Cross your fingers folks! I have been hesitant to post about this, lest I jinx myself. But…I think our dear boy, Aidan is getting the hang of potty training. Well, really at this point, it is more like Mommy training.
I really want to instill a sense of self confidence in Aidan surrounding this issue, so I don’t want to be too pushy. But I was getting the sense that perhaps Aidan needed a gentle nudge in the right direction.
I felt lost as to what to do. It seems there are a million different methods of potty training with no one method being right for every child. I decided to start with the easiest thing to deal with. Going peepee at home while awake.
I have tried Pull-ups on him a few times and he seems to think they are just a diaper. So, last Monday I went to the store and just bought some “big boy underwear”. I put them on him while he is awake and at home. On the first afternoon (last Monday), he just wet them every time and didn’t even seem distressed. Ugh. Did I really have a child who just doesn’t care if he feels wet?
The next day, I set up more of a schedule…or mommy training as I have heard it called. He goes as soon as he wakes up in the morning or from a nap, before meals, and at set intervals in between. I am surprised to say this has been going pretty well. We have had very few accidents in that 8 days time. Maybe 4 peepee accidents and 2 poop incidents. He is elated to put a Disney Cars sticker on his potty chart every time he goes peepee.
I attempted to have him do a bowel movement on his potty, but he got scared. It seems he is not ready for this step yet. I can’t believe his ability to understand things sometimes. I told him, “Mommy understands you’re scared about pooping in the potty. Just go peepee, Mommy will put on a diaper for you to poop in, and then we can clean you up and put your big boy underwear back on.” He looked relieved and that’s exactly how it went.
Now I am looking for advice. How long might it take Aidan to start coming to me to tell me he needs to go potty instead of me scheduling him more or less? Or is this how it works for a while? Does anybody have any ideas for getting over the poopy fears other than the 3 books we already have? 
Other general helpful ideas about this….I feel like I am flying blind! 
And since I have a hard time posting without including a cute Aidan pic, here are a couple from a couple of Saturdays ago when he heard me blowdrying my hair and came in to try it. He said, “Aidan do it. Mommy watch.” Toooo darn cute!
I think “Mommy training” can apply to ALL aspects of motherhood, don’t you think?
Hi, I’m Misty, mom to Evan, 26 weeker. I followed the link to your website from the preemieexperiment blog. I’m hoping my son will have the same story of yours when it comes to his development. We have no reason right now to suspect any ill effects of his prematurity, just slightly behind the curve for gross motor skills for his adjusted age. He’ll be a year old in October, but 9 months adjusted, and he’s not crawling yet.
I just wanted to say congratulations and that you’re doing a wonderful job with Aidan. It looks like he gets to play and explore and learn so much! And he looks just like his dad (I assume that’s who it was in the pictures!)
Have a blessed day~
Misty and Evan
How old is the little guy? Being on my ninth child, I have found that potty training goes so much easier when I wait until they begin to initiate it. That’s probably not what you wanted to hear, but I have been known to not even try until they are between two and a half and three years old. My current two and a half year old is getting the hang of things as long as we leave him naked all day. That works for him. Also, we have “pee parties” after each pee or poo in the potty where we all clap and have a piece of chocolate. It makes it so I look forward to potty time!
It’s me again. It’s cool how your blog header changes every time it’s refreshed! Awesome!
Sighing deeply because Bennett has NO interest in potty training and does not care if he’s wet (we’ve tried training pants) and I have no idea what to do because the first two and our fourth all initiated training themselves. The first two trained themselves almost overnight, the fourth is taking a bit longer but she’s barely two and Bennett is 3.5 and his little sister is going to be trained before him!
I think I’ll have to try your approach and give him some gentle nudges that direction. I was cutting him some slack because of the preemie/adjusted age thing but he’s turning 4 in January and he’s 3.5 years adjusted now so time for some encouragement.