Potty-Learning Update Part 2

Our 1st potty in public success story this week! 

Here it is the fourth month now of our potty-learning journey and we are finally getting the hang of it. They say the earlier you start the longer it takes but I'd prefer that over having to still change nasty diapers at this point. This past week has been a completely accident-free week with no diapers used except for at nap and bedtime. It was also the first time we had a potty in public success at a local park where I took his potty chair along with us. For so long I had him about 90% trained at home but would still diaper him to go out in public using the excuse that I didn't have a cool car travel potty yet so I didn't want to bother. Then recently a friend said, "Well why don't you just take his potty from home and bring it with you in the car?" Sometimes it really takes talking over things with my friends for a simple idea to click! Why didn't I think of that? Maybe if I had he would have been fully trained a few months ago! :) The next morning I decided to try out the new idea of bringing the potty to the park. (I'm not ready to deal with nasty public restrooms and my pure baby's behind touching them yet!)  I stocked the car with an extra change of clothes, underwear, wipes, a wet bag and Clorox Wipes to clean out the potty should it get used. I was prepared for the worst. (I was traumatized from about 2 weeks ago when we had an ugly park poop accident that involved smearing down his legs, poop falling out all the way walking back to the house, and a total of 45 minutes spent cleaning up my kid, the tub, the carpet, his clothes, myself...you name it, I was scrubbing it!)
So there we are playing at the park and all of a sudden he runs up to me saying, "I hafta go on the potty!" I was shocked that he remembered to tell me even while at a different environment other than at home because it's so easy to get distracted... I sprinted to the car, grabbed the potty and set him on it while some other moms looked at us smiling, thankful that those days were over for them :) After he was done I just watered a thirsty tree with the potty contents, clorox wiped it out and we were good to go!
We continue to bring the potty with us where ever we go except for friends houses, (we trust your toilets!) :)
We are on a roll now and I couldn't be happier with the process. It really has been a lot easier than I expected. Of course there have been some very messy accidents and my poor carpet has been peed on SO MUCH, (I'm hoping to put in wood floors in the near future so it's ok) but it's all part of the process and it just keeps getting easier and easier the more we keep at it.
Two children's books that have really inspired Aiden to use the potty are You Can Go to the Potty and Everyone Poops. Both are fun reads, You Can Go on the Potty is a very through introduction to using the potty and even has a great parent's guide in the front to familiarize new parents with potty training concepts. Everyone Poops is just a hilarious addition to our home library and sure to make you laugh!

sometime in June 2011