Potty Training

Alex turned 3 last August and we began potty training him earlier that Summer, but with little success. We tried and tried to work with him, but just kept getting more and more frustrated. I know you aren't supposed to compare children, but Paige was fully trained by the time she turned 3.

Alex began preschool in September and still wasn't potty trained. The months passed by with small successes here and there and then he would regress. Bribes didn't really work, neither did positive reinforcement. I happend to talk with 4 other Mom's in his preschool whose boys all have August birthdays and every single one of them was struggling with the same thing as I was. It was a relief to hear that it wasn't just me or Alex.

Finally we had a breakthrough in February! It was Dave who actually moved things along. After Alex went in his pants AGAIN, Dave gave him a box of wipes, put him in the bathroom and told him to clean himself up. I was out with Paige, so I didn't get to witness this (or have to clean up after it, thanks daddy!). As you can imagine it was a mess and Alex was very upset about it, but after that episode, Alex decided it was time and embraced wearing his big boy underwear and going in the potty. He was so proud of himself after he finally gave in. While it was a bit unorthodox, it worked for us. Alex is now daytime potty trained! It was a huge cause for celebration around here!

There are still things we need to work on, like how to pee without taking off all of your clothes, and making it through the night, but what a relief to have this challenge almost behind us.