When I started this blog, I never imagined I would write a post on “potty training”, but just like clothes or food or fitness, when I find something good, or something that works, I want to share it! By NO means am I an expert on this subject or any parenting for that matter, so take it as simply encouragement from our experience. Granted, I know every child is different and timing for families is different, but this is what worked for us. People have different opinions on what is the best age to potty train children, but honestly, Crawford showed NO signs of interest, our pediatrician wasn’t pushing it, and we had been busy without any “free weekends” to do this “3 day bootcamp” (I have linked another good blog post I referenced for our weekend) potty training that I had my mind set on. If we were going to do it, we were going to get it done. I had my reservations on this method, but I also didn’t want to be dealing with pull-ups for months.
The Build Up
So, literally, we decided on Wednesday, that we were going to do the boot camp that weekend, so I got on Amazon, ordered some Paw Patrol undies and started getting Crawford excited about wearing undies and being a big boy. We have a few “potty” books that helped too. If you decide to use a “little potty”. Put it out days or weeks before, so that your child gets familiar with it.
Big Boy Underpants by Fran Manushkin
The Method
So, I have had TONS of friends recommend and have success with the 3-day potty training boot camp. In short, this method recommends you hunker down at home, not leaving for 3 days, while your child basically runs around naked. You also have to watch them like a hawk, hoping to catch them before they have an accident and constantly asking them if they need to use the potty. Yep, it sounds exhausting. But, it is so worth it.
I also impulsively bought a highly rated book off of Amazon, called, “Oh Crap! Potty Training” by Jamie Glowacki . We did not follow this book to a tee, but it has some GREAT advice and the basis for our 3 days was supported using her methods, plus she is pretty funny. She breaks it down into “blocks” or phases of training, and not necessarily days, but we thankfully got it done in 3 days…otherwise I was calling into work on Monday and continuing the process. But, each block can last 1 or multiple days. I honestly did not even read the whole book yet, because our 3 days went so well, but apparently, she has answers for everything, and when we plan to move on to night time potty training, I will turn to this book for sure.
Boot Camp
First off, We truly didn’t do 3 full days. But, I would recommend it, if you can take Friday or Monday off and knock this out in a long weekend. I had to work Friday morning, so we sent Crawford to school, telling him we were going to pick him up early to “learn” how to use the potty. So, right after his nap, we picked him up, got him home, and got him naked. Yep, we started out straight commando. The idea here is that underwear feel too much like a diaper and can somewhat “contain” an accident.
For the weekend, we were really hands on with him, giving him lots of attention and play time, and watching him like a hawk, asking him if he wanted to at least go sit on the potty (because, seriously, prior to this weekend, he did not even like sitting on it….hard to believe). We also last minute decided to do “rewards/treats” even though the book discourages it. We just felt like he would respond best to that. We also had a “little potty” and gave him the option of which one he wanted to use, the “little potty” or the “big potty”, and he chose the big one every time, so we just stuck with that. So here it is broken down into days for us.
DAY 1 (Friday): COMMANDO POTTY TRAINING
We started around 3:00pm (when we got home from school) and asked him every 30 minutes if he wanted to go sit on the potty. We never forced it, but he would typically go sit and try because he knew he would get a treat if he actually went. Most times, he would just sit and say “I don’t need to go” or “I can’t try”. Sometimes I would place him on the seat and sometimes he climbed up on his own. I also let him try sitting forwards and backwards.
By 4:00pm, he had sat and peed on the potty for the 1st time. We continued to ask him every 30 minutes and he eventually went again right before bed.
We tried to limit his fluid intake after dinner, simply so he wouldn’t get super wet overnight. We put him to bed in his “pull-up” which we told him were like underwear, for the 1st time.
DAY 2 (Saturday): Commando continued…
We continued to ask him every 30 minutes if he needed to go sit on the potty. Every now and then, he would go.
Our 1st (and only accident): it was lunch time and he was sitting in his chair eating and said “eww..i pee peed”. I think ideally I should have been watching him close so that I could have tried to “catch him”, but I quickly ran him straight to the potty to see if he needed to finish, and then had him help clean up his mess (which he wasn’t really a fan of and I think that encouraged him not to let that happen again).
Napped in a pull-up.
Around 5:30pm on the 2nd day, he started to initiate sitting on the potty.
Shortly after, I caught him standing in the corner, wincing and he told he had to poop, so I rushed him to the potty and he pooped. I was SHOCKED, because I thought it might take him a while to get this one, but he did it easily and was actually amused by it (oh boys…)
Put to bed again in a pull-up around 7:15pm. At 9pm, he called down that he had to go potty (surely trying to just get out of bed), but he actually went, and I was suckered into giving him a treat in the middle of the night, but this was the last time for that.
**Every time he peed on the potty, we gave him 1 gummy or 1 M&M (he could choose) and if he pooped, he got 2.
DAY 3: Commando with pants on
So, the book said, once they are successfully peeing and pooping on the potty (initiating or not), move on to the next block…commando with pants on. They recommend that you do this phase for a week or so, but I knew that wasn’t going to fly with daycare (although they have lots of tips for that in the book), so we just did “commando with pants on” for this day.
All day, he initiated peeing and pooping on the potty. Once I realized that I was going to have to send him in underwear and pants to school the next day, I decided to put him to the test at home first. So we put on underwear and pants around 3pm that day, hung around the house a little bit, and then decided to venture outside to play. Still no accidents! So, it SEEMED that the underwear for him wasn’t an issue.
Day 3 and coincidentally “Block 3” was a success and we were going to attempt sending him to school, with the understanding that he would probably get distracted or his teachers wouldn’t pay enough attention, but shockingly enough, no accidents at school all day long! I did ask his teachers to continue to reward him and ask him throughout the day if he needed to go, but they said he initiated it himself most of the day!
We went to get ice cream after that 1st day, because I was so proud of him, and you could tell he was so proud of himself and feels like such a big boy! It is so sweet!
So, I am sure that there can be some regression, but it is THURSDAY, and this child has not had a single accident all week, so I am going to call this a SUCCESS!
TIPS
- While at home, we did a little bit of everything, but tried to stay as close to the potty as possible. We played games, did puzzles, ran around in circles, and watched a little bit of TV. Again, stay on them like a hawk, so they don’t really have the opportunity to have an accident.
- Make a BIG deal when they pee/poop on the potty! We cheered, did a potty dance, high-fived, and got a treat. We tried to make it as fun as possible!
- Don’t get frustrated or angry with them regarding the potty/peeing/pooping/accidents. Sure, Crawford had time-out during the 3 days, but for other reasons. The potty training is a “learning process”, so be gentle but firm with them.
- Give them lots of liquid during the day, so that they have a lot of opportunities for success!
- Get rid of diapers. Period.
- Keep a little “potty training” diary. It can be encouraging to you and it can help you track your child’s progress and notice trends.
- Notice your child’s “signs” that he might have to pee or poop.
- BE CONSISTENT. WITH EVERYTHING. The words you use, your “reward system” or encouragement, big potty vs little potty, etc…
Hope this was somewhat helpful for those of you in this phase of life and getting ready for it. GOOD LUCK!!! All I can say is…
- I HIGHLY recommend this method for potty-training. 3 day boot camp however you want to do it.
- Don’t get frustrated and definitely do not give up.
- Remember, your child will EVENTUALLY get it and this is NOT a developmental milestone, so don’t let other moms make you feel like your child is “behind” if he/she isn’t potty-trained yet. They will be JUST FINE!
Have an amazing weekend and a blessed Easter!
