Potty Training Success ... With a BOY!!

Oh, my handsome, handsome little man!!

I've done several posts on potty training before and how we go about it. 

You can explore those posts before reading the below content so you have context.

You can read those here and here.

Due to the busyness of ministry during this season of our lives, potty training our son went a little different, but we stuck to the same game plan. 

I wasn't actually planning on potty training him until the summer, but Elias was really showing a great interest and perfect opportunity to want to go on the potty (he was dry after naps and sometimes overnight; he would tell me when he was peeing or pooping etc). Not to mention I was almost out of diapers and really didn't want to spend half my toiletry money on a huge box of diapers again (my husband hasn't been on board with my cloth diapers much with this baby). 

So, unfortunately, there were times we had to put him in a diaper while we were training (which I STRONGLY advise against). We had a few events where we needed to leave him with a sitter and didn't want to burden them with a fresh-training-potty-user.

But typically, as I stated in the past posts about potty training, here area few rules that still stand even after training 4 children:

RULE # 1: When you're done with diapers, you're done! There is no diapers at nap or nighttime. But, they'll pee all over the place! Only a few times, maybe. 

My son peed on himself once at nap time and then never wet the bed again! WOO HOO!!! My twins wet the bed for a few days in a row, then they understood the concept. Hayven was the same as the twins. We were given this awesome pad to place under them that absorbs the pee and prevents it from going on the mattress. 

Rule # 2: Don't introduce pants or underwear until they are going on the potty themselves. I've found this helps tremendously! My son associated pants with a diaper and would pee right in them without any thought; however, when I left him naked for a few days, until he knew he needed to pee on the potty (as well as teaching him to communicate with me that he needed to potty), we were accident free! He's still unable to pull his pants down by himself because he's so little, but since I taught him to communicate (yes, you need to teach this while potty training) with me that he needs to go potty, this isn't an issue. 

Our "outting" at a thrift store to get some warm weather clothing. 

RULE #3: Plan outings around training, with the purpose of training. We bring his little potty everywhere for the first month or so. We pee before we leave, we find a bathroom immediately upon arrival and pee (yes, I carry the potty into stores with me. It makes great conversation :) ). We then use the back of the car as a bathroom and keep wipes, a towel, and the potty in the trunk and pee before we leave the store.

 I don't know the science behind this, but this rule (practicing outside of the house, with underwear on) has solidified the potty training for us. It's like the last step that helps the child fully understand potty training. 

RULE #4: Make it Fun: I think in everything we do as mothers, we should always portray the joy there is even in menial tasks or tasks we don't enjoy. There is abounding joy in Jesus whatever the circumstance.

We bought Elias Cars "Mannies" (there NOT panties, there MANnies. My husband made sure I understood this. Haha!). We would reward him with chocolate chips for the first day or two. We would all cheer for him when he went on the potty. We bought him a small green potty from ikea that had HUGE pee-pee guards (must need for my little man).

A few tips for boys:

• We decided to train sitting down. We'll teach him how to stand once he's taller ;)
• You may need to put "mannies" on your boy when you first start having him go through the "naked phase" since boys don't tend to feel the pee run down their legs. They tend to run around spraying all over and they don't even realize it (only the poor sisters who get caught in the stream notice it, or the mommy who steps in wet spots scattered ALL OVER the living room notice it).
• We are still teaching him how to point down so he isn't spraying all over, but we waited until he really understood potty training to work on that.
• We are still teaching him to pull down his own pants, again not an immediate MUST for potty training.

Again, you can read step-by-step how we potty train here.

Often people don't understand WHY we potty train so young and there are a few reasons. They aren't anything deep! It's just why we do it:

1. Diapers are expensive
2. We always had kids so close together, it's nice NOT having 2-3 in diapers at the same time
3. I can cut back on all the items that I carry in my bad with me (diapers, wipes, plastic bags ect)
4. We love to inspire other parents on how to potty train and that it's possible to do it young and with any child (provided you've had a good discipline routine set up with them since they were born).
5. We've noticed the perfect window is right around 16-18 months. Kids tend to go through a short window of understanding how to hold their pee and when they are peeing. 

