It Aint Always Rosy {Potty Training}

So I had the perfect plan. I was going to do the 3 Day Potty Training e-book method and E was going to be potty trained. Easy as that. We read the e-book. I stocked up on underwear, treats and prizes. And I talked to E the whole time about how he was such a big boy now that he was 2 and big boys pee pee and poo poo in the potty. He showed signs of readiness as early as 18 months old and fit the list of “readiness” checks that almost every potty training book/article highlighted. So it would have to be easy, right? I mean, yeah, he also had a new baby sister but that wasn’t anything big.

The weekend of training seemed to be a success. By the third day he was saying “pee pee” before he had to go and was going on the toilet. And even when we started going out and running errands he stayed dry and successful. He really seemed to pick up on it and get it fast. I was definitely proud of my boy.

Then somewhere between 2-3 months into being potty trained he seemed to regress. Not every day. Maybe an accident every 2-3 days. Usually it was just when he was busy playing or outside running around. Then about a month or two ago it started getting worse. And by worse I mean 4-5 accidents in a row after sitting and going a little on the potty. I got so worried I had the doctor check him out because he said that his penis hurt. I was worried that he may have a UTI or something.

All tests came back clear and nothing was wrong with him. And I just realized he just didn’t care. Seriously. He lost interest in going potty on the toilet. So I tried something new. I downloaded a potty chart and got some stickers. I told him if he told mommy he had to go potty then he got a sticker. When he filled up a row he got a prize and when he filled up the whole chart we would go to the store and he could pick out anything he wanted (within reason of course).

And he lost interest after a day. He just didn’t care. I would ask him to tell me when he had to go pee pee every 1/2 an hour. And literally 1-2 minutes after I asked and he said no he’d turn around, look at me and pee his pants. He’d also start to run away from me when I told him to tell me he had to go and would pee in a corner. I was losing patience and losing it fast.

About two weeks ago Joseph came home to me in tears. I had had enough. I broke down and put a diaper on E. Told him that if he wanted to pee in his underwear like a baby then he’d have to wear a diaper like a baby. He cried and said no when I put it on. I told him that if he kept the diaper dry and told me when he had to go potty then I’d put his underwear back on him.

I came and asked again in 1/2 an hour if he wanted to try and go potty and he said, “No, I go in diaper.” I about blew a fuse. I was so upset. But I had Molly in my arms and didn’t want to get upset with him so I said, “Ok, then we’ll have to change you into another diaper.” He replied with a simple OK and didn’t resist me putting a diaper on him. After this horrible day I regained focus and decided to move forward with underwear.

The next day Ethan had no accidents. We started putting stickers for when he went potty AND giving him a choice of a marshmallow or gummy penguin (Trader Joe’s) treat every time he went on the potty. I started to realize that even though he long ago learned how to hold his pee for a few hours that he was releasing only a little bit at a time when I sat him down and than peeing a little in his underwear and pants a little later on. So I started to ask him to try and get all the pee pee out when he sat down on the potty.

It was working. No accidents for two more days. But he still won’t tell me when he has to go. He’ll just go try whenever I ask him if he will tell me he has to go. I pray for the day that he starts telling me again. It will be much easier than me remembering every 1/2-1 hour. I’ve also started driving around with a potty in the trunk. Just in case.

I pray that it gets easier from here but highly doubt it. I never realized how strong willed he was until we began this journey. I know we’ll have regressions again. And I will need to work on controlling myself instead of giving in to his rebellion. Because really it’s just that. He’s trying to figure out how much he can push. What I’ll give into and what he can get away with. I’m definitely not giving in. I have 25 years on him, right?