My oldest son has been incredibly resistant to potty training. It's understandable. We've been moving around a lot. There hasn't been a lot of stability in our lives. We've been moving around a good deal over the past year. Not all of the situations we've been living in have been the most peaceful. For my special little boy that doesn't like anything but peace and calm unless he's the one causing it, it hasn't been easy for him. As a result, diapers have been something he clings to. It's like some kind of security blanket. I knew it wasn't going to be easy to get him out of them, even though I knew he was more than ready.
Now, I know he's ready to potty train. Every once in a while he would use the potty just because he wanted to. We were making a lot of progress on a few different occasions, but he regressed, and he was never accident-free. After a day or two of being pretty good, something would happen around the house and he'd regress. It was incredibly frustrating. Every time thought we were making progress, we'd have to start all over again. What was most frustrating of all is he's good all night long and during naps without a diaper on. I was beginning to feel like I'd be sending him to college in diapers!
In planning for Easter this year I asked each of my older two to pick one of the little stuffed Scentsy Buddies to go in their basket. My daughter knew just which one she wanted. She's had a baby lamb since her first Christmas so she needed the lamb. We decided to get a frog for the baby. Even they say they're for age three and up, I know my baby. He's only going to get to play with it while supervised. My older son had previously wanted the lion. All of the sudden he changed his mind. He wanted the elephant and nothing else would do! Just to be sure and having had the elephant on hand since I've decided to do Scentsy as a side-job I decided to show him to be sure. He not only loved it, but he took off with it, gave it the nickname he'd been calling himself for the past two and a half years, and decided he now wants to be called by his middle name. I'm a little sad that he doesn't want to use his old nickname anymore, but it's nice to see that he's finally feeling secure enough to grow up a little bit. It's a good thing!
Next thing I knew he was insisting he had to use the toilet like a big boy! He went two whole days without an accident, so today we decided to do something a little bit risky. We went to the store, did all our shopping, and stopped to have a nice lunch out in the fresh air and sunshine. He went through the whole trip without an accident! He even let us know he had to pee and went in a public restroom! He said it was all because his elephant helped him do it. If only I'd known that was all it would have taken straight from the start! I would have gotten him a friend to help him be comfortable ages ago!
For long excursions where a bathroom might not be easily accessible or for overnights for a while, just until we're certain he'll be good without a reminder in the morning. I have a feeling it won't be long at all before he's diaper free! I'm looking forward to that day.
My youngest is really the only one still in diapers. He just got to walking so I have a feeling it's going to be a little while before he's using the toilet. I don't really believe in the little potty people will buy to teach their child to use the toilet. In part, they're kind of gross to me. I'd much rather just teach my children to use the toilet. That means the baby can't learn until he's ready to climb on the step stool and sit down on the toilet. I'm so happy to be back down to one again!
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