I hope you're encouraged to endeavor potty training! I've noticed teaching them so young opens up a maturity in them that is beyond their age and affects their development in such a positive way. :)

FUNNY STORIES:

• Pooping on Grandma's Floor: We were celebrating my husband and little sister's birthday at my mom's house. My son was fresh potty training. My mom's boyfriend has had no children and has never been through potty training before. So here's my son running around with no pants on. He's flapping all over the place and runs and squats on his potty and then gets up and runs around again. We're packing up to leave and my husband noticed it smelt like poop. Sure enough, all ... and I mean ALL over the kitchen floor was poop smeared. Little foot prints of poop trailed all over the kitchen. The play kitchen had poop on several of the pieces. George (my mom's boyfriend) was shocked! Not only was he taken back by the naked man running around, but the poop all over was a real jaw dropper. We laughed so hard! It was just natural to us who have been through potty training before. George never realized it was actually training to potty train a child.
• The 4-foot spray: My husband and I were bring the kids upstairs to go to bed. At the top of the stairs we put Elias on the potty. Alex was right in front of him and I was to the side. I believe I said, "you may want to help him point it down...". Sure enough he sprayed right into Alex's face and hair, and onto the stair railing about 4 feet behind Alex. "WOW!" Alex exclaimed. Hahaha. 
• Warning the Sitter: I warned the baby sitter that Elias is a boy (they only have a girl) and he needs help pointing down because he's got about a 4-foot spray. I could kind of tell he didn't really know what I was talking about, but he reported back to my husband that he now knows what the 4-foot spray is :).

Potty Training Hayven

For the last few weeks we have been working with Hayven on being potty trained. 
Today is day #2 in panties.
Yesterday was her first day out to the store in panties.
Today would be her first time out for church with her potty, but it's like a million degrees out there and I am NOT going to sit outside for 6 hours...

Here is an over-cap of what we did for Hayven's potty training. She was MUCH different then the twins:

(1) Naked!!!!: Like the twins, she ran around naked and I would try to catch her midstream peeing on the floor and run her to the potty. I would make a big deal about peeing on the floor being "yukkie!! No peeing on the floor Hayven!!! We pee on the potty!" I would also make a big deal when she finished on the potty. Everyone would clap and cheer and she would get candy.

(2) Tip: Don't Freak Them Out!!: So Alex is a bit dramatic sometimes :) I love him! And Hayven had been nervous to poop on the potty so she had been holding it for two days. Finally, it couldn't wait any longer...

She farted and out exploded a turd onto the carpet. 

Immediately my husband started freaking out, "Oh! OH! OH! NO! What is that?!? Oh!!" 

Hayven started screaming. 

I rushed her to the potty to finish.

She saw the poop on the floor and started freaking out like it was alive or something. 

Needless to say, this set us back a good week from progressing with her because she was scared to sit on the potty.

(3) Carried on with Normal Life: We have things going on during the week and just put her in diapers when we went out and took them off when we got home. This isn't my ideal scenario for potty training, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

**I was a bit distraught with her learning style. The twins simply understood when I told them not to pee on the floor. Hayven needed more. I tried briery, discipline, showing her, putting her on the potty every twenty minutes... but she wasn't seeming to get it. But we KEPT PERSEVERING.

(4) Disposables for the last trimester: My wonderful husband scraped up $20 to get a big box of disposable diapers to last me the rest of this pregnancy since Hayven wasn't seeming to show any progress in potty training. Sure enough, the night we bought them, she finally understood to pee in the potty. Ever since then, she has had a few accidents here and there, but she generally just goes when she needs to go. 

So read this along with my previous posts on potty training and hopefully you can glean some wisdom and encouragement when potty training your baby :) :)


P.S. Hayven will be turning 18 months on the 25th. She is 1 month older then the twins were when they were potty trained.


P.S.S. We got internet as of today so I will be posting more often again. Praise the LORD!!! And thanks to my hard working hero: Mr. Babe :)

Potty Training Sucess

I am not sure how long we have been potty training now, but I think it's been 3-4 weeks. 

