Our Potty Training journey started two days before the duo turned two.
Confession: it started a while before that. Shortly after their first birthday, they were showing a TON of interest in all things potty. Like most kids, they wanted to watch you. They wanted to see what it was all about.
But we weren’t ready, so we didn’t do much.
Confession: We definitely put it off because we were not ready. I firmly believe it’s just as important (if not more so) for you to be ready to tackle potty training as it is for your kids to be ready.
A few months later, the interest increased. So we found a little potty chair for them to check out and get used to sitting on. We left it out in the living room, or put it in our half bath, downstairs. They would sit on it (fully clothed) as any adult used the facilities, and sometimes would sit on it (fully clothed) to read books.
Go figure.
The one thing they weren’t interested in- was sitting there without pants.
So we didn’t do much. We let them play with it, sit on it to read, or sing, or whatever.
We also knew we had a trip to Disney in January. The very last thing I wanted was to spend our entire trip in line, only to be required to run to a potty just before we reached the front of said line. Rinse and repeat. Nightmare.
I wasn’t sure how it all worked, and was terrified of going to Disney World in the middle of potty training, but after reading ‘Oh Crap’ by Jamie Glowacki, we came to the conclusion that it was better to just go for it.
Confession: I was completely convinced it wasn’t going to work.
But I know better than to try to dissuade TT Dad once he has his mind set on something, so I thought that it wouldn’t hurt to give it a shot, and we would just back off once he realized it wasn’t working.
I read the book. I purchased a ton of undies. I stocked up on paper towels- and wine.
We were as ready as we could be.
Confession: I actually read a number of books, websites, and guides. SO many methods out there.
Why did I choose ‘Oh Crap?’ I need to be able to understand the ‘Why’ and Jamie Glowacki did a fantastic job of explaining every step of the way. I could absolutely see why her method works, and I could believe it. In addition, she emphasizes that each child will learn at his/her own pace. You know your child best, and you will know when to move to the next phase of training.
This part stuck with me- especially for a mom of twins. My kids are different. Very different- in so many ways.
I know what you’re thinking. If they are so different, how is there one method that would work for both of them? If she’s saying that all kids learn differently, then isn’t she saying that there is no one perfect method?
Yes, and no. Instead of talking in ‘days’ or any other finite timeline, Jamie Glowacki’s ‘Oh Crap’ method follows the belief that while all kids learn differently, they learn each skill in generally the same order.
Our kids went from being completely clueless about this bodily function, to peeing in the potty in one day. Sure, it took a couple of weeks before I really trusted that they would communicate to me the need to pee. Sure, it took a few weeks before I could let my guard down and let them take the lead- but I’m not entirely sure that wasn’t more a sign of my issues with letting go of that control.
Confession: I almost didn’t make it. This is not for the weak at heart. Day 1, we went through two entire rolls of paper towels, a couple of glasses of wine, and a bowl of ice cream. I was cleaning pee off the floor, the walls, their toys, me, and each other. Terrible. Day 2, not quite one full roll, and a glass or two of wine. Day 3 was less than a half roll. I could see progress, and that’s the only (and I mean the only) thing that kept me going. One kid would pee, I’d rush them to the potty, and while I was working with that one, the other kid would pee. I was convinced they weren’t learning anything because I wasn’t able to get the kids to the potty immediately every time they would pee. But then I realized they were holding it until I was busy with their sibling- so they were actually much further along than I was giving them credit for! Really- I just knew that if we quit, we’d eventually have to go through all of this again.
Eventually, we got there. They were communicating to me that they needed to pee, which was tough, considering my kids weren’t really talking yet.
Confession: We spent a lot of time outside, enjoying the seasonably warm weather (and where I wouldn’t have to clean up pee, other than changing pants), and in the tub (where I wouldn’t have to clean up pee, but I also wouldn’t necessarily even know it was happening. Mental break. Much needed.
Confession: We started out using pull-ups (‘sleepy undies’) for naps and night. After a couple of weeks, when things were going well, we tossed those, and went full throttle. The boy was doing great. We would wake him up by 10, and then around 1am, to sleep-pee, and he would be waking up dry. The girl was struggling. She was wetting all night, and we weren’t able to catch it. After a week or so of two or three loads of just sheets, we gave in, and pulled out the pull-ups again for both kids. Looking back, I wish we had kept going with Garrett. He was doing so well, and I believe he was well on his way to being completely trained. Once the pull-ups returned, he started saving poop for the pull-up. I am hoping that once we remove them again, he will go back to being completely trained, but we’ll see.
As for Zoey, I believe we did the right thing. Her daytime accidents all but disappeared once we put the pull ups back on.
Confession: We have had a few regressions since the beginning. We ended up breaking out the TicTacs. Who knew. Our kids go crazy for TicTacs. We thought we could introduce a reward type situation and then just let it fade away. Unfortunately, with twins, things don’t ‘fade away’ as easily as they would with a singleton. There are two little minds to remember the reward. Even when one of them would forget, or not care, the other was quick to remind them.
We recently went down to NC for a week or so. We told them we forgot to pack the TicTacs, and would have to get some at the store. That seems to have worked. Now that we’re back home, they seem to have finally let it go.
Confession: Jamie Glowacki talks about the prime potty training age. We were on the earlier side of average, according to her. We are very glad we did it when we did, even more so as we near 30+ months. At just before 2, the duo were eager to please, and not quite into their defiant stage. They very rarely would test the boundaries, or exercise control over things that they could. They accepted these new rules as fact, and never tried to convince us otherwise. From listening to friends who tackled potty training later on, I can see the difference. Their kids were very well aware that they could withhold their pee, or have an accident, in order to prove who was in charge. We may have had a few hurdles to get over, but that was (thankfully) not one of them!
In case you were curious, we did go to Disney World in January, and it was wonderful. This was less than 3 months after potty training, and we only had one accident, the entire time, and we never once had to leave a line to get them to a potty.
This was not the case during our first post-potty-training outing! Not long after our Potty Training Extravaganza, we were off for an overnight in Boston. We wanted to head up Saturday morning, spend the night, and then head home on Sunday. We had a few highlights we wanted to fit in, but no real plans, considering we weren’t sure how the potty training would go! More on that, later!