I do not usually make such preemptive statements. My fear of failure does not allow me to announce something that may or may not be successful. But, nonetheless, I AM potty training today. And, because the way I am going about it is so very different from my usual method, I thought it might warrant a blog announcement. Posting my intentions not only forces me to actually do it, but it forces me to follow up once my potty training efforts are either successful or an utter failure.
So, what exactly am I doing? Prompted by this post and this book,
I am locking myself and the 3½ year old in the master bedroom and bathroom today.
Why such dire measures? Because he’s stubborn…more stubborn than any child I have ever raised. I never had a climber…until Creed. I never had an escape artist…until Creed. I only *thought* I had strong-willed children…until Creed. But, on my, what a cutie!
He’s taken a whole new kind of parenting…and yes, potty training.
Now, I did think about sending him to my mom’s house and making letting her potty train him, but surely, after this many little ones, I could manage to potty train even the most stubborn of children. But, I will admit, this is one area of parenting that has continued to stump me over the years. (Mom, if you’re reading this, be on call…I may still have to drop him off 😉 )
You see, being a large family mom doesn’t mean I’m some kind of expert. And when it comes to potty training, it actually means the opposite. I have so many distractions throughout my day, that potty training is just one more thing added onto my plate of chaos. So, when you have a child who has a very strong mind of his own, diapers until he’s 20 sounds MUCH easier than potty training.
But, I am determined to at least give it a shot – it’s only for a day after all.
I have my snacks to reward staying dry. I have my homemade lemonade to “prime the pump.” I have every pair of Creed-sized underwear I could find in the drawer. I have my 18 year old on babysitting duty. And I have a new baby in my belly reminding me that I really do not want 3 kids in diapers.
Here we go! {I’ll keep you posted…}
Robyn says
I am right there with you! Potty training my most stubborn child at 3 1/2. The past week has been challenging, to say the least, but we are finally making some progress.
French says
Me, too.
Melanie says
Can’t wait to hear how it goes. I have 7 children and 2 in diapers. My 3 1/2 year old is a real cutie too, but he maintains that he is going to wear diapers until he is “big like daddy”……..stubborn. I usually don’t make a big fuss and the others were all just eventually ready and they were potty trained! This boy might needthe extra effort or he might actually be in diapers til he’s big like daddy! So looking forward to your SUCCESS!
Melanie
Charlotte Moore says
Hard for me to imagine having one that was hard to train. Our 2 boys, now adults were very easy. Our great granddaughter had a harder time. Once she started she really went with it. To my knowledge she hasn’t even had an accident. That is unusual. When she got ready she was ready. She was almost 3. GOOD LUCK!!
rebecca says
Ha ha! I laughed out loud! I read that post too about the one day method and wondered if I might try it some time… I imagined the time it could save in the long run!
I also didn’t want 3 in diapers come fall, so I potty trained our toddler the week after he turned 2 this spring- he seemed keen so I did the basic 3 day method, but it took a whole month as he was barely ready- and YES there are many distractions in the day and it is hard to stay on top of it 😛
oh well- we made it! thankfully he’s not my super strong-willed one (that was a couple years ago- whew- THAT was a challenge and a half- tantrums and all!)
all the best!!!!! You and Creed can do it!
🙂
almost 23 weeks now and feeling SO much better than I was. praying it continues 🙂 I’ve even been baking a lot (and eating it too- oops- so much for minimal weight gain! ha ha)
Julie says
Girl! I’m I mom of 11 and I feel completely the same way about potty training. I’m “loosely” trying to train my 2 yo, but I’m not up for the mental anguish to go all in with a 5 month old and 7 others to homeschool. Let me know how it goes!
Many blessings,
Julie
French says
🙂
Lisa says
I’m eager to hear how it goes Amy, thanks for sharing your plan with us. I also have a super stubborn almost three year old boy, so if it works I may need to buy the book!
kaci says
Good luck! I’m right there with you. My son is four and still has number 2 accident but he is getting there. We used box cars and that seemed to do the trick for him. 🙂
kaci says
I would like to know if the 1 day works. I have 2 year old twins that I will hopefully get potty trained at 2 and a half because I to do not want 3 in diapers. We do use cloth diapers I could only imagine the laundry lol. 🙂
S.T. says
My twins are six now. The best piece of advice I can give you is to train them separately. I learned this after my friend told me that training their twins was the hardest thing and then went on to say that you wouldn’t train two other children together, so why do we do this with twins. Even with her experience, I started mine together and then realized my mistake. I continued with the one who seemed most ready. He was fairly easily trained, as I recall. After he was trained, at some point, it was his brother’s turn. I really recommend the one at a time approach. It seems easier to do them together in your head but in practice… not so much! 🙂
kaci says
Thanks this is the 3 time I have heard this so I will diffiantly try one at a time.
