Potty Training Boot Camp


Since it has been raining almost non-stop with no glimpses of sun for about 5 days now (and no promise of stopping any time soon), I decided to finish the week off with an intensive potty-training session for Noah. I've heard that it is possible to potty-train a toddler in 3 days, and that is my goal. We've been on a plateau for months now, stranded in the If-I-Take-Him-Every-45-Minutes-He'll-Go-But-Still-Won't-Tell-Me-He-Has-To-Go Stage. I'm ready to move on to the Done-With-Diapers-For-Good Stage as quickly as possible!


Not knowing exactly what I'm doing has made this project somewhat daunting, and leaves me praying I'm doing the right things to help Noah. This morning I put Big Boy Underpants on Noah and made this big production out of it, and how much fun it would be to keep them clean and dry. Next, I gave him his own piece of cantaloupe, as much to drink as he wanted, PLUS some of my tea as a bonus. We set the timer for 30 minutes, and began. So far in the course of the morning, he's wet his pants twice, and then peed on the floor twice after I took off his big boy pants for a while. It seems I was setting the timer for too long of a period after that much liquid. We moved the timer to 10-minute-increments, and have had no more accidents so far.


However.


It is EXHAUSTING to take someone to the potty THAT many times! The morning crawled by. No, crawled is too fast. It inched by. Think snail speed.


Honestly, I don't know if I'll make it through this 3 day bootcamp without losing my mind! I'm not seeing any progress that convinces me we'll make it to the next stage. I know Noah is ready. He's been showing all the "signs" for a while. And let's face it; when a child tells you his diaper needs to be changed, it's high time he learn that diapers are not the answer. :)


Let's pray I can convince him of this important fact over the next 2 and a half days without going crazy!


Comments

cj and family said…
Hang in there! It can be done . . . and yes, ten minute increments really does work--eventually you'll be able to stretch to 15, 20, 25, 30 . . . slowly, but surely, he'll gain confidence and you will too! And IT WILL BE WORTH IT! :o) The first three days are ROUGH, but hang in there! :o) It gets better and easier. Try to make potty time fun--use stickers, treats, books, songs, movies, whatever it takes. And clean the bathroom. You'll be spending so much time in there, at least you can spend time in a clean room. :o) Enjoy the time! Pray lots! :o)
May 21, 2009 at 7:49 PM
Ruth said…
That's the way my sisters have potty trained their kids. Not a gradual approach but just an intense several days (up to maybe one week) and then (girls and boys) went from never using the potty to fully potty trained within a week (or less). They always say it's a really rough few days (or week) but then it's OVER and DONE! You can do it!!! :-)
May 22, 2009 at 4:11 AM
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