when he last had a meal. He had his first "number 2" since we started training and I was able to catch it so it was in the potty. Yay! We celebrated with a call to Daddy. The second "poo" of the training wasn't caught in time and was in his underpants.{This has been a day that makes me wonder why I didn't wait longer to start this whole thing but I've been assured by Sweet Hubs that he is ready and it's only day two. I've been amazed at how discouraging an accident can be.}
My question, at this point, is "what does life look like for the next few weeks?" Are he and I bound to the house and to the potty chair? What is the means to the end? I assume that no accidents is a wise goal but it feels as though maybe our plan should be something more like getting CJ to tell me when he has to go with enough warning to make it to the potty. But... that doesn't mean we'll be accident free from here on out. So what am I looking for?

Day 3:  NO ACCIDENTS! Am I excited? You betcha! CJ played outside while Daddy boiled maple sap. The "little potty" was parked within a few feet of the evaporator. {I wish now that I had taken a picture.} We even took a trip to Home Depot. I packed up the "little potty", put it in the car and tried in a parking lot but he ended up using the public potty. Another victory!
I've come to realize something... potty training while pregnant isn't so bad. I have to go as often as he does so I remember to check with him and we often go together. "Hello, Silver Lining"!

* The "little potty" we use is a Baby Bjorn. I purchased a much less expensive one from WalMart but it felt so flimsy once I got it home. It also had several moving parts so I returned it. I read lots of reviews and ended up settling on this one. It's simple, only has one part that is removable for rinsing and I like that it has a comfortable back for long sittings. I'm sure other potties work just fine but this one has worked great for us.

Day 4:  Sunday. That means church. We had one accident in the morning before church but was good to go for the rest of the day. We stopped pumping him full of fluids so he goes a lot less often which makes keeping track of it much easier. I think he's afraid to go "number two" but we weren't aiming for that training yet anyway. We now ask him if he needs to go and take his word when he says "no". If he hesitates or says "yes" then off we go. We also backed off the treats. We really only used them for days 1 and 2. He doesn't ask and we don't offer. So, "Woohoo" for that!

Today is day five...
I'm praying for a continuation of the same.
I'm quite impressed with his progress.
I hear there's a chance of regression.
Dear heavens, I hope not!