**UPDATE** Here’s what actually helped my son poop on the toilet: Put a poop song on your phone on YouTube and set it up for him to watch. His mind got distracted enough to be able to relax his body and let the poop out. HALLE-FREAKING-LUJAH!!
Guys, potty training has been one of the worst parts of parenting for me, honest. That’s so depressing and sad to say, but it’s real. T still poops in his pants. He is three and a half years old. Will he ever be potty trained? I’m starting to think… maybe not 😂 Okay, I’m joking. I have more faith in him than that, but it is a little discouraging. I’ve tried so many methods with him, and maybe that is a huge part of our problem. I take about 99% responsibility for the failure. So if anyone has some more tips from me, SOS. Please send them my way. 😂
On a positive note, there are a few things that I actually have learned throughout his potty training experience. I’m for sure not a pro at this (obviously), but maybe if you are struggling too, these will be new things for you to try!
- A quote that has been coming to mind lately, and very much applies to our situation because all of T’s friends are potty trained…
“Comparison is the thief of joy.”
Seriously, it is. Every time I try to compare our situation to others’ experiences, I get down and discouraged. It’s really not smart to think that way. I believe every one goes through different experiences for a reason, and nobody is exactly the same. So just because someone else younger than your kid is hitting milestones earlier than your kid, IT’S OKAY. Even if it’s because of some kind of delay or simply because of your situation, IT’S OKAY. It will all work out in the end, and it’s not worth letting comparison “steal your joy”! - Buy ALL the chonies (that’s what we call underwear in our house). Seriously, but a ton of them. For boys, I love the spandex type boxer briefs. They seem to be very comfortable for my son, especially with how sensitive his skin can be, and they are also so easy to clean poop out of. Poop in cotton underwear stains so easily, spandex washes right out for the most part. Buy a ton of underwear though, and laundry won’t be so much of a burden. We throw away poop stained chones quite a bit – maybe that is the wrong approach, which is why I suggest the spandex type, but whatever 🤷♀️.
- SHOUT. If you’ve read my laundry post, you know how much I love Shout stain remover! I can quite literally see it lift out the stains from clothes and carpet and… T’s mattress. Because of the method I am trying, he doesn’t wear pull-ups or anything at bedtime, so that means lots of bed wetting, yuck, I know. It is what it is. But Shout lifts up the stains super well!
- Another thing that we’ve used for his crib, but haven’t gotten one for the twin bed yet, is a mattress protector. I prefer the cotton ones over plastic, simply because they are quieter and probably a little more comfortable.
- The 3-day Potty Training method by the Potty Queen has been very helpful for us. I have seen more results with that than with any other method. I wish I would have done it that way from the very beginning, but T is our guinea pig, poor guy, so I had to try everything first I guess. I really like that her method takes a lot of the stress out of potty training, at least for me. One of the most frustrating parts of potty training for me is making them sit on the toilet until they go pee or poop. I don’t know what it is, but I do NOT have the patience for that. That makes me sound terrible, am I really that bad of a mom? Maybe, maybe not. 😅 But I can’t stand the fight of “Just push it out!” “I can’t”. If you are potty training or have potty trained, I’m sure you know the conversation I’m referring to. Anyways, the Potty Queen explains it best, so I’ll just refer you to her and let you figure out the rest! Just know, her method seemed to ease the frustration quite a bit.
- Put something down under their bum in the carseat. I used cheap receiving blankets, just because that’s what I had and don’t use for anything else (Check my baby essentials post to see the swaddles I prefer over receiving blankets!). I tend to use these receiving blankets as changing table covers more often than I use them from anything else, so it seemed fitting. It worked better than leaving the carseat as normal, because I could just grab the blanket if he peed on it and throw it in the washer, rather than washing the entire carseat each time he peed his pants.
- STAY HOME. Like I said above, I love the Potty Queen’s method, and she says to stay home if you can and focus on your child completely for three days. It is a good little detox from the distractions of life, and it forces you to spend extra quality time with your growing baby, so I love that. Also, prepare and stock up before hand so you don’t have to run errands or anything once you start. Make a meal plan and finish the laundry and clean the house before starting. It just makes things a little bit easier, and with the laundry finished, I was able to just throw dirty clothes right into the washer after accidents and then just run the cycle when it was full. It kept laundry to a minimum, and kept chonies clean for after accidents.
- I prefer to just avoid the little toilets and seats, although maybe they would have helped T with pooping, who knows. But I avoid them. First of all, because I think they are so gross 😂🤢, but also because you won’t have them everywhere you go, and I’d rather help them get comfortable with the big toilet at home than try and force it when we’re in a new place. Maybe I’ll change my mind for my daughter when it becomes much more difficult to just pull over and have her “pee in the rocks”. 🤷♀️ But for now, I avoid the little toilets.
- Read!! Read blogs and books galore, ask your doctor for tips, get ALL THE TIPS. You’re gonna need them. Take notes to look back on later, and then, as always, DO WHAT WORKS FOR YOU AND YOUR CHILD AND YOUR FAMILY AND YOUR HOME.
- Stay Positive. Prepare mentally to be the adult. Keep reminding yourself that your kid is still so young and is learning and prepare for mistakes and accidents to happen. The more grumpy you are, and the more you discipline your child for not getting it, the harder everything will be. I have noticed a huge difference in the days or weeks when we get more frustrated with accidents vs. when we are patient and positive and encouraging regardless of accidents. Children thrive on positive reinforcement. Potty Training is no exception to that rule. Get some mnm’s or some potty toys or stickers and REWARD the good stuff.
- Good luck, Momma. You got this! Or maybe you’re a little like me and you don’t… In that case… You’ll GET this! 😂😭❤️
- *ADDED* Take your kid potty if they’re too little to verbally tell you they need to go. Watch for cues, or pay attention to how often they have accidents. My daughter kept having accidents and the telling me when she needs to go method wasn’t really working. So I just started taking her when it seemed like she needed to or it had been a while or whatever… HELPED A TON!