The downside to my master bathroom still not being finished is random barge ins from Kayden when I am using the potty. He almost always repeats the same questions, in the same order:

• Kayden: “Mommy whaaaaaat you doing?” (slight stutter on the what, I am working on this)
• Me: “Peeing in the potty”
• Kayden: “Oh, you peeing in the potty, you a big boy? You gonna get a big treat?”

As invasive as the questions are to my quiet time on the potty, I can’t help but smile everytime because after all, he is only repeating what he learned. My friend in Trinidad asked me the other day how I got Kayden potty trained and I let him know that it is a struggle. If you don’t have the patience to do this, I reccomend that you wait because it is time consuming and frustrating. Kayden still will not poop on the potty at home. He will poop for Vanna, but not for me. He has the pee thing down but I don’t get the no poop thing. Vanna did tell me to buy him a big present, wrap it and tell him when he poops, he will get that. I like that idea alot and plan to try it out.

But the bottomline is this, I did what worked for me-my patience and my schedule. It was hard work.  I don’t really know what worked for me, but here are a few of the things I tried and some I didn’t.

• Monitor your child’s behavior and pamper schedule. This really isn’t as hard as it sounds. As I came in with the kids, Kayden would run to his room or the family room, and poop in his pamper. I missed that each and every time because when I came in, I allowed myself to get absorbed with something else. Try gettiing in and going right with your child to the potty.
• I used a belt as a threat. Yup, I am old school and I was terrified of a spanking. Sometimes it worked to get him to stay on the potty but he never went with me standing there hovering with a belt. I did pop him a few times if he peed in the pull-up but that got old real quick. One night I was picking him up from Vanna’s and she asked me “why is Kayden asking me if I am going to beat his but when I change his pamper?” Ummm, so that stopped. It clearly was not effective. In fact, sending him to his room yielded better results.
• We made a mess of quite a few underwear but this was my aha! moment. When you put the little one in undies (jockey shorts as I like to call them), do not revert back to pull ups. It became a huge deal for Kayden when he started wearing underwear, especially his cousin Diego’s brand. I realized that I was switching back and forth between underwear and pullups and you shouldn’t. Once they have reached “big-boy” status, let him stay there.
• Invest in a potty specifically for them.  When I first started training him, his potty made things a lot easier for him to sit there. Our toilet makes a weird noise and I will admit, at times, I am afraid to sit my own butt on there for fear that something wil grab me into the abyss.

This my potty of choice. Designed by Boon,  king of modern children’s goods at a reasonable price, the two-in-one potty bench is eye-catching and multifunctional.  Though large by potty standards (19.5″ x 12.8″ x 7.1″), it also doubles as a stool with the lid closed and has handy holders for toilet paper and an easily removable potty tray.

Now, I have always heard that girls potty train faster than boys do. Kennedy is proving this little rumor to be true. She, at 15 months, said “pee-pee” and peed on the potty. Of course, since that day 2 weeks ago, she hasn’t done it since but it’s a start. I suspect she will probably need the attention and time that I started talking about in the beginning of the post. I will check in with you guys on this topic a few weeks from now to update you on my progress.

How is potty training going for you? Did you invest in a separate potty for your child or did you go straight to the grown up toilet? Share your potty chronicles with me.

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