Potty Training Woes

Potty training...it became a royal pain in my a$$ over the last couple of months. 

It was June, my son Nicholas will turn 3 in October and Alex will be 1 in July, so it seemed like the perfect time to potty train Nicholas.  Even more perfect because we had just gone to IKEA and he really wanted to stay at the children's play area, however kids MUST be toilet trained to enter, so he wasn't able to go in.  Well as I am sure you can imagine, this was devastating  to him. 

We decided to use this opportunity to start talking about potty training.  I went out and bought Cars-themed underwear and Pull-Ups and off we went.  I decided to start on a Friday (in early June) and hoped he would be trained by the Monday...that's not unrealistic right?  Right....he was trained by the first week of August.

Things I learned through this process (please keep in mind, this was my first time PT):

- Boys can't aim...sit them down or spend a lot of time cleaning the floor;
- Better yet, use one of those seats that go onto the toilet (we got a Cars one of course)...oh wait, the inside of that will also be covered in pee.  Spend a lot of time cleaning that too.
- For boys, Hot Wheels make for a great reward (thanks for the idea daddy!)
- Don't bother with Pull-Ups.  Kids are smart...they know if they pee in there, it won't drip down their leg, so why stop playing?
- They don't like pooping in the toilet.  Really??  Crapping your pants is better?
- When they do poop themselves, be careful when trying to take off his/her underwear...poop may fall out and become a hazard.  As in they may step in it, then get scared, then spread it all over the place.  Oh wait, did I mention I have a 1 year old who loves to crawl everywhere...especially wherever his brother is???
- Invest in a serious disinfectant (see above).
- They'll eventually get it...and life is good!

Now, if only he can train Alex when it's his turn...

:: sonja