Update on the Sink or Swim Method

In case you have been wondering what I ended up doing after my last frustrated post, I decided to update for you on how things have been going.

Monday of last week, when Amos woke up, all diapers went away. I explained to him that he could wear underwear, or go naked, but he wouldn't be wearing diapers any more because he's too big for them. He was upset at this revelation. I put him in underwear and he had an accident a short time later. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, he had 2 accidents each day. He went naked for most of the time. There was still a lot of resistance when I took him to the potty, but I set a timer for every 60 minutes, and if he didn't go at that time, we went every 15 minutes. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday we had no accidents (even though we were traveling). I could tell he was exhausted and stressed, but that we were making progress. While we were traveling, he did not go naked. Sunday was hard, and he had 2 accidents. Then on Tuesday, we had our big breakthrough. I asked him if he needed to go potty, and he said no (as he always does), but then he went into his room and peed on the potty, and then came and told me about it. Ever since, he has been "taking himself" with no prompting whatsoever. The fits about the potty have stopped, and he is really proud of himself. He gets a treat when he goes, which will have to stop at some point, but for now it's working, so I'm not going to mess with it. It gives us a reason to let him have a piece of easter candy, as long as it is not meal or bedtime.

At night and naps we have been putting him in paper pull-ups, mostly to get rid of them, but also because we know he doesn't like them, and doesn't consider them comfy and nice to go in like the cloth diapers he used to wear. However, since he has been taking himself to the potty during the day, he's been waking up dry from naps and night. I think once the package is gone, we will probably go to underwear at those times as well.

I did buy a couple of $5 Curious George videos to use as rewards. He got one the first day he had no accidents, and the one the day he started taking himself.

I have been amazed at his progress. I was so afraid that he would start peeing to punish us or something. I'm so glad the potty training is working. Since summer is coming and there will be quite a bit of travelling and guests and possibly moving, I wanted to be secure in underwear (knowing that accidents will still happen occasionally), and now I am confident that we will be there. I was already cleaning up accidents -- he would wait and wait and then flood his diaper, so that I was already changing diapers and complete outfits a few times a day anyway. I hope my experiment gives you the courage to try when you're all ready. Happy Pottying!