Potty Training

I can't believe that I've been blogging long enough to write about potty training twice, but it looks like we're about to get in the thick of things again.  Clark actually knows how to go in the potty- like you stick him on there and say, okay, can you pee?  and then he pees.  And then you say, do you have any more? and he says, yeah! and then he pees some more.  You can do this a few times.  It's kind of amusing.  So, we bought underpants yesterday (Thomas and Diego) and I think we'll switch over to them next week.  Crazy.

So, every kid is different, and I guess that my kids definitely prove that adage.  My girls were "potty training" for about a year before they got it, and Clark's personality is much different from either of their's.  He's very outgoing and happy to try to do new things.  He also loves to do what his big sisters do, so that is a big help.  But, there are a few things that I learned last time that I am for sure not doing this time.

1.  No pullups!  Those things are so expensive and so pointless.  They will not help with the training process at all as they are exactly like diapers (in terms of absorbancy, not in terms of ease of changing or cost).  I'm pretty sure that Clark will need some backup at night and during nap time, but diapers are for sure the way to go.

2.  No little potties!  Now, with the girls, I felt like I had to have 2 potties together so they could sit at the same time, but I think that it ended up being a hindrance to us in the long run.  I had to carry a potty seat around with us everywhere we went so they could actually sit on a toilet when we were out and not freak out.  Now, this may just be a personality thing, but I'm pretty sure if we had just started out with a stepstool and a regular toilet, we would have been just fine.

3.  No rewards!  Since Clark doesn't know that potty rewards exist and he's happily going (thus far) we're not doing rewards.  The girls got a jellybean every time they went, which I eventually had to wean them off of.  I'm fine with bribery, but in its place.  If your kid needs an incentive to sit on the potty and go, then I think it's a great thing to do.  But since Clark is so pleased just to be doing this on his own, I don't think that bribery will be an issue.

Knock on a billion porcelain potties, I know that even writing this post puts me in line for some serious retribution, but I hope to be able to report back in a few weeks with some positive potty news.  Are you glad that you don't have to read the word "potty" any more?