A year later we are still on this journey. This time sucking, energy draining, emotional roller coaster called: Potty Training. To see the adventure from the beginning see my posts on it here and here. Oh how sure I was that he would be fully out of diapers/pull-ups by his third birthday and we'd be in the clear. It is never fun when you are utterly and completely wrong.
Things seemed hopeful and he was really starting to actually get it. He was so interested in being a big boy. Then the birth of Sophie loomed near, I got bigger with less energy and couldn't keep up with the schedule and maintenance it took to find full success. Sophie arrived and with her, the end of Mason's enthusiasm about the potty and being a big boy. I knew he'd regress, but getting back into the swing of things managed to be more difficult than expected.
We didn't go back to diapers, just kept him in pull-ups. Maybe I was hoping he'd miraculously just figure it out on his own. But as his third birthday arrived and he was not even close to peeing in the potty all the time or even recognizing the feeling, I felt hopeless. A failure. If I couldn't get my son to pee in the potty how could I be a successful mother? I know that statement seems a bit over the top and a bit dramatic but I'm sure I'm not the first mother to have that thought creep into her mind over the million of years we've been procreating as humans. And surely I won't be the last.
In full swing of adjusting to a family of four, Twenty Ten arrived and with it the realization that Mason will be attending preschool in the fall and we need to look at schools NOW. Open houses, online searches and talking with other parents it dawned on me that this potty training thing could be the biggest hang up of our lives. Mason cannot attend preschool at the age of 4 without being potty trained. AND WE WEREN'T EVEN CLOSE!! OMG!! Full on panic mode commences. Much to the reassurances by teachers, parents and friends that Mason will be potty trained eventually I wasn't feeling so optimistic.
Getting Mason to sit on the potty these days has become a struggle. He cries, screams, throws a fit and flat out refuses. I think it stems in part to the pressure he has been getting to be a big boy and pee in the potty, and in part to the lack of attention he has received since Sophie arrived. I'm sure it's hard to go from constant attention the only one your parents played with, to having to share their time, love and affection with someone else. It's also not easy with the pressure I have been feeling to get him potty trained. The stress to have it all done by September is overwhelming. And I'm not proud to admit it but I let all this pressure get to me and screamed, yelled and practically blew a gasket each time my son wouldn't sit on the potty. Maybe that is a slight exaggeration but you get the point. There was a lot of pressure to perform and show results fast and we were feeling it.
After many arguments, tears, concerns, frustrations and fears we let it all out and came to the tough conclusion that we would have to bite the bullet and put Mason is big boy under ware. It seemed this would be the only way for him to learn the feeling and get the point across. However after the first two days I wasn't so sure this was a great idea anymore.
Stay tuned for my post later in the week about how our first week of Potty Training turned out. Was it successful or a complete disaster?
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-->Oh I feel your pain! After a few months of my son being in pull-ups and him not fully cooperating we decided over a long weekend to go with real underwear. He was miserable, we were miserable and yadda, yadda he was going on the potty very quickly as a result. Yes, it was extra laundry when he had accidents but something clicked that didn't in pull-ups. Good luck!
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