Two Steps Forward...

Guest post by Elizabeth

…and one step back. Week after week that’s what it’s been at the FTM house. We’re in full pottytraining mode with our boy, Buggie. It wasn’t my decision at all. I had been advised by my mommy friends to not push him into it so I didn’t. I was actually planning on broaching the topic this Fall when my new daughter, Lady Bug, was four months old and in a more predictable routine. Nope. He had other plans in mind.

About three weeks ago, Buggie decided that he was finished with his cloth diapers. We haven’t looked back. I reluctantly plunged forward with him. That’s what parenting’s kind of about, right? Watching our little ones cues and enabling them to succeed.

He’s been extremely successful when he has nothing on. He’s also taken a new liking to being in his birthday suit because of this. I’ve tried to explain to him that he has to wear clothes; it’s how we function in society. That was the first step for us.

Then two steps back. When he had any kind of pants on – training pants, “boy big pants” (which is what he calls underwear), and regular pants with nothing on underneath – he seemed to get distracted and then an accident would occur.

One step forward. We decided that the best approach would be positive rewards. We bought an Elmo potty coloring book that came with a poster in it. I taped it to the wall outside of our bathroom and for every time he stayed “dry and clean” and went in the potty he was rewarded with a sticker and a gummy. He rarely gets candy so that was a huge bonus and he’s finally at the age where he understands stickers. With this approach he was getting it. He was keeping his pants dry and even going to the bathroom in public.

And another two steps back. He had been doing an excellent job of keeping the training pants dry for about a week and then the weekend came and all efforts by him went out the window. After a few days earlier this week of wetness, I decided to just take the plunge and get ready to do lots of spot carpet cleaning and laundry. The boy big pants are back on.

Today’s gone well so far. He stayed dry in his boy big pants more than he was wet. As far as the clean part…well, that’s an entirely different story. I’m learning with this stage of childrearing that it’s definitely more of a journey than it is a quick trip. Hopefully we’ll be able to take another step forward next week! And hopefully his answer to my question of how his pants are supposed to be is not a prediction to what lies ahead…today he laughed hysterically and then answered, “Soggy and dirty!” Oh the joys!

Elizabeth (aka Bert) Anderson married her college sweetheart in 2005, became a "mom" to a beagle named, Chula, that same year and started her journey into motherhood in 2008 with the birth of her son.  She started blogging in 2009 as a way to keep track of her thoughts on being a first time mom, especially her struggle with postpartum depression, and as a way of reaching out to other moms who are struggling with the same things.  This July, Bert had another first in her motherhood travels - a little girl!  Even though she's newly a mother of two, Bert maintains that no matter how many children you have you will always be a "first time mom" because there's a first time for everything!  Visit her blog, at FTM.  Bert is a contributor for She Thinks Media.