the boys

the boys

Friday, October 8, 2010

3 day potty training


Two weeks ago today I successfully completed the 3 Day Potty Training boot camp with Leo. For any of you that haven't heard me go on and on about this program, it's a handbook that you can purchase on the Internet at www.3daypottytraining.com I highly recommend it to any mother. The basic concept is to teach a child to recognize his own body signals for when he has to go potty. If done with love and consistency it will result in your child being fully potty trained both during the day and night in just 3 days.

I know I have some critics out there. People saying that we have potty trained our boys too soon. That we are trying to push them to do more than they should do at this age. Perhaps thinking we are trying to brag or make our kids better than other kids, more advanced, etc, etc. Well, that's all crap!

To me it is like taking away the pacifier at 6 months or weaning from the bottle at 10-12months old. Is it hard? YUP. Does it take patience and consistency on the part of the parent? Yup. Would you like to give in and just go back to the easy way? Yup. But are you better off after having stuck it out and passed that developmental milestone? For me, it is an absolute YES! Twenty-two months of age is the ideal time to potty train a toddler, developmentally speaking. True, it is not the norm these days, but it all makes sense to me.

Nothing is ever 100% and the very best thing about this program is that the creator has a mentoring website to provide ongoing advice, assistance, and SUPPORT. Every mother knows their child and THEMSELVES best. Do what works for you.

I know me. I know I need a good coach. I always have! I've been coached my whole life and I need it spelled out for me so that I have a plan to follow.

It wasn't easy. It took a lot of hard work and PATIENCE and love both for him and myself. It also took patience to ignore my husband who at every major accident would suggest that maybe we should just go back to diapers (the ultimate no-no). But no, we persevered. Nothing is ever 100%. We are still working with some accidents when he sleeps, but I am using the mentoring program and getting some good suggestions. But I would venture to say he is 90% potty trained during naps or nighttime and 99% trained during the day. In two weeks I think he has only had maybe 3 accidents during waking hours and a ton of successful trips to the potty. I barely have to remind him when we are at home. He comes and finds me when he has to "go stinky" as he calls it. Ahhhhh....it's a great feeling. Proud of him. Proud of myself. It was an intense three days, but it was all worth it!

And I will now carefully step off of my soapbox. Whew, it was a long way down!

1 comment:

  1. wow, you are the bomb and you know all the resources! hope you didn't hurt your ankle getting off the soapbox :)

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