Potty Training on the Home Stretch // Early Toileting

After recording the beginning of the process (or should I say mid-way through the process as we did start on the potty around 6 months), I kinda forgot to track the progress! So in the interest of posterity, here tis' the current state of play around here...

Enjoying the breeze!

Welllll, I think we can pretty much call this little dude 'done'!! Eli has done soooo great. Well, since we got serious about going nappy/diaper-free at home at the end of January, he has been chugging along really well. Due to the general busy-ness of life, initially he sometimes only got an hour or so nappy free time in a day (yes, I am forgetful!) but pretty much every day for increasing lengths of time he had some nappy-free time. There were a lot of 'hits' and quite a few 'misses' too, of course. Lots of cheers, and a few muffled sighs. The misses were all part of the learning process (raising awareness) and to be expected, though I sure was glad our living area is non-carpeted now which made clean up so much easier! He was still always going at the usual times he always sat on the potty but the key was getting him to learn to go to the potty (say he needed to) when he had to go at other times during the day.

Um... do you mind??

I knew we were getting close when he ran through the house one day carrying an (empty!) potty to me shouting 'Weeee! Weee!', so I helped sit him down, he went.... victory! About four weeks ago (so about a month into the process), the Little Dude got really serious. All of a sudden he could go 'on cue' (as in you sit him down and he *tries* to go - and almost always does!) - this was key to being able to do purposeful potty trips before outings and so on. His little concentrating face is hilarious to behold! He now always asks to go potty when he does feel the need to go too - for both #1 and #2 and even if he is wearing a nappy at the time. We are also doing most outings nappy-free... and accident-free too! (so far...phew) Way to go, E!!

Misses are rare these days and usually because we both get very distracted. Most of the time though, he lets me know when he needs to go. Of course he has been enjoying the attention too, usually leaping from the potty to shout 'GOOD JOB!!! GOOD JOB!!!!!' and jump up and down with his little arms in the air cheering.... following quickly by "CHEAT!!! CHEAT!!' which actually translates to him saying 'TREAT!!! TREAT!!!' (Phew, my son is not a deceptive potty-trainer, what a relief). Half a chocolate button for his efforts. The treats were only recently introduced to keep his enthusiasm for the project going to completion and suffice to say - gladly received!

To bullet point my approach for anyone vaguely interested, I would say the keys are -

• Start potty time early and regularly - after meals, naps etc - keep it positive, fun, read books etc. We started at six months and it became an easy part of our routine. Positive potty routine from early on meant when we wanted to get rid of the nappies it seemed a natural extension of something he was already very familiar with.
• Start going nappy-free around the house around 18months or when you think they can signal they need to go. We used sign language as well as word cues.
• Focus on staying clean and dry, not just on producing in the potty. Remember the true goal!
• I found my main work was done once they can both tell you when they need to go AND they can go on cue - eg you put them on the potty at any time and you can tell they are consciously trying to 'release'. This saves a lot of rushing around!!
• A fantastic book I read when Eli was young which I learnt heaps from (and was also pleased to find I had instinctively done a lot of with Lily) was the book Diaper Free Before Three - turns a lot of the common potty training guidelines upside down! Very interesting and links well with Elimination Communication stuff too, though I wasn't committed enough to do that full on with Eli!

It has been interesting for me to note that he is pretty much exactly on par with his sister - although she was showing signs of readiness at 16months, I was very sick being pregnant with Eli so delayed getting started till 18months and she was done by 19/20months. Now with Eli, though I did a sorta light version of Elimination Communication with him since about six months old, he is pretty much on the same track as her - got serious about 18months, done by 20 months. By 'done', I mean reliably diaper/nappy-free during the day, including for outings. I always heard boys generally trained later and longer, so maybe the EC balanced out those factors? Or maybe that's just the age I got serious both times around? Who really knows, but here we are anyway!!

All in all, it's been a fun (yes, really!) and relatively smooth process. A bit of work, yes, but not a lot of stress at all. It's not a three-day method or anything (as I prefer to transition slowly as I find it just makes it more seamless and practical), but for us, it works great - I enjoy training before two as I find it captures them before it becomes a power struggle and capitalises on what I feel are their natural abilities. It is amazing to see how capable and in-tune these little people can be with their own bodies. And of course, ever so proud of themselves too!

I am happy to be on the other side of the proverbial Potty Training hill for now... the current state being Eli rockin' his Big Boy undies all day every day including most outings (except for sleep times, will leave that for a bit older). Still gotta pay pretty close attention for a while but every day he gets more focused, more confident, able to hold for longer, etc. The kid knows he is a Big Boy now, and gee is he ever so pleased with himself - and we are too, little Buddy!!! Keep on rockin' those cute little undies!

Giving himself a few cheers!