Potty Training Update

All things considered, it's going good enough. I'll start with Theo.

I did the "one-day" training with Theo and it was pretty successful. I REALLY do not want him to have any bad associations with it like Hayden has, so I have tried to make it a totally enjoyable experience without pushing him too hard. He definitely has caught on - the first day he went in the potty many times and was totally excited. Since that day I have put him in underwear all the time when we are home. He hasn't quite figured out that he needs to run to the potty when he feels like he has to go - so he still has many accidents. BUT if I ask him if he has to go he is very agreeable and quickly runs in and goes. Definitely nice that I don't have to drag him in there kicking and screaming like I did with Hayden :) Plus, if he DOES have an accident, he immediately runs to me and says, "Oh no I went pee!" He never sits in it like Hayden - thank goodness! I still have not gotten him to go poo in the potty - I always ask him but he hasn't yet. I think that with his chronic constipation problems (that have come and gone since we started him on solids at 6 months), it will be harder for him to learn how to go on the potty. I put him in diapers whenever we go out during the day as well as at night. He is only 2, so I feel like we have a good start and I'm really hoping that by 2.5 or at the latest 3, we will have him completely trained :)

I started putting Hayden back into underwear everyday during the day as well at the beginning of January (we decided to take a "break" during December because it just wasn't working with him - we were all going insane). He has been doing better. He has maybe 2-3 accidents a day (which is sooo sooo much better than before!). He still does not initiate going, and if he has an accident he will sit in it all day long until I make him change. However, the biggest improvement is that it generally is not a fight to make him go anymore. I ask him if he has to go and the answer is invariably "No Mom." But I ask him about once an hour and I always give him a reason to go. I say, "You can watch another episode if you go pee first." or "Once you've gone pee you can come eat your lunch." or "We can get out a new puzzle to make if you go pee." And he does - he will run and go pee and then come back and do whatever it is I told him he could. It is a major improvement, however I'm still not sure how or when he is going to initiate going himself! And he will go poo in the potty as well, if I ask him to at the right time - otherwise I am stuck washing out poopy underwear because I didn't catch him in time :( So I honestly don't know when he will be trained, but at least there are some improvements. I also put him in pull-ups when we go out and at night.

I think I will still have 3 kids in "diapers" or pull-ups or wet underwear in about a month - but what can I do? This the best I have right now! I'm really trying!