Potty Training: day 2,3, and 4

I didn’t get a chance to blog over the weekend so here is our potty training update for days2-4. We are mainly letting the kids go bare bottom during the day. We do underwear a little but makes it hard to get them down quickly enough when they start to go. Day 2 (Sat): Everyone went pee in the potty once. Now when I say this it means they started to pee on the floor, we grabbed them, put them on the potty and they finished. Sometimes we would get there too late and they would be done, or when they got off the potty there wasn’t much there. Now some people would say this is a fail… not true.

We had a lot less accidents during the day which means they were holding it for longer periods of time, and you could tell they started recognizing when they had to go. I think it is more learning for me to recognize those signs and get them to the potty quickly. Caitlin will go sit on the potty when asked if she needs to go but usually doesn’t do anything. Criton is getting better about sitting on the potty but not doing much yet. Haley is the same. Day 3 (Sun): Again a lot less accidents. We even have gotten better at watching the signs and getting them to the potty before they start peeing, and they go in the potty. There are sometimes where they will go and sit on the potty by themselves but not do anything. Poop is something that we haven’t gotten down yet. I caught Criton making the poopy face and put him on the potty. He had already gone a little bit but did manage to go a little in the potty too. Day 4 (Mon morning): Today has gone a lot better. Haley has had no accidents and went three times in the potty! Now when she has to go she comes to me yelling and I take her to the potty, so she needs to work on getting on the potty by herself but I am super proud of her. Caitlin keeps trying to sit on the potty to go, she can feel it, but she doesn’t go until she stands up. So I am working with her to sit longer and give it some more time. Criton has done a much better job today. He knows when he is about to go because he stares down at himself right before he starts. So this morning I picked him up quickly and sat him on the potty and instead of not going (which has been the norm for him when I do this) he has actually sat there and peed! Yay triplets!! I know for some people they might be thinking “That really doesn’t sound like progress” but I am ecstatic. In the 3 1/2 days we have been doing it, everyone has gotten very comfortable with their potty chairs. They have been learning the pre-potty feelings so they know when they have to go. They have started getting better control of their bladders and bowels. They have also started actually getting to the potty more. So I think we are doing great! I m hoping that by Friday we are primarily accident free but we’ll just see how they do. I am super proud of all my babies 🙂 My daily routine has changed a little from all of this. We have carpet and are mainly staying in the livingroom with the potty chairs so that means that I have to clean the carpets every night. A pain but worth it. I am glad my husband saw fit to get me a carpet cleaner last year! I somewhat envy the moms who have wood floors right now just for easier cleaning but I think with three it would turn into a slip and slide and not with water (ick!). Training three at once is hard. Watching all three like a hawk for potty signs, and trying to catch everyone can be difficult because there are three. They do see each other trying this though and I think it helps their mentality. Potty Training tips: 1) Know their potty sign: Every child will give off subtle signs that they are about to go. Some might cry or yell right before hand because they can feel it and are not sure what to do. Some may look down or touch themselves right before hand because they feel it. They may have a certain stance, and then some may try to hide in a corner or behind a chair. You just have to find your child’s tell tell signs. 2) Try to keep them in one area. We shut all the bedroom doors and made it so the living room was their only big accessible area. If you just have one toddler then you may not need to do this since you can follow them all day and not have to worry about watching others. 3) Praise Praise Praise… It doesn’t have to be anything huge or crazy but let them know you are proud of them when they go in the potty. We started to try the M&M thing thinking it would be fun but with 3 it wasn’t. One would get a M&M and the other two would cry for one. I know some people said that it might make for healthy competition, but not for me. Just didn’t sit well with me so I just praise. 4) Patients. I have read tons out there, mostly geared towards 3-4 year olds, and one thing I know for sure, we are not 3 day potty trainers. The triplets are 19 months old not 3 years old. They showed a lot of signs of readiness which prompted us to start now. With that being said, potty training doesn’t happen overnight. You have to have patients with the process. You have to be prepared for your life to revolve around the potty when the kids are not alseep. Just know that it will happen. Life will get back to normal and your kids will be diaper free! 5) Underwear or bare bottom: Ok there are pluses and minuses to both and you have to figure out what works best for you and your child/ children. Underwear helped a little in making the kids more “comfortable” since we have never run around naked before. It made it very hard though with getting them to and on the potty when they started to go. So we have chosen bare bottom until they have gotten better about actually going up to the potty when it is time (when the accidents are much less). Our kids still have diapers at nap time and at night (although they are staying mostly dry). We haven’t ventured out yet, but until they get it down well we will wear them out as well and take a potty with us. Hope this has helped some people out there and I will keep everyone updated as to our progress! I will also post a picture of all the kids on the potty later tonight! If anyone has any questions feel free to leave them in the comment area or contact me directly.