Sunday, February 3, 2013

Potty Training Ryder

(This post includes a lot of boring details about potty training Ryder, but it's mostly for my own future reference.) I was originally going to wait to start potty training Ryder until a few months after the baby comes. On a whim, I decided "what the heck!" and we just went for it. I had bought some underwear and potty chairs a while back in case I decided to try it out. I had him just go naked from the waist down the whole first couple days. He only had three accidents, and they were all when he was wearing underwear. He did awesome when he was naked! He had a Thomas the Tank Engine sticker chart and got to put a sticker every time he did pee or poop in the potty. When he filled up a row with stickers, he got a little prize, which were mostly new toy cars. He loved this system. We also gave him treats. I'm pretty sure he though potty training was the funnest thing ever! 
After a day or two, we tried underwear again, and he did awesome. By the second day, I wasn't even having to remind him to go potty, he just told me when he had to go. He has done awesome ever since. He loves to  flush the toilet and wave goodbye haha! For nap times, we have him wear underwear with plastic underwear on top. I would say 99% of the time, he wakes up dry from his nap. When we are out and about, we bring a little travel potty that folds up and fits in the diaper bag. When we are out, he usually has a lot of false alarms before he actually does the real thing. That's alright, I'd rather have him try several times than just having an accident. It's been three weeks now and it's like second nature. I think he must have just been really ready. I was the one who was putting it off because I was intimidated by the whole process! 
For nights, we just have him wear a pull up because I'm not sure he has the bladder control to wake up during the night to go or go through the whole night without wetting his pants. We'll tackle night time later. I'm so proud of him! He is becoming such a big boy!
I'm already anticipating Ryder having accidents when the baby is born. It will be a lot of adjustment and I know it's normal for kids to regress a little when there is a lot of change. At least it's nice that he has a solid foundation and I know he knows how it's done.
 Cute naked booty!




So happy about big boy underwear!

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