Yeah, that’s how Hayden understood the phrase “potty training”—something about trains? And potties?
But he did a lot better with understanding the actual potty training. I saw this book in the library and although I was skeptical, I picked up Toilet Training in Less Than A Day. It took about two hours to read, and it still sounded too good to be true.
So with a grain of salt, we sat down in the kitchen to learn about this potty train. Following the procedures of the book, Hayden taught a doll how to go potty, answered endless quizzes on potty procedures, regularly spent 10 minutes on his potty, and checked to see if his pants were wet.
And, um, it worked. He didn’t even really have an accident that first day, though it did take three hours before he went to the bathroom the first time, no matter how much drink I forced down his throat.
And then there was the next day. No accidents. And none the next day. And other than one bedwetting incident, no accidents the next week. This week, we’ve had one bed wetting incident.
Hayden now knows how to use his little potty, empty it into the big potty, flush, replace the bowl and wash his hands all by himself (though he does seem to like an audience still). When he’s in nursery or day care at the gym, he knows to ask his teachers for help. He still needs a little help with wiping, and we have to turn the light on for him (and really, he does like an audience), but often I don’t even know he’s gone until he shouts, “Mommy, I peed!”
So yeah. I can’t promise Toilet Training in Less Than A Day will work for everyone, but much to my surprise, it worked for us!