Sometime around last fall when he started at Debbie's daycare we moved him out of diapers and into pull-ups. We felt that the way that we did things with James worked really well and so we thought we'd give it a shot again and see how it turned out. We started with pull-ups really early but encouraged him to use the potty whenever he wanted to and would put him on the potty at least a few times a day but weren't too concerned those first few months if he was wet when he sat on there. He was fine going pee on the potty when we told him to but otherwise he just couldn't care whether he was in a wet pull-up or not. And pooping on the potty was even harder for him to grasp. We went along for months like this (probably until February or March of this year) just telling him where he was supposed to go but not being angry if he didn't go in the potty. We knew that over time he would get the concept and we'd be off to the races. Because he didn't really start talking and communicating fully until the spring we knew this might be an area that was a bit harder for him to grasp. Fast forward to just after his 3rd birthday and we were feeling like it was time. He was finally talking and fully able to communicate with us. We told him that after he turned 3 there were no more pull-ups so within a few days we switched him into underwear and hoped for the best. He had quite a few accidents but seemed to be catching on pretty good.
Sometime around 2 weeks after his birthday I dropped him off at Debbie's in underwear and told her that we were committed to making it work, but that he was still having some accidents and wasn't quite grasping the concept yet. We were totally fine with using rewards (and consequences) for his either going or not going and left it up to Debbie to do her thing (this woman has potty trained TONS of kids over the years so we knew he was in great hands!). We knew she was the kindest woman and she had been so patient with him up to this point, giving tons of rewards and positive reinforcement when he did use the potty properly.
That afternoon I went to pick up Jordie and she said that he had had an accident and peed all over her floor! She said she used her "stern voice" and she seemed almost sorry about it but she wanted him to know it was a serious thing he had done. From what I know of Debbie I'm pretty sure her stern voice was nothing compared to what he hears at our house or Nana's house. She told him that it was not okay to pee on her floor and that he had to use the potty and be a big boy. And THEN, here is the kicker....she put his undies up on the line right above the pool that Maddie was playing in and HE WASN'T ALLOWED TO PLAY IN THE POOL WITH HER! He had to play outside the pool all of that day and just watch her in the water...all the while seeing his undies hanging on the line. And it WORKED! From that day forward he was completely potty-trained, both pee and poop. It was a glorious day in our world and we couldn't thank Debbie for using the exact method of just the right consequence that our little guy needed to understand that he was a big boy and had to use the potty. It certainly made for a much easier summer for us without dealing with pull-ups!
NOTE: This is a bit overdue as he's now been trained for almost 3 months but I still wanted to be able to share my experiences with this little guy and this huge milestone!
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