We have two 18-month old daughters fully potty trained now!

We have even brought them to stores, Sunday church, Thursday church, grandma's house ect. and they are doing well.

They don't wet the bed every night or at naps. There are still a night here and there where they will pee in bed, but the majority of them are dry.

They now wear underwear and pants all day long and just tell me when they need to go potty. 

So here is an overview of what we did:

1. Pants-free. Yes, they had accidents. When I saw pee running down their little legs, and they looked down at the strange sensation, I snatched them up and ran them to the potty and explained this is where they go potty. 
2. Potties in every room. We brought the potties into every room with us so they could sit down when they had to go. This is because they don't really have good "holding" skills yet (aka their bladders aren't strong enough yet, or they just don't know how to work them properly).
3. Introduced panties. When they got a good grip on peeing on their own, place the panties on and explain, "We DO NOT go potty in our panties. We pull down our panties (demonstrate) and then we sit down and go potty (demonstrate). Then we pull up our panties (demonstrate)!" They will either think it's a diaper and pee/poop right in it (Alecia), or sit down and pee through their panties (Ahavah). Regardless, keep putting panties on them.
4. Try going to Sunday class/the store/outside. Now they really learn (need to be taught) to let someone know when they need to go potty. Pack extra clothes and plastic bags.
5. Place potties in stationary spots. Now the potties are in the bathroom/bedroom or where ever you want them. They can find the potty when they need to go. They can hold it long enough to go to the room with the potty and "pull down their pants" (with assistance) :).

*Night time training: We simply let them to naked every night (even still because they can't pull down their pants themselves, and I don't want to get up at 3am to pull down pants) and told them, "We DO NOT pee in our beds. There is your potty (pointing to potty in the bedroom), if you have to go, get up and go."

Funny story: We were on our way to the store and Ahavah started saying "I Poo! I Poo!" That is what she says when she needs to go potty. We asked her to hold it, but she started fussing louder. I turned to my husband and asked him what we should do?!? I suggested pulling over and letting her pee in the trees next to the road. He didn't like that idea. He wanted me to dump out my perfectly good cup of coffee and let her pee in my coffee cup! Then we remembered we had an oil tray in the trunk! We pulled into a culdasac and let Ahavah pee in the oil tray in the trunk! She held it like a champ! No accidents! :)

Another Funny Story: When we first started with Ahavah, she was crouched over in the corner of her room (naked) with a red face. I grabbed her and put her on the potty. Then I noticed a few turds on the carpet. SO I picked them up and flushed them down the toilet. Meanwhile, Ahavah had gotten up. I put the girls down for their nap, but I noticed that it still smelt like poop! I looked around and in the corner, tucked almost under Hayven's crib, was a pile of poop! Hahaha! I felt like I was training a dog to poop outside or something! 

Anther funny story: During the time when we let the girls wear no pants or panties, Ahavah had scratched her bum. Then she decided she wanted to show me where my nose was. "Le nez!" she said proudly, while pointing to my nose. Then I smelt it! ... "Ewwww!" I replied. She, of course, thought it was hilarious and did it many more times. :)

**Don't get stressed out or be fearful of this time. Enjoy it! It's so great to see your little one take a step into more independence.**

**Also, it may seem like so much more work then having them in diapers, but that is only temporary! Their bladders mature and grow stronger and it's so much more freeing to just take them to the potty then to wipe off dirty butts.**

** All or nothing! Stop buying diapers. Commit! No diapers for nap, for night-time, for outting. You're done!**

If you have any questions, please contact me! :)

Happy Training!!

Potty Training Update

Things are going great! 

We had a babysitter take the girls to a burger joint on Sunday and the girls went to the bathroom in the public toilet and went the whole time with no accidents. 

However, they had an accident in Nursery Sunday morning. The nursery teacher said she should have asked them if they needed to go. They also peed in their bed when the babysitter put them down for nap. 

But, when I am around they are accident-free. They are still running around the house naked because it's easier for me when they need to go potty they just go. I really need to start training them on pulling down their panties. 

