Potty Training: The 7 Day Method

A few months ago I posted the following message on Facebook: “No more baby cribs at the Peed Casa!!! Evan's officially in a toddler bed. Pack your bags, diapers. You're up!!!”, that's right Give Them Roots' readers, our little family is at the end of an era. An era run by the tiniest tyrants, plagued with stinky diapers and dirty crib bumpers (Why are those so incredibly hard to wash & dry?!). I can hardly believe that after 6 straight years of diapers, breastfeeding, and baby food making we are almost done! I wish I could be one of those mother's who tell you it's bittersweet or that I cried taking the crib down but I won't lie to you. I may or may not have done some fist pumping outside of Evan's door when he fell asleep in his toddler bed without any issues. I'm even prouder to say today that my now two year old is happily sleeping on the bottom of a bunk bed. Adios toddler bed!

So what's next? PT work, and no I don't mean part-time. I mean full-time, hands on, boot camp style POTTY TRAINING. Evan's almost 25 months old now and we're ready to begin. Santa brought a new potty and big boy underwear so we introduced our littlest man to his new best friend. Our older 3 boys we trained the same way with great success. It's the same way my Mom trained me and the same way we plan to train our youngest. Today, I'm sharing the family secret. (You should patent this, Mom!)

Potty Training: The 7 Day Method.
This is so incredibly simple that you won't believe it will work, but it will. The key to success is sticking to it! You can't slack off, you can't do it half-***, and you have to go full throttle with both guns blazing! Let's begin...

Day 1: Put on big kid underwear! Make the biggest deal you've ever made about something your child has gotten. Go to the potty (big or little potty), sit on it and talk about what you do when you're in the bathroom! Hop up and begin the fun. Set a timer for 10 minutes. Don't put on pants! Pick out some “reading material” and play or do what you want until the timer goes off. Stay with your child! When the timer goes off go back to the potty for 5 minutes or less if your child goes potty before that. IF they do go potty make a huge fuss, (bigger than the underwear!) and reward them. We used a jar of M&Ms. 1 for sitting without crying, 2 for pee, 3 for poo. Repeat... all... day... long. (I didn't say it was easy, just simple.) The only time your child should be using pull-ups or diapers is during sleep or if you must leave. Works best to stay home this week, like REALLY stay home.

Day 2: Continue where you left off but today add 10 minutes. Your timer is now 20 minutes.

Day 3: Continue. Your timer is now 30 minutes.

Day 4: Continue. Your timer is now 40 minutes.

Day 5: Continue. Your timer is now 50 minutes.

Day 6: Continue. Your timer is now... ready... ONE WHOLE HOUR!!! Woot! Woot!

Day 7: Potty party!!!! Hopefully, if you stayed on top of your kid like white on rice then your child is now going a full hour dry! If you are training an older child (3+) then they can probably go longer but it's best for the first few weeks to be in the habit of saying “Evan, do you need to go potty?” every hour on the hour!

Just remember what Elmo says "Accidents happen." because they do, and It. Is. OK! Good luck to my potty training friends, more details on our progress soon!