Potty Time!

We decided to take the plunge and start potty training Brennan.  He wasn't showing a lot of interest in using the potty, but could tell us what he was supposed to do.  We thought we'd try it over a weekend and if he wasn't successful, we'd try again later.  We were pleasantly surprised at how well he did over the first weekend, and he continues to do a great job!

Over the first weekend, we set a timer for every 15 minutes.  Like magic, Brennan would immediately stop what he was doing--playing, eating, watching a show, reading a book--and run to the bathroom, often exclaiming "It's time to go to the potty!"  He would sit for 5 minutes, when an alarm would go off again.  Reading a book helped to pass the time.  He earned a sticker every time he sat on the potty.  If he was successful, he earned an M&M and a sticker.  He did a fantastic job!  He progressed from not telling us about his first accident in the morning, to telling us just in the nick-of-time by the afternoon.  We continued our plan on Sunday, extended the amount of time between attempts to 20 minutes.

We sent him in underwear with extra clothes and a bag of M&M's to the babysitter's house the next day.  He did great all week!  She also set a timer and reported that Brennan and Jacob, the other boy also potty training, ran to the bathroom and sometimes debated over who would get to go first.

A week in, and we've stopped using the timer.  We've learned that we can't always rely on him telling us when he has to go, or answering honestly when asked and we should take him anyways.  He seems to wait to poop until he's wearing a diaper--luckily we haven't had to clean dirty underwear...yet!  We've even gone on a shopping trip with him only in underware!  We predict it will be awhile until he's sleep trained, so he wears diapers while napping and overnight.

We're so proud of our big guy!