Pookie’s potty training is going very well. Now that he is in summer school, he has to wear a pull-up on the bus and that caused a bit of confusion the first few days but we seem back on track.
- At home while awake – 100%
- At night – we use a pull-up
- Away from home – we normally use a pull-up
We are starting to venture away from the house without a pull-up which inspired me to write up some tips on how to handle it.
Do not forget the diaper bag. I forget it all the time and have had to drive home with Pookie in wet pants. Sorry about that, Pookie. Make sure there are spare clothes in the diaper bag. Feel free to leave the bag in the car and only bring it out in emergencies.
Keep the trips short at first. We focus on trips to the library and trips to pick up a couple things at the grocery store and similar short trips. We are trying to encounter as many “dry trips” as possible.
Try to use the restrooms a lot. We try to go before we leave, when we get to the destination, about every 30 minutes at the destination, before leaving to come home and then as soon as we get home.
Make him flush the toilet. Pookie is afraid of the public toilets flushing. I ask him to flush whenever we try to go. As he walks up to the handle, I stand behind him to trap him from running away. He flushes, turns to run, realizes that he is trapped and just watches the water go down with no complaints.
Frequent the same bathrooms. Familiarity breeds comfort. The more times he uses the stall at Meijer, Menards, and the library, the more comfortable he will be. Plus, he will eventually get to a phase where he drags us there when he has to go.
We are still waiting for him to tell us he wants to go to the bathroom in public, but it is pretty common for him to use the toilet when we put him in front of it. The short trips also lay the foundation for the big long all day trips without a pull-up which we should probably start attempting soon.
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Sounds like all of you are doing a wonderful job to help Pookie become a big boy.
Great advice.
Great tips! I’m not looking forward to potty training Baby Bug. Girlie Girl was so easy, she practically trained herself.
A couple of weeks ago, a little boy was using the lavatory on the plane. Did you ever notice how loud it is when it’s flushed? There’s a whole rush of air that goes through it. That poor little boy ran out with his pants around his ankles. His Mom said that he’ll probably be scarred for life!