we started this week out by throwing away ben and sam’s size 5 diapers. for anyone who knows me, they know that i like to do a lot of research before a transition. so i had prepared myself by reading the ezzo’s book potty training 1-2-3. i really recommend this book. it is practical and easy to follow. and i think that success shows.
now my expectations were high…i do humbly admit that i have a great amount of pride when it comes to my children…a great friend told me that it only gets worse the older they get…so i’m in trouble! but the boys are pretty smart, ok, let’s not be silly, they are brilliant!
so i thought, after reading about people having this training done in a matter of hours, i just knew that by lunch monday my children would be done with all training and i would be sitting down wondering what i was going to do with the extra $50 a month that i used to spend on diapers. not that easy. don’t get me wrong…it wasn’t the worst thing i’ve had to do. but take in mind that i am putting two 2 1/2 year olds in underwear and letting them loose in my house.
they caught on quick. the basic principle is to reward them for staying clean and dry and when they go to the potty the get the double reward. they love candy, but never really get it…so starbursts and m&m’s were my bribe of choice.
the ezzo’s use the principle of letting them teach a doll how to potty and reward their doll and then they will want to do it too. no dolls are allowed in our house (they creep me out) so we used puppy and lion that cindy strickland bought them for their 2nd birthday. they loved this! they caught on to pee pee quick…still had an accident here and there when they were busy playing. the #2 thing they don’t have…they are scared. so jason bought them 2 diego toys and set them up over the toilet. “if you go in the toilet you get these” kinda thing. i tell you…ben sat on that toilet red faced! he wanted that diego.
i thought by wed that they were golden. no pee accidents. i took them to the potty at least every hour. they did great at preschool too. they are 100% in underwear…night time they are dry and ask to go potty in the morning. naps are dry too.
then we had a girls night last night and they were at the church…it was like total relapse! when i came to pick them up sam had his change of clothes on and ben had had an accident. so far today no accidents. so we aren’t where i thought, but we aren’t too far. but diego still stares at them through the box…and they stare back. i know they will get it. and when they do i will be the happiest out of the crew!
i will keep everyone up to date on our progress…hopefully good news to follow….until then look at this accomplishment by our younger, yet equally as fabulous jack stack:
Oak and Pines 
Now they will want to try out every restroom in the tri-county area. And it will be when your buggy is full! awww….the toddler years. 🙂 I miss them.
whew! good work jessica. I can agree with Sharon…Abby sees the Red Target sign and immediately says she has to pee. I should keep that red bullseye by the potty. I’m super impressed with the bedtime part–I may have to get ezzo’s book.
I know first hand as well how frustrating potty training can be. The biggest lesson I learned when Nathan started regressing (he regressed fully with #1 and #2 when he was three, right after Noah was born), was that the tactics we used the first time around didn’t work. The best thing we did that encouraged him to get back on the potty was doing nothing. When he would say sorry for going in his pants, we would tell him that’s okay, we’ll just try better next time, even when I was ready to pull my hair out!!
well…i’m ready to put the diapers back on at this point. they are still scared to death to poop. i don’t know what to do. my life right now is not conducive to this.
Have you tried one of those neat potty seats that you can put anywhere in your house? We had one and believe it or not brought it into our living room and let him watch his favorite show while he was going potty. Not to mention that the seat sings songs and makes noises when they go. And I have heard that Dora makes a potty video, so you could put them on the seat with the Dora video, and maybe that will ease some of their fear! Hope that helps!!
that is an idea. you aren’t the first to tell me that the training potty seems to be the thing to do…we’ll see..