Connor's Potty Party...and the days following!!!

Like I mentioned last time I posted, Connor had his big Potty Party last Friday. I was so excited, but also nervous. I wanted to make it fun for him, because I knew it was going to be a big change for him. He likes to have control of things, so I knew there was a huge possibility we would have some serious control issues! 

I read a couple of different programs and somewhat merged two of them (and added a few things of my own) to fit what I thought would work for him. I took the party part from this book and what to do after accidents from blog post that I found off of pin from Pinterest. They are both extremely similar anyway, which made me feel like this had the possibility of working! With all of that information in hand, I started preparing a couple of weeks before we started. 

Details of the morning/teaching part of the party:

 

1. Potty books in the bathroom. I knew I would need something to keep him in there and on the potty, so I grabbed some potty books from the library. 

2. Sticker chart for Woody (the doll he "trained") and Connor

3. Treat tray!!! I did gummies (or yummies, as he calls them. Love it!), skittles, marshmallows, fritos and cheese sticks. 

4. Where we were located for the day. The white sheet is actually a waterproof mattress cover. 

5. Cheerios for aiming :)

He knew that we were going to be having a potty party. The book said to keep it a surprise, but remember that I previously mentioned control issues? Yeah, he needed to know about it beforehand. So, we had talked about it and after breakfast I had him go in his room so that I could get it set all up. The first thing we did was have him open up Woody's present. 

It was 3 pairs of big boy underwear for Woody!! I made them out of white fabric. Cut a rectangle, cut out two holes for the legs and hand stitched the sides closed. I put Toy Story stickers on them so they would match his big boy underwear he would be getting later on in the day. 

Next, I explained to him that he had to help me potty train Woody. Throughout the morning we put Woody on the potty (I had 3 medicine droppers full of OJ hidden in the bathroom that I used for pee and just secretly refilled them as needed). I had a wet paper towel that I would press against Woody's underwear to make him have accidents. I used raisins to replicate a BM. Every time Woody used the potty, he would get a sticker and choose a treat from the treat tray. Obviously, Connor ate the treats.. but only after promising to use the potty, too, someday :). This went on all morning with us checking Woody and taking him to the bathroom at least every 30 minutes or so. I really wanted it to be in his head so it wouldn't be a totally brand new concept to him come that afternoon. 

Towards the end of the morning, Connor when I would say that I think we needed to check Woody and make sure he was still dry, he would say that he was pretty sure he needed to go to the potty. He knew that he would get a treat that way! I'm not going to lie and say that I wasn't tired of making a doll pee and poop. I was. But, I could tell that it was sinking in and that was most important. 

Once he went down for a nap, I added some balloons to the scene to make it a little more different. One thing that I added was little presents throughout his part. For every 3rd time he used a potty, he would get to open a present. They were all just little things from the $1 section at Target, but he didn't care! He knew that it was present time because I drew a present on the square on his sticker chart. 

 When he woke up I told him that Woody and I went and bought him a present while he was sleeping. His face was hilarious when he was opening it! 

 I explained to him that once he put those on, he had to give Cade his diapers. He said he understood and put them on. I immediately started pumping fluids in him with these cute Toy Story apple juice bottles. The lids were the heads of different characters and he loved them! He chugged it because of that and he NEVER gets juice, so that was a big treat for him! In hindsight, I probably should have made him drink more. 

We sat down and started playing games and I would set the timer on the microwave for 15 minutes. Every 15 minutes, we would go sit on the potty. He didn't go every time, but did go the first time I put him on, which was huge because that is the first time ever he had gone on the potty! It wasn't much, but we celebrated BIG! He was SO proud of himself! He had 2 big accidents that night, but other than that he used the potty 5 times that afternoon. Probably because we went so frequently, but he has to learn somehow! That first afternoon, I was just making him sit on the potty after an accident telling him he needed to practice. I changed that a bit the next day, because I honestly don't think it bothered him to have to practice. I didn't want him to feel like he was being punished, but I wanted it to sink in that he needed to pee on the potty and not in his underwear! Not just "Oh, change my underwear like I would a diaper", kind of thing. 

