our first and failed attempt potty training part 1

So help me, if one more person tells me that my son is too young for me “to be trying to potty train him”, my head is going to explode into 87 bajillion tiny pieces.I am not the one wanting to potty train. Please believe me, I did not initiate this. Sure, I bought some potties from Ikea and a book or two about how big boys put their poop and pee into the potty, but that’s about it.And then one day he started telling me before he needed to poop.For the most part, we use cloth diapers (although this summer we have earned a whopping D- in that department, road trips, vacations, and general laziness, then whoops! Will you look at that? We just went through an entire Costco case of ‘sposies. ::hangs head::) which I think has helped a lot in the self-initiation of potty training. A soiled cloth diaper is just not as comfortable as a soiled disposable diaper and I think OBoy caught on to what was up down there because of that.Alright, so the poop thing happened here an there, but really my arms are full of baby these days, so I wasn’t really chomping at the potty training bit. Until one time, when OBoy told me he had to poop and I ignored him.::lalala fingers in my ears I don’t have time for this right now thankyouverymuch::Until he had to just put it in his diaper out of necessity.O, the mother guilt. My kiddo had figured out that he doesn’t want to put his poop in his diaper and I was not proud or encouraging or helpful. Oooooo, the guilt.And so it was that after feeling like a right proper wench for doing what I did, I decided that OBoy deserves better. He deserves for me to help him learn what he wants to know. He deserves to be encouraged and supported.{{Even about pooping.}}To test the waters, I checked out a book from the library called “How to Potty Train your Kid in One Day”. HA. HAhahahahah. One day. I read it with a few truckloads of salt grains, because if there’s anything parenting has taught me it’s that the books are FULL OF IT, especially the ones that make promises. But it WAS helpful for breaking up all of the skills involved in training – pulling down and up pants and undies, washing and drying hands, wiping, flushing, etc. – things I’d never really considered. It’s just all about getting the P&P where it needs to go, right? I also read an extensive article online about the “three day” potty training method. This one was more my style, so we made plans to do that soon, but in the time being, we began to work on those skills.We started having OBoy wipe himself when we were changing his diaper. We started letting him flush after we went potty. We started having him pull up and down his pants. We spent a LOT of time talking about diapers and potties and undies and where things are supposed to go. I bought a couple kiddo books and checked out others from the library about big boy potties.Then, one Saturday two weeks ago we finally dove into the potty training deep end.And it sucked.Like, really, really sucked.We followed the three day training model where you basically put potties all around the house (no, seriously, we own 5 potties for such a time as this), take off the kiddo’s pants and diaper, and WATCH HIM. Watch him watch him watch him while pumping him full of liquids, liquids, and salty snacks so he’ll drink more liquids. Then, when he starts to go, you rush him to the nearest potty and try to get some in it. Eventually he comes to associate what he now sees happening with the feeling that it’s about to happen. Sounds like a hoot, right?{just drawing with chalk… pants-less}So it’s 9am and we’re drinking and watching, drinking and watching. Then it’s 10. Drinking, watching, snacking, drinking. Then it’s noon. Watching, drinking… you get it. Then it’s 1:00 and we admit defeat, put a diaper on him, and lay him down for nap.ONE O’CLOCK! NO POOP OR PEE IN A 4 HOUR PERIOD, and a very well hydrated 4 hour period no less. DanO and I followed that kid around like secret service agents and nothing. Not a drop.He did of course, soak his way clear through his naptime diaper, though. {{Surprise!}}DanO and I were so beyond frustrated. How are we supposed to be reinforcing something so that he learns it when it only happens once in a blue moon? Frustrated parents do not good potty trainers make, so we threw in the towel. We did! We said forget this, he can be in diapers until he’s 10 or figures it out on his own because it’s not worth the amount of anxiety and frustration that we just felt.To be continued…{{because really, no one wants to read 1,000 words about potty training in one sitting, plus my “poop” quota for the day has been met and exceeded.}}