Potty-Training 101 ~No Turning Back

Yesterday was a BIG day for our family... Jabin officially started using the toilet! He's used it before but not regularly. We aren't turning back now. No more diapers!!! I wasn't ready to take the plunge, despite him being ready, or seemingly ready, for awhile, but finally got the energy and determination I needed. It is definitely as time consuming as I thought it would be, but it is going pretty well. I used the techniques of the book "Toilet Training in Less Than a Day" by Nathan Azrin. The general idea is to allow and teach the child to do each step themselves. I don't think I fully followed the process, because he hasn't quite gotten that he needs to go to the toilet by himself when he feels the urge, but he is learning and has had a really good day today, with actually going when I take him to the toilet. He used his potty chair yesterday and spent a lot of time sitting. This morning when he woke up, I set him on the toilet and he went right away, so we just used the toilet the rest of the day. He usually goes if we go out of the bathroom, otherwise sometimes we are distracting. We are using training pants and plain underwear with a plastic cover over it. It has been working well. The training pants absorb more liquid when he does have an accident vs. the plain underwear. So far we haven't had any really messy accidents... crossing my fingers and hoping I can stay focused... :) I'm sure it will happen. I try to take him about every 30-35 minutes, but sometimes I am busy doing something and forget. You really have to think about how much he's eating and drinking and try to gauge when he may need to go. I will probably use pull-ups when we go out somewhere, just so it will be easier to change if he goes without letting us know. The method starts with teaching a doll or bear how to use the potty. You do that several times, praising them for dry pants and showing disapproval for wet pants. After your child understands the steps, you practice with them several times and several consecutive hours you spend with them, giving them drinks and helping them learn to go in the potty. When they have an accident they have to go for practice runs, again. Practice, practice, practice! That's what we are doing now. I am hoping to be able to spend another morning doing it, because our session yesterday was probably not quite enough. It is hard when there are other people around, like an 18-month old... :)