Pee Pee in the Potty!!!

Over the summer I tried potty training Benny twice.

The first time I tried for a day and then after cleaning up multiple accidents on the floor and not having a single success with him going in the potty even though I knew that he had to go, I decided it wasn't worth it.

The second time he again didn't have a single success and I had lots of resistance. Every time I would ask him to sit on the potty he would say "not again" and I would physically have to put him on the potty with him screaming. After a day of that, I decided it wasn't worth it.

I had come to the realization that he might actually be in diapers when the babies got here and I would have four in diapers.

Whatever.

However, one day when I was praying I just got this feeling that I should try again and this time be the mean mom and not give up. I realized that with Benny everything has had lots of resistance. He doesn't do things unless he wants to. He doesn't like doing hard things that will interfere with his day and potty training is one of those.

It was easier for him to crawl instead of walk, so he didn't walk until he was 18 months old. It was easier to grunt and scream for things that he wanted, so he decided not to talk. It was easier to keep the binky, so he three when we made him give that up.

He is the type of kid that has to be pushed into doing things and once he realizes that it is actually a good thing, then he gets on board, but there is always a lot of resistance.

Potty training was the same.

This time Shad and I both buckled down. We took him to school late for a few days because he wouldn't go pee before the bus came. We dealt with him screaming on the potty as we forced him to sit there until he went because it had been 4 hours. He has the most amazing bladder control, which is great, but also a struggle because he would not let the pee go. I think a lot of it was due to his stubbornness. If he went pee then we had won and he lost.

However, after a week of this and only 2 accidents, he is dry and going on his own and even waking up dry in the morning in regular underwear. Once we got through that week it was a breeze.

We also found he was really motivated by these growing capsules. We went through three packages during a week and a half of potty training. Every time he went potty he got to pick one and put it in a cup of water and watch it grow into something. They really were "magic"!

Now he goes without them but he does sometimes say to me "I want a dino" or "I want a dolphin." I told him they were all gone and isn't it nice to be dry?! I think he really likes being a big boy and he makes sure to tell everyone when "the pee pee is coming" as he releases it on the toilet. It really was a huge deal to him once he figured that out.

Now if he can motivate Ruby to be potty trained by the end of the year maybe we will actually only have 2 in diapers!!