Jennifer Hadley says
I’d love to know too how it went. I have a 3 year old who is starting to potty train. We just had baby #9 and he has to have heart surgery in the fall. So having his brother potty trained by then would be a huge help. Getting done in one day would be awesome and be a bigger blessing!
Diana says
Hmm, maybe I should try this! I have a child who could sure use it. I’ll be fascinated to hear how this goes for you!
And I do indeed have three in diapers. One is permanently, due to severe special needs, but our 4yo could definitely stand to move on from this stage in life. And I positively refuse to have FOUR in diapers!! 🙂
Carla says
When I was potty training my son at 3, I remember talking to other moms and saying, “You never hear about the kid who was 4 before he was trained, you only hear about the 18 month old who was completely self-sufficient.” My grandma said, “I’ve never known a kid to go to kindergarten in diapers.”
Hang in there! He’ll get it – probably only when it is *his* decision.
Sarah says
Hi Amy! My daughter was very stubborn and would not potty train. After much difficulty I had to resort to serious endeavors. I kept her at my feet for 3 days straight. No going and playing. Just boredom. It didn’t work. She stood next to me and went. (She holds it and goes for other adults. For several days. This was stubborness). Finally I took the other kids and her to the park. It killed me but I didn’t let her play. I told her the park has a no potty rule and since she can’t follow it she can’t play. Then we went home and she stayed dry. Phew. (Yes, we went back to the park as a reward ).
Stacy says
I can’t wait to hear how it goes. My firstborn potty-trained pretty fast, my second was a dream, but my third–oy! She is stubborn to her core. The three day method worked well for the first two, but she didn’t take to it and my sanity needed a break. She will ask to go occasionally and usually goes before her bath. I know it’s a control issue in her part and I don’t want to start a battle of the wills. She’ll be three at the end of the month and I’d really like to be done with diapers for a while!
Sarah H says
I had the same problem with my now 4 year old little girl. I was lucky enough that my son basically potty trained himself. One day he asked to go on the potty, and that was that! 🙂 I was not so lucky the second time around. I tried everything I had read, everything I could think of and nothing worked. Until Daddy told her that she couldn’t wear her dresses if she pee peed in them. So each day that she had an accident she wasn’t allowed to wear a dress the rest of the day. And let me tell you, that was the end of the world for my girly-girl! But it only took about two times and she was completely potty trained! It was amazing!
Good luck! I’ve got another one on the way now too, so I’ll be anxious to hear what works for you. I’ll be compiling notes for this next one, because the one thing I’ve learned from parenting so far is that each child is different! <3
Beth@Weavings says
This post made me laugh since I could so relate! My youngest was a month away from being 4. Like you, potty training is something I could just skip, but it must be done. We had tried several times but my daughter had 2 UTI’s that really freaked her out and our couple of times we attempted to potty train were not successful at all (think crying, wailing, etc.). Finally I determined that I was “the mom” and she was going to be potty trained. So the next day I announced we were going to learn to go potty and sat her on the toilet. Wouldn’t you believe it? She went in the bathroom and went potty! From that point on she had it down–even for night time. Good luck on your adventures!
Josi says
Just reading this makes me realize I may have post-traumatic stress from the potty training days of my kids! Ha! It’s been a long time for me but boy, do I ever remember how many years the bed wetting went on at nighttime. They all did well during the day but struggled at night for a long time. I dealt with many feelings of personal failure, but I finally came to the conclusion that our family may have some genetic issues because my sister’s kids struggled with it, as well as myself and my mom and some of her siblings. I think it’s important for mamas to remember to not beat themselves up if they have a difficult one, or pride themselves if they have one that does it easily. We need God’s wisdom and grace!…and the option to send them to Grandma’s is a brilliant one! May the Lord bless all you mamas who are in the potty training stage. You will succeed 🙂
kimberly says
thank you for this post. my 3 1/2 yr old is also very stubborn and I’m still trying to potty train him. first 3 were easy, #4 was easy just took till he was 3 1/2, but this one just is stubborn. even though I always hope everyone else has it easy when it comes to potty training, its also nice to know I’m not alone.