And every night I put them to bed I explain, "Okay, we don't go potty in bed. If you need to go potty, you get up and use that potty right over there, then go back to bed." They reply with an "Otay!" :)


I bought them some Hello Kitty panties since they are doing so well and officially OUT of diapers forever!! :) YAY!

More On Potty Training (Day 7 & 3)

So my dearest Ahavah is on day 7 of Potty Training.
Day 5 was a bit rough. 
She seemed to start going backwards and peeing/pooping on the floor.
However we stuck to it and she is doing AWESOME now!
We even stopped giving her diapers at nap and bed time (yesterday was the first day) and has stayed dry.
Last night I cam into their room to feed Hayven at about 4am.
Ahavah just got up, went pee, then went back to bed. :)


My dearest Alecia is on day 2 of being off diapers during the day. 
She pooped on the floor twice yesterday :/
But overall she is doing well.


Today I put them both in underwear (usually I have them naked).
Alecia just peed in them like they were a diaper.
Ahavah sat on the potty without pulling them down and peed right through them. 


Two pairs down, only 3 more until I need to do laundry again. 

Our plan is to NOT go back! 
Ahavah is DONE with diapers (even if she pees the bed every night).
Alecia is done with them during the day. 


I want to keep a record of what we did/are doing so that I (and others) can refer back to it.

Are You Training?

Ahavah is doing fantastic with Potty Training! 

She goes to the potty by herself whenever she needs to go!

Alex even took her to Fellowship Night last night and put her and her sister in the back room with the potty out by the bathroom. They sat quietly in the back room and played (the whole 2 hours) and whenever Ahavah had to use the potty, she came out, used it, and went back into the room!

I am SUCH a PROUD MOM!

I even tried having Alecia walk around naked and use the potty for about a 1/2 day and she did amazing too. Mom just got a little overwhelmed with naked girls so I put a diaper back on Alecia. I am going to have her commit to potty training on Monday when I have the whole week with at least one parent home all the time to train her.

Everyone keeps telling us how "lucky" we are that our girls are so well behaved, so easily trained...

I am pretty convinced it is NOT luck, but hard work and training. I believe that because we were consistent with disciplining our kids and how we have trained them thus far in their lives, it made this milestone easier. 

I also believe, if we stay consistent with training and disciplining them, the "terrible twos" or "threes" or "teens" won't be as bad. I am NOT saying that we won't hit hardship, or that our kids will be perfect (my kids have peed and pooped on the floor while potty training), but they will be better equipped! 

It's like my pastor says when it comes to ministry: Sweat in training so you won't bleed in battle. I think that is a military saying too. 

So reflecting on this whole process, I have a few reflecting questions to ask myself (and for you to ask yourself):

1. In your walk with Jesus, are you preparing for the works He has for you? Are you training yourself to control your flesh and walk in the Spirit?
2. Are you getting trained up in ministry? Jesus brought His disciples around with him everywhere. They had to learn the ministry of Jesus. Are you involved at church? Are you out sharing the good news of Jesus? Are you training??
3. What about you moms: are you training your kids in a way that will make things easier for you in the long run? For them in the long run? Are you teaching them to control the flesh? Are you training them in ministry?

How do you do this?? Pray about it. Read your word. Teach your kids. What does God want you doing? Sharing the gospel? Starting a prayer meeting? Leading a small group? Singing worship? Bring your kids and teach them!

Reflect on these things. Ask the Lord to show you where you are REALLY at.

Potty Training

As of yesterday, we started potty training Ahavah. Things are going really well so far!


We are simply letting her run around naked, put two potty chairs out, giving her lots of naked (no pun intended) or fresh made juice, and rewarding her (and Alecia so she doesn't feel left out) with "potty treats" when she goes in the potty.


She only had one pee accident today and pooped on the floor a little before she understood that she could poop in the potty too. Then she finished on the potty! 


I am planning on sticking to this from now on and only using diapers for bed time. I have to talk to the nursery leader and ask her how it will work with nursery... but I am so proud of her!


I will be potty training Alecia once Ahavah has it down well.