I'm Calling It - Charlie is Potty Trained!

**This post was sponsored by PampersKandoo and contains links to their products and media outlets. All opinions are 100% my own and I do not review products that I don't believe in or use myself.**

We started this long journey back in May of last year, but was completely derailed when Charlie went through all those tummy troubles throughout the summer and fall. Well, we got back on the potty training wagon sometime in December and I'm gonna make the call and say it....Charlie is potty trained. ::phew:: What method did we use, you ask?

Patience, a lot of M&