Brandy says
We have used that with most of our kids (7th on the way). It is a great way to start! Most of the time they pretty much had it down by the end of the day with an occasional accident the week after. I hope it works great for you! Oh, and thanks for the recommendation for the Kids Cook Real Food course. I was looking for something like that to help me with different ages. I got it and can’t wait to get started! Summer cooking camp!
Mrs.Momof7 says
YOU CAN DO IT! Be the MOMMA!
BTW, I have a little announcement myself. I am expecting number 8 in January. and I just potty trained number 7, so won’t be doing diapers until January, and then, just one kiddo in dipes.
There are many things I am terrible at, but potty training is NOT one of them. If one day doesn’t work sufficiently, don’t be afraid of 2! but at 3.5 it is truly just a choice he has to make.
You got this!
Mrs.Momof7 says
Also,
I highly recommend starting earlier, like before they turn 2. It works SO much better when they are tiny because they usually aren’t all willful about it. It’s just another fun game. You do have to pay attention for at least a week. I spend one full day together in a play yard with a baby, a potty, a reward and juice! Then keep baby in a play yard and mommy stays very close. After a week I’m usually ok to let the baby play outside of the yard, and we have a couple accidents. I’m in week 4 now, and have almost no accidents, maybe 1 per week. Usually when the child is very distracted. I still keep my mind on him and the clock. but he comes to tell me that he has to go often. And the big siblings help out too!
Good luck!
Amy says
CONGRATULATIONS!!! And lucky you! I can’t remember the last time I had no one in diapers when the new baby came…I think it was 2004. 😉
Jennifer says
Glad to have you joining the club! Lol. And I also love hearing you say the same words I keep saying. I can’t believe I have done this 5 times already. Every time I feel like I don’t have a clue! I was getting some serious flack from my older kids about how it was “time.” Then my husband joined in. I am also distracted & can be called away to help with our business. I did decide to potty train my 2 youngest. Why do 1 when you do 2? I actually think my 2 year old is doing better than the 3 1/2 year old. Stubborn! I even bought him a Lego set, but the kid won’t poop in the potty. I’ve been going at it for over a month now & I just remind myself that kids don’t go to college in diapers. Lol. Amy, I wish all the luck I am not having!
Bev says
I have the same child, same age (3 1/2) but his name is Zach LOL! He has gotten on the potty and peed once and then peed and missed the potty but nothing else yet. We are moving to a new home, so I’m thinking of waiting till he gets over that change and then trying this book out! I would like to do it before but thinking it might be too much change for him this month. Hope your potty day goes well!! 😉
Jeannie says
I have potty trained over 20 kids, 4 of my own. See I use to be a certified 2 & 3 year old daycare teacher! None are the same, I would have to say my hardest was my son, finally just before he turned 5 years old, & he wasn’t strong willed!! My strong willed daughter was the easiest she was completely potty trained & no accidents at 19 months no doubt, the teachers at our church when I would take her to the nursery were amazed! I didn’t do anything different then all the others!! Hang in there, constantly take him in there, praise, & prayer is all the advice I have!!!
Linda S says
So, how did the day go? Thinking about you!
Potty training might be my most dreaded mommy-task. We accomplished it with all eight, though. And this little book you mention was my potty training go-to. I tweaked it to fit my own style and each child, but I followed it pretty closely. It was important to me that the child take the initiative, and not rely on me, because as you mentioned – we moms of many do get distracted! I had great success with 5 out of 8, right at the 2 year mark. The other 3? either I wasn’t ready or they didn’t seem ready (or a combination of the two, more likely)
And now I have grandchildren being trained using this same method.
Amy says
That’s encouraging!
Joy says
That’s the method I used to potty train my first four. And it worked perfectly! I did not follow this method with my fifth, and I wish I had. (If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it—why didn’t I remember this?!) 🙂
DANA k. says
I really enjoyed this post! When #4 was on the way for me, I pushed to potty train #2 at 2 1/2, before she was really ready but because I also didn’t want 3 in diapers. Also, #1 was so easy to train at 26 months, that the indifference with #2 was surprising for me. Now, with kiddo #3 approaching her 3rd birthday, I’m starting to try to work with her, but with the many distractions and appointments we seem to have, I have not been able to be very focused with her, and she seems strongly opinionated to choose if she wears diapers or underwear at a given time. She’s probably not as stubborn as Creed, but she’s my most stubborn child so far. I hope the day went well!