One less diaper to wash out!

Yay, my 2.5 y/o went to the potty tonight!

At supper, I gave him a small plastic tumbler instead of his sippy cup. (I know, I know, it's way overdue.) Anyway, he kept on talking about how he was a big boy, and I started talking about all the fun things that big boys get to do. Of course, we came around to talking about how big boys don't wear diapers!

He looked at me skeptically, until I told him that his good friend N, who we played with at the park this morning, doesn't wear diapers anymore. He thought for a minute, and then said, "Mama, 'member at the playground, N went to the potty." Now, N is a little bit younger than M, but he has a 4 y/o (I think) sister - who's obviously been pottying forever - and my friend practiced part-time EC with them.

But then - and I do feel a little guilty about this, really I do - I asked M, "Do you want to be a big boy like your friend N and go potty after supper?" and he got all excited and said, "Yes ma'am!"

So we went and I sat him on the real toilet, backwards facing the tank ("like a cowboy riding horses," I told him) since we don't have a toddler seat for the regular potty, and he's so big for his age that on the baby potty he can either go #1 OR #2, but not both at the same time! And he sat there. And sat. And sat. And sat. I asked him, "Baby, do you need to go poopy?" and he nodded, but I think he was having a hard time figuring out how to bear down while sitting, since he usually does it standing up.

So I went and got a book, came back and turned the water faucet on to a trickle and read to him. Before I knew it, he was going, both wet and poop. And he went. And went. And went. And...let's just say it was epic. He picked an awesome poo to go on the potty, hahaha!

Up till this point, I've had M in fleece-lined pockets, so he doesn't feel the wet. I don't think I'll get underwear for him just yet, because I don't mind washing diapers, but I do NOT want to wash clothes and sheets every single day! But I have about a baker's dozen regular, premium, and toddler prefolds, so I think I'll go to WalMart and get some of the cheap, Gerber "rubber pants" and try him in prefolds. That way, he can feel the wet, but I won't be washing clothes! And a good girlfriend of mine just ordered a bunch of cheap cloth training pants, so if she gives me a good report I'll try those out! (If she gives me a bad report, I'll pass it along to you, I promise!)

I'm really excited and encouraged. I know that this is not the end of the road, it's definitely just the beginning! But for tonight, at least, I have one less epic poopie diaper to wash out!

** EDIT TO UPDATE ON POTTY TRAINING

My son was fully daytime potty trained in less than 2 weeks! I never bought anything special or different in the way of training pants. We practiced Naked Potty Training (NPT), where we let M run around in a shirt all day, still wearing diapers for his afternoon nap and overnight. The idea behind that is that children who wear diapers have been "trained" to release when they feel something against their skin, so they learn the muscle control better when releasing isn't automatic. Also, if they begin to tinkle a little (which happened with us only once) they immediately realize it when their toes get wet. ;o)

Now, I think that this happening for us so fast was the result of a Perfect Storm (in a good way) of the optimal conditions: emotional and mental readiness, physiological readiness, naked potty training, and just the right healthy amount of peer pressure. And don't get too jealous just yet - I already know that not many children potty train this easily, so I'm prepared for our daughter to positively do me in when it's time to train her!

If you try it out and your kid isn't getting it, don't sweat it! Don't push them! And, whatever you do, DO NOT make it a disciplinary issue; you'll just cause more problems for your child and yourself down the road. The wonderful thing about using cloth is that if your child just isn't ready to potty train just yet, at least you aren't buying tons of diapers!

Anyway, NPT was awesome for us. We stayed home as much as we could, and he still wore a very thin diaper when we went to church or to run errands. By the end of the first week, M was taking naps in pockets without inserts. By the end of the second week, he was letting us know himself when he needed to go and was wearing underwear all day and even for naps. By the end of the third week, I thought nothing at all of taking him out to run errands in underwear! He had maybe a total of 3 accidents, whether we were at home or out.

He still wears diapers overnight, and most mornings he wakes up dry as a bone. Sometimes he wakes up in the middle of the night and calls me (he's not allowed to get out of his big-boy bed without asking permission) so he can go pee, and then he goes straight back to bed. Although, sometimes he soaks his dipey. I know he's physiologically capable of keeping it dry, so now I'm thinking I may get some of the Gerber Wal-Mart training pants and covers. I don't want to spend a ton of money on expensive training pants, since they're basically just a diaper and we already have a bunch of those! We'll see how it goes, and I'll keep you updated.