Potty Training Take 2

I have two kiddos with speech delays and sensory processing disorder.  I've read articles and follow Facebook support groups for parents who have children in either of those categories.  And in both support groups, I see over and over questions about potty training, potty training horror stories, children who are 5, 6, 7 years old and still not potty trained.

So, I have to admit, I avoided potty training as long as possible for both boys.  Meaning, I didn't even attempt potty training until they were 3 1/2 years old.  I found this three day potty training method that I decided to adopt, and determined to stop procrastinating and just try and see if Kiddo could indeed be potty trained.  I cancelled an appointment and had Kiddo miss a day of preschool so that I had three days to stay at home with the kids and just focus on potty training Kiddo.  He was over 3 1/2, Little Brother was 1 1/2 and Hubster was out of town for work.  Which meant that while I was flying solo, I could focus solely on potty training and keeping the kids alive.

With Kiddo, I was amazed how quick he caught on to potty training.  By the end of the first day, he was using his potty chair like a pro.  Day 2, I introduced underwear and he handled that like a pro. By day three, his nightly pull up was dry in the morning.  Say what?!  Within three days, this kid who struggles to talk and walk up and down stairs was day and nighttime trained, and only had two accidents since then.  You can read more about it in this post.

I was on cloud nine.  I was more than willing to offer advice to parents who posted questions about potty training their speech delayed kiddos with sensory processing disorder on those Facebook support groups.

And then, potty training Little Brother came into the picture.  I used the exact same method as I did with Kiddo.  By the end of day 1, I had cleaned up a ridiculous number of accidents, and had yet to see him go in the potty.  I was beyond frustrated and ready to give up.  But Hubster encouraged me to try it for one more day, and I reluctantly agreed.

Day 2 Hubster had Little Brother sit on the potty chair and then tickled the kid until he peed in delight.  We then praised Little Brother for peeing in the potty, making sure he was aware of what had happened and what it had felt like.  Hmm, that was not part of the potty training method I was following, but it definitely worked and I was grateful.

And then, Little Brother kind of got it.  As in, once in the while, he'd pee in the potty.  Sometimes on the floor, or the couch but he'd tell us he went pee.  Sigh.

By day four, he was peeing consistently in the potty chair, but only if he was bare bottomed.  If he was wearing pull ups or underwear, that was an invitation to pee or poop in them.  So the kid ran around the house bare-bottomed for a total of three months.  I've seen more than I ever wanted to, let me tell you.  And we always put on pull ups before bed and before we went out anywhere.

We started the potty training process in January, and now, at the end of March, he is wearing underwear out in public and having very few accidents.  He tells us he has to go and he sits on the toilet and does his thing like a pro.  I still carry an extra pair of pants and underwear with me in case of accidents, but I think I can safely say he is potty trained.

Little Brother sporting his big boy underwear. :)

I naively thought because potty training using this method worked so easily for Kiddo, well then, that's the method to use for all kids.  Not so.  Little Brother needed a different method and a lot more time.  Way more than three days.

But he got it!  Which makes this exhausted but proud mama heart oh so very happy.  :)