Potty Training 101

We had bought and installed this new toilet seat that has a built-in potty seat for Aaron several months ago. It is basically a seat with a smaller opening so he won't fall in. He sat on it a couple times when Thom first installed it but lost interest.

But Thursday night, after coming back from our evening walk (a new tradition prompted by gestational diabetes), Thom asked if he wanted to sit on the potty. We knew he hadn't had a bowel movement all day and he's pretty regular, going at least once a day, and usually after dinner. Since it was already late Thom thought it might speed things along if he just went in the potty. Surprisingly, Aaron readily agreed. So we put him on. I sat on the step stool in front of him and read him a book.

I had briefly remembered my sister telling me that she had to teach her twin boys to "point it down" when they were potty training, but it kind of looked like 'it' was pointed down so I didn't think too much about it. Until I suddenly saw a urine stream heading at me. I guess it is sort of like when you turn a fire hose on - even if it was pointing down, the water pressure raises it up. I quickly reached out to point it into the toilet. Thom helped wipe up the floor and the step stool and my leg.

After that, Aaron requested the octopus bath book he is holding in the picture above. It's waterproof, so it's safe for potty training, and it could potentially help avoid future occurrences if he takes awhile to figure out how to point it down. I think I'll pick up a few more waterproof books for potty training. Unfortunately, despite what seemed like some effort on his part, nothing else happened on the toilet. It was well after 8pm (his usual bedtime) at that point and he'd been on the toilet for 10-15 minutes, so we took him off, put him in a diaper and gave him some time to play in the dining room, where he proceeded to fill his diaper. But we still praised him for peeing on the potty.

Today, we tried him on the potty again. He seemed to enjoy it and we took several pictures to document it, but unfortunately, this was about the only one decent enough to post online. I say unfortunately because Thom caught some really great looks on his face, like when he was smiling at me while I sang the ABC song. I'm sure he'll still be embarrassed by it one day, as it is. But maybe I'll take this blog down before he's old enough for that.