Our first day of hard core potty training was a success. I switched him into a diaper for the night. As we went to sleep that night all I could think about was whether or not our potty training success was a fluke or for real. The next morning he awoke with a wet diaper but it was not soaked like it normally was. I put him in underwear right away after he emptied his bladder. Once again I employed the pantless strategy to help him be more aware of when he had to go potty and it was also much easier for him to take down his underwear himself without the added struggle of getting his jeans down. Throughout the day I asked him if he had to go potty most of the time he told me no but occasionally he said yes and asked me to help him. At this point my biggest concern was getting him to go poop in the potty especially after his performance the day before. To my surprise he told me very clearly, “I need to poop, help me.” I was so pleased that he initiated it and after he finished (and after I helped him wipe) I gave him two pieces of chocolates with words of encouragement and praise. In the afternoon his cousin came over for a play date. I was a little worried that he would be so busy playing that he would not want to use the potty. I asked him intermittently if he needed to go and he told me repeatedly that he did not. When his cousin was leaving, he insisted upon watching them drive away from the front door and that is when he had his first accident all over the entryway floor (thank goodness it is tile).
(To be continued…)