Potty Training 101, 102, 103 and 104

Oh yes, it has finally arrived...Aaron is ready to be potty trained; well maybe "ready" isn't exactly the right word. FORCED. Yes. Aaron is being FORCED into potty training. And so am I-Again.

101-Potty Training the First Child

Janet was born in November of 1998; a beautiful 7 lb, 15 oz blue-eyed girl. She was what one might refer to as an "easy" baby. She kept to her schedule, eating, sleeping; she did everything by the book: rolled over, sat up, walked, talked, you get the picture. So in the Summer of 2000, we found out that we were expecting an addition to our family in the Spring-PANIC-two kids in diapers? NO WAY! When my Sister-in-law, V suggested that we potty train our toddlers together, I jumped at the chance. Never mind that my nephew M is a good 3 months older than Janet and a boy, I wasn't even thinking that there would be a difference. I was going to have a potty trained child before she turned 2. Yeah, right. You see, what I did not realize at the time was that boys can go to the bathroom anywhere, ANYWHERE and they do. At a picnic? Find a tree. At the beach?Find a tree. In the living room? Find a tree. (He had a dog and would only pee outside with him--that is V's story so I won't steal it from her)

I asked Janet's doctor what he thought about this and he told me that Summertime is a much better time to potty train than the Winter; no more than that. Oh, and he does not believe in Pull-ups. Underwear from the start, diaper at bedtime, until the child wakes up dry for 1 month. Okay.I got this. I went to Toys-R-Us after leaving his office and bought a 30 pack of diapers, a potty chair and 2 books, "Elmo Goes Potty" and "I Can Go Potty All By Myself", for Janet not me. Although, I did enjoy the Elmo book more than the other.

Girls, they are different. There is no "drop and go" with them. Everything has to be planned out, to the minute. You have to stake out the restrooms at all of the stores and restaurants. You have to know where all of the rest stops are along the highway. Mapping trips into town based solely on where all of the convenience stores are, with "usable" restrooms. Vacations? Pack the potty chair-yep, potty in the back of the van. It took about 4 months, but by the end of the year, she was potty trained. It was actually uneventful, with the exception of a few minor "accidents" here and there and I learned one valuable lesson from this experience, they make Pull-ups for a reason.

102 - Easy Peesy I am a Pro - Potty Training the Second Child

In March of 2001, Riley was born; about 3 weeks early and full of spunk. She weighed an even 7 lbs and, like her sister, had big blue eyes. She also was by the book; 2 perfect children, who could ask for anything more? In December of 2002, we found out that we would be welcoming yet another member into our home in June of the following year. I had my work cut out for me. Riley would be turning 2 in March, the baby would be here in June, it takes about 6 months to potty train, I better start now. She was 21 months-old when Training Day arrived. I went out and bought the biggest pack of Pull-ups that Wal-mart sells, dusted off the old potty chair and was off!

I remember when my niece S was small, she went to a babysitter during the day and when she was 18 months-old actually asked to go potty and that was it. She went potty. She never looked back; she put on her big girl panties, got out her potty ring and well, you know the rest. I had visions of grandeur with Riley. She was the second born, I had experience, she wanted to do everything that her big sister did. Almost everything. You see, no one bothered to tell me that the second child is TOTALLY different from the first. I should have known when Riley, at 3 months, decided that she would not nap; Janet napped for 3 hours in the morning and afternoon and still went to bed at 7:00 and slept for 12 hours. Not my precious Riley, no more naps and she went to bed at 8:00 and slept until 6:00. She was different, in more ways than one...

First off, Riley refused, yes, refused to use the potty chair in the bathroom. I thought it was the potty chair, so I went out and got a potty ring (the ones that go on the toilet and are cushioned for little hineys). Nope. She refused the ring too. It was the bathroom. She hated the bathroom. So my brilliant husband saved the day and suggested that we put the potty chair in the living room. It worked. Riley is a very social girl, always has been and apparently in her little toddler mind she must have thought that by being in the bathroom she was missing something exciting in the other room. Perhaps those quick 3 minute parties that we are famous for?

