Adventures in Potty Training: Week 3

Feel free to catch up on our potty training adventure here:

Introduction

Week 1
Week 2

Week 3

General Overview:

My apologies!  I realize this week is 5 days late, but with the holidays, it has been hard to find the time.  However, I wanted to jump on this as soon as possible, so hopefully I can be back on track with week 4 on Friday.

If you've been keeping up with our adventures, you'll remember that last Wednesday, we left for an out of town trip (which we are still on!).  This was my biggest worry during this whole process.  How was Logan going to do away from home?  How were all of the distractions and excitement of the holidays, family and the general hustle and bustle going to affect him?  Surely he would regress -- my hope being that it wouldn't be a major downfall.  So what happened?  Read on!

Let me Ryan Seacrest it up a bit first.  :)  I will let you know how he fared after the break!  The break being -- catching up on our goals from week 2.  I am HAPPY to say that Logan FINALLY started going potty for Daddy.  It took him the weekend to successfully do so, but after those terrible two days of fighting and screaming at Jake, he finally succumbed and let Jake take him to the bathroom without my assistance.  Cheers for everyone involved! 

Ok, And we're back!  How has Logan been doing since we've been on vacation?  Let me answer that in one word:  SPECTACULAR!  Instead of regressing as I had thought he would, he's progressed SO much!  When we arrived at my parents' house to drop one of our dogs off before going to Jake's parents' to spend a few days, Logan immediately said he had to go potty.  He was excited to show his Grandma what he had learned!  It was the same thing when we arrived at Jake's mom and dad's house.  He's been telling us when he needs to go with very few accidents!  He's been enjoying the positive feedback he's been getting from his grandmas, grandpas, aunts and uncles.  It's like he's a movie star or something.  ;)  There was even one night (granted, he didn't get his usual 12 hours of sleep - more like 7) that he didn't wet his diaper at all!  He has not done that since that night, but still... it was exciting! 

I'm also happy to say that since we have had a change of scenery, we have been able to completely drop the Skittles reward system.  I'm glad to get away from this not only for the fact that Logan should get away from expecting candy every time he goes to the bathroom, but because I kept eating those delicious little Skittles, too!  Resolution time is right around the corner, and having Skittles around will certainly not benefit at least two or three of the resolutions I intend to make!

It's still a work in progress, but I think he has improved leaps and bounds from last week.  I'm just happy to say that our time away from home actually seems to have been a good thing for this process!

What Works:

The psychology/counseling student that still lives inside my head would say that GENERALIZATION was highlighted this week... being a MAJOR success, by the way.  Logan has been using several different potties at several different locations.  He's learning that he doesn't just have to be at home to use the potty.  Did I mention before that he asked to go to the bathroom while out to dinner?  Well, he did, and even though it wasn't quite a success, we still went to the bathroom and tried.  We'll get there!

Positive reinforcement -- not in the form of Skittles, but in the form of pride and applause from other people.  Like I said, he was excited to show his family what he has learned.  By them reacting so positively to it, I know it has made him more excited about using the bathroom. 

Also, talking about it really seems to have helped out.  Before, I had constantly been asking him if he needed to go.  Now, I have been taking the route of talking about how he went  potty.  It's less annoying and frustrating on the both of us.  Now we talk about his success and what he did as opposed to me badgering him and him screaming "NOOOOOO!!!!" at me.  It's much more positive talk and MUCH less negative talk.

What Doesn't Work:

In all of the great things that happened in Week 3, I forgot to mention how things were the Monday and Tuesday that we were still home.  I was stressed out with packing and cleaning, and this really affected how Logan was doing.  My stress got to him.  I know I've read this time and again -- how what you're feeling can really project on to small children.  I was hectic and crazy -- not the happy, comforting parent I should have been.  Therefore, Logan was EXTRA hectic and crazy.  We had a lot of "words" with each other (of the negative variety).  There were a few more time-outs than usual.  Oh, and a LOT more defiance.  I know that his had to do with how I was feeling, but I just couldn't turn it off.  Looking back on it now, it was so silly and I something I probably couldn't have easily turned around, but at the time...man.  You know how it gets, right? 

But for the future, please Stephanie (and others, if it helps!) your attitude and mood affects your little one(s)!

Goals:

Being that we're already halfway through Week 4 because of my tardiness in posting this, my goals list will be lacking a bit.  Let's just say that for what is left of Week 4, I hope Logan will continue telling us when he needs to go.  I will hope for dry (or even drier) diapers after naps and a night's sleep. 

I promise to have more specific goals on Friday when I write up Week 4!  :)

***

As always, I'd LOVE to hear from all of you veteran mommies on what works, what doesn't, etc.  I'd also love to hear from everyone else on any input and suggestions!  Just leave me a comment below!

Until next week... Happy Potty Training! :)

Keep up with the adventure!

Weeks 4 and 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9  
Week 10 
Week 11