 We ended on a high note Friday night by eating his choice of food: Pizza and Strawberry Cake. He took his diapers to Cade and said, "Here, Cade. You have my diapers. I don't need them anymore." I did put a pull up on him for bed and I pretty much crashed right after him.. I was TIRED!!!

Oh yeah, I thankfully had my mom here to help with Cade. She occupied him while I was with Connor and she was with Connor while I fed Cade. I couldn't have done it without her, for sure! 

Day 2: 

Well, it didn't start out too great. He wasn't excited anymore and had 2 accidents before nap time. This is when I decided to change what we did during them. After an accident we would go back and forth from the accident to the potty 10 times, making him sitt on the potty in between each one. I also didn't set any kind of timer, which was a bad idea. Honestly, I was tired of sitting in the bathroom and was worried that he was going to get tired of it all, too. He went down for a 3 1/2 hour nap that day and woke up DRY! This was huge for him as he has always had a pretty wet diaper after sleeping. He did really well the rest of the day, only having an accident after we left. Mom was with him and the little stinker RAN IN HIS CLOSET AND PEED. While that could be considered bad, I was just glad that that meant he actually knew what the sensation felt like. Because after the morning we had just had, I wasn't so sure! I also figured out that he does better if you leave him alone. Can't say I blame him there, although I haven't enjoyed that in about 2 years ;)

Day 3:

NO ACCIDENTS!!!! He still wasn't asking to go to the potty, we were just going every 45 minutes or so. He didn't go every time, but I wanted to keep trying. He woke up dry from his nap again after a 2 1/2 hour nap! He did ask to go to the potty once this day...while he was in timeout! HA! He did go, so I will give him that. He is still a sly little booger! 

Day 4: 

He woke up dry from the night! Just last week he leaked through his diaper, so this was huge, too! We went to school this day and I was a nervous wreck! I packed 3 change of clothes..HA! He woke up and asked to go to the potty, which was around 6:30. He didn't go again until 9:45. I knew he needed to, but as soon as he went with the other kids that are potty trained, he went instantly. That is a huge difference in this day. He was going much quicker once put on the potty! He stayed dry again during nap and asked to go as soon as he woke up. He did have an accident when we got home (in hindsight, he didn't go much at all after waking up at school, so I should have put him back on to go again once we got home) while I was busy doing something. I think his biggest problem is that he doesn't want to stop what he is doing to go! He has a one track mind! 

Day 5 (today): 

He woke up dry again this morning! I am so proud of him! The only thing about that is he woke up at 5:45 needing to go. Who sleeps in anymore?? Not anyone at this house!!! He asked to go again and went within the minute. We had to go to the dr today for Cade (poor little guy in on the tail end of a viral infection. He has almost no voice and has to get breathing treatments as needed :( ) and he did not want to wear a pull up.  I was nervous, but with an extra pack of clothes, off we went. I could tell he needed to go while we were in there, but he didn't like not having a seat insert. He finally went when we were leaving the drs office, thank goodness! I can't wait to teach him how to stand up, but I don't think I am going to try that until he is going quickly and able/willing to tell me he needs to go. 

He insisted on wearing his helmet before sitting down. Silly boy.

Since he had stayed dry the past 3 days during his nap, I put him in a waterproof pair (over his regular pair and y'all. I almost cried from laughing. Have you seen those things?! They are HUGE!!) He woke up dry again, so I'm going to keep going with the waterproof pair until we graduate to a big boy bed (read: I break down and buy one). He has asked a couple of times to go to the potty (HALLELUJAH!!), but I'm still wondering how long before he starts telling me every time?? Instead of doing a little jig and me making him?

Overall, I am SO, SO proud of our big boy! This is a huge step for a little guy and he took it wonderfully! I can honestly say that party day was fun and that was very important to me!