The main things I heard were
1.) Don't even start potty training boys until they're 3 years old and
2.) They'll do it when they want to.
So, I decided I'd give potty training a go last July. Tyler was 3 years and 2 months old and we had some time to stay at home for several days and "work" on things.
One friend said to buy a whole bunch of "dollar store" type toys and duck tape them to the bathroom wall. Every time Tyler went on the potty he was to get a prize. She assured me that he would catch on very quickly. Here is the "wall of prizes."
So we really hyped up the prizes and Tyler really wanted the helicopter and the cement truck. I tried everything to get Tyler to go on the potty. We set a timer and had him sit on the potty every 15-30 minutes. I had him use training underwear. I gave him prizes for being dry and not going in his underwear. And I even let him go naked from the waist down as many people said had worked for them. (Basically that resulted in me cleaning poo up off of his bedroom floor twice. Disgusting!!!!!)
Nothing worked. So I decided to give it one last attempt. One day we decided to have a party in the bathroom. Tyler woke up dry that morning so I was sure that we would soon have success. I put Tyler on the little potty and gave him lots of chocolate milk and salty snacks. I set up the portable DVD player in the bathroom so he could watch something while we waited. And we waited and waited and waited.
The DVD ran out of battery power so I had to re-situate the player so I could plug it in. Then the DVD ended and we started another one. Finally it was 11:30 a.m. (he still hadn't peed since the night before) and I had to get lunch for the girls. I fed them and put them down for their naps. Then I took lunch into the bathroom for me and Tyler. Finally I decided that I needed to get some stuff done. So I went to unload the dishwasher.
All of a sudden I hear the bathroom door close. Before I could go check on things, Tyler showed up in the kitchen with his pants pulled up, totally soaking wet. He said to me, "I wet!" It turns out he decided to pull up his pants, walk outside of the bathroom and pee on the carpet in front of the bathroom door. I seriously wanted to scream and spank him (which I did not do), but I seriously wanted to. We'd been waiting the WHOLE morning for him to go and just like that he peed on the carpet. I decided right then and there that the whole thing wasn't worth the effort or stress. It was much cheaper to buy diapers than spend time in jail for wanting to "kill" the kid.
So, I gave up for several months. Darrell decided that he would take a hold of the situation and bought a book to read on his Kindle. Every so often he would read a little bit more and ask Tyler if he wanted to go pee in the potty. Tyler would always say, "No! I go in 3 days, OK?" And then the next time Darrell would bring it up, Tyler would say, "No! I go in 3 days!" Basically we weren't making any progress.
I had read an article on how the girls were getting old enough to be potty trained by this certain method, so I mustered up some courage (or lunacy, depending on how you think about it) and decided that I would try to potty train all three at once during spring break (the first week in April). I figured if one of the three made progress then we'd be a little farther ahead than we were (because let me tell you, buying diapers and wipes for 3 bums ain't cheap!)
So, I gathered up the prizes (Surprisingly all of the toys had stayed duck taped to the bathroom wall for 8 1/2 months--the candy fell off within the first day or so) and congregated in the kitchen and the dining room. I blocked off the carpeted areas with chairs and I made the kids stay in the dining room and kitchen. Then we had a "pee party" very similar to the one Tyler had in July. I gave the kids all the chocolate milk they wanted and they each got their own little bag of chips (something salty to keep them drinking). All three were naked from the waist down. We put a DVD in the portable player on the little table and placed the 2 little potties in the kitchen. Then I sat back and waited for the pee. The girls had a grand time peeing ALL OVER the kitchen and dining room without even flinching. They also both pooed on the floor. I was armed with paper towels and Clorox wipes. After NO success on the potty I decided the girls weren't ready and we were done.
Tyler on the other hand, still had not peed by 11:00 a.m. Finally he had to go around 11:20 and Alleluia!!!! he made it to the toilet! We cheered (I really couldn't believe it actually happened), danced around and let him choose a toy. We even called Daddy to let him know, but he wasn't available so we had to leave a message.
Anyway (OK so this is a really long post), things just clicked for Tyler after that! He loved getting a toy every time he went potty. After we ran out of toys he got a Tootsie Roll or some Easter candy until we ran out of that. He's had very few accidents and has been trained for a month and a half. (Nothing like waiting until he was a month shy of 4 years old.)
As for the girls, I'm not pushing them into potty training any time soon. We've started "potty talk" way sooner than we ever did with Tyler and today Emily tried sitting on the potty because she said she had to poo, but other than that, we're just celebrating the fact that we only have 2 bums to change at the moment. Supposedly girls are MUCH easier to potty train than boys--we'll see!
Tyler was so tuckered out from his first day of potty training that this is how we found him around bed time--with 3 of his new toys.
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