This was good. Riley was progressing nicely for the first 3 days or so and then I noticed something, she had not pooped yet. Not in the potty. Not in the Pull-up. Nowhere, no how. No poop at all. Off to the doctor...the doctor informed me that she will go poop when she is ready and if nothing happens after 5 days, give her a little prune juice and that will get things going. NOPE. NOTHING. NOT A THING. Day 7 (2 days of prune juice) and finally she went, everywhere BUT the potty. I will not be defeated. I will not give up. Day 14, I went to Wal-mart and bought a pack of diapers. In March, she turned 2 and we decided to give it another try. Almost without incident, she jumped back on the proverbial horse and had the potty mastered in about 2 months (for the most part). She was a big girl now. And in June Lucas arrived. Uh-oh...

New baby. No more attention for Riley. I know, I will go potty everywhere except on the potty. Oh yes, on the floor, in her pants, on the bed, in the car, outside EV-ER-Y-WHERE, except the potty. She would not wear a Pull-up, or underwear only a diaper. Now I had 2 kids in diapers. One of my worst fears. By the end of the Summer, however, she had re-mastered going to the bathroom and has not looked back.

The one thing I learned from this experience? When they are ready, they will go...

103 - Finally. No More Diapers - Potty Training the Third Child (the one you thought was the last)

Lucas was born in June of 2003, 10 days early and weighing in at 8 lbs, 6 ozs also with big blue eyes. This was it, our last child. A boy. Almost immediately, I began fantasizing about my world without diapers...3 beautiful children, hand-in-hand skipping down the sun strewn beach...

Slap! That would be reality. And it hit me HARD 3 years later. Back to 103.

Jump ahead to the Summer of 2005, Lucas is now 2 and his cousin J is also 2. Again, I am in cahoots with sister-in-law V and we are potty training our 2 kids together. This time, they are both boys and I got this...they can go anywhere! Anytime! Yea me! Yea Lucas! SLAP! Damn reality. It was NOT easy. He had a "thing" for bathrooms. He was not afraid of them, he just needed to go into them. All of them. Every place that we went: "I have to go potty". Not really, he just had to go and check out the facilities, talk to the ladies, use all of the soap...needless to say, we did not dine out or shop often with Lucas during this time.

While I was in the midst of training Lucas, I caught a report on the Today Show where Ann Curry was interviewing this mom that began potty training her infant at the age of 6 months. "What the...6 MONTHS!" "That's preposterous!" Apparently, there is a whole cult of women out there that devote their lives to literally holding their infants over the toilet to make "tinkle" and "poo". Again, what the...? So, I watched and listened to this crazy explain in great detail the reasoning behind this concept...it saves on landfill space. What the...? So do using cloth diapers nimrod. But then again, who has time to wash all of those diapers when you are too busy holding your infant over the toilet every fifteen minutes; wait, you could wash those diapers if you weren't holding your infant over the toilet. It gets better. When Ann asked the tough question, "how do you know that the baby has to go to the bathroom?" The mother simply and quite frankly, replied, "you can read it on their face. They tell you by the look on their face." What look would that be? The one of shear terror as you are dangling them over the toilet? Whack-a-do!

Needless to say, it was too late for me to try this little "trick" ,Lucas was 2 and weighed almost 40 pounds. It was on to plan B. Except there was no plan B. Just wait it out. It took forever and yes, I asked the doctor about this. His reply this time? No child ever went to college wearing a diaper. So I paid my $15 copay and continued on my journey...a journey that spanned almost a year. Finally, in January of 2006 I had all 3 of my kids potty trained!

And in May, I discovered that I was pregnant yet again. No lesson this time, just tears.

104 - I Have Been Changing Freaking Diapers for 11 Years - Potty Training the Fourth Child

Aaron was born in December 2006 weighing 5 lbs, he was a month early. He was tiny and beautiful. He was also a mirror image of his big sister Janet--everything by the book. That is, until he began to walk and talk. We are just beginning potty training him. He is a tough one. Very head strong and opinionated. When his babysitter had a new addition to her family in 2009, Aaron lost his status as the cute baby and has done everything in his power to regain that status with her and with us. The journey has begun and is going okay so far...this is where I end the entry. I will post the final results when they come available. Oh yeah, he has not pooped for 3 days, I'm off to buy prune juice and diapers...