Potty Trained!

Potty training has been a LONG process. Not because Josiah didn't get it. But because of the life we live. The two biggest factors: we travel a lot and when we go out and about here in China, we rarely know where a close bathroom is. (Little ones still squat on the side of the street here. I'm choosing to not let my child do that. :) Josiah has been very willing and he's been doing well for the past few months. But while in Thailand, we had him in pull-ups a lot because we were out walking a LOT. Thailand is similar to China...ya just never know where a toilet is. I'm sure he was totally confused. We encouraged him to potty in the toilet when we were home...then encouraged him to potty in his diaper when we were out.

So when we got back to China, it was time to do this for real. I was still wary of nap time and night time, not quite sure how to conquer the two. Then a friend posted she was training her 2yo. I desperately asked for her method. It's one of those "3-day" methods. I skimmed some parts of it late one night and decided to put it into practice the next day. I was home alone with the kids all day and really tried to focus on the tactics. He was perfect! Same pair of underwear all day! I even kept him in underwear through his nap...perfect! Then night time came. The method suggested banning liquids 2-3 hours before bedtime. We usually do this naturally since he doesn't usually eat or drink much after dinner. We decided to put him in a pull-up anyway, though. We just weren't confident because he usually wakes up with a fairly wet diaper. And the kicker, he asked for a drink as he was laying down...a big drink. :) But, I told him several times if he needed to go potty, to yell for us. And if he kept his diaper dry, he'd get a special treat....

I guess the special treat (donuts) was a good enough bribe! He woke up DRY! I couldn't believe it! So, we'll kick the diapers now. I expect we may have a few more accidents along the way, but I think eliminating the diapers completely is the way to go. I think it just confuses him.

And, we can now confidently put clothes back on him. haha