Riley sitting on his potty looking at the reward toys he could get for success.

Today concludes Riley’s first week potty training. About 10 days ago I wasn’t even planning on potty training Riley. One afternoon I was talking with my friend Calley of The Eco Chic about cloth diapers (of course). We both have 2 year olds and were comparing notes on diapering and started to talk about potty training. When I heard the words come out of my mouth: “I think I have been holding off potty training Riley as I want to keep trying out new cloth diapers. Gosh, am I sick or what?” We actually laughed a bit once I said this. I started to really think about what I said and thought ok, lets be serious, I really need to start training Riley (he is 32 months).

Day 1: I started the training process with no supplies at all. I had no cloth training pants (it was the weekend). I knew I had to wait until Monday came and I could swing over to DiaperShops.com (20 minutes away) and purchase some. I picked Sunday as the starting day. I decided to let Riley go naked for the entire day. Just a long sleeve shirt. There was a lot of stubborness and a few tantrums. Everyone to say the least was a bit frustrated. My husband was at his wits end with all the tantrums. It has been a nasty week here weather wise in Maine. Lots of snow, ice, and rain this week so we were all inside the house- can we say “cabin fever”? At the end of the day Riley did go 3 times on the potty with only 1 accident. I figured that was good for the first day. At night I scooted out to my local Walmart and dollar store and stocked up on some “reward” toys.

Day 2: The next day I kept Riley home from school. My 11 year old son had the day off from school because of icy roads so I just decided to keep Riley home (I don’t think they would allow a naked toddler there-LOL!) Day 2 was a bit better than day 1. Less screaming but still intense. Riley had success another 3 times. Riley occasionally would ask for a diaper but I kept telling him he no longer wears diapers anymore. We had a few “incidents” as he would beg for a diaper but I held my ground and said he wears undies now.

On Day’s 3 and 4: I did have to bring Riley to school as I had to have day surgery and I knew I would just be unable to be running after an active toddler who was naked. I sent him to school with some trainers I purchased from DiaperShops.com. I packed a couple of Blueberry Trainers, a couple of Super Undies Pull-On Undies, and he wore a Super Undies Pocket Trainers. He didn’t have success at school even though he was encouraged to go several times. When my husband picked him up at school on Day 3 he did go potty once before bedtime. (He also went once before he went to school. On Day 4 when my husband picked him up he went 3 times when he got home.)

Day 5: A huge turning point. Riley went 7 times on the potty today! YEAH! Everyday I have been writing down on the kitchen calendar the times he went. On the 4th, 5th, and 7th times Riley asked to go on the potty. WOW! Now a bit on the rewards. I decided this would work for Riley. I purchase some Dollar store toys and some candy. I put all the items in an inexpensive basket. If Riley sat on the potty he could look at the items that he could “possibly” get. If he had success he could then pick one. About half of the time I would say to Riley that it was time to go potty. He was either excited to go or he would scream and say “Don’t want it. Don’t want potty, Mommy.” At night-time he has been wearing a pull-on training pant. The Super Undies Pocket Trainers have worked the best. I purchase the size small but he really needs to be in mediums because of the rise. (They are now really low cut for him.)

Day 6: Riley didn’t go as much today but went 4 times on the potty. He did have 1 poopy accident today. What was interesting about this day is he started asking to wear undies. He no longer asked for diapers. So now we are doing a naked sometimes and undies sometimes during the day. On the 3rd and 4th time he went to the potty he asked to go AND he didn’t ask for a “reward”. I think this is great progress. My 11 year old son had informed me that I was going to go broke buying all these toys for Riley. He naturally is pulling away from the rewards and I don’t force the reward toys on him. I give him lots of praises whenever he goes.

Day 7: Riley woke up and I changed him. He did soak a bit thru this training pant. In the mornings I take both his pj pants and training pant ( I call his training pant his nap or night-time undies.) About 30 minutes later he asked to go potty by himself. He was naked most of the morning but the undies did come on in the afternoon as my 13 year old daughter is having a friend over and it wouldn’t be appropriate to have my toddler “free-balling”. (Please excuse this phrase- it is what my husband says when Riley is going naked. I have to admit it sounds funny.) Everytime he went pee on the potty he asked to go! Woo hoo!

It was quite an emotional week this week but overall I conclude that it is a big success. I realized that there is no right or wrong way to potty train your child. It is like cloth diapers-not every cloth diaper will work for every baby as no potty training method will work for every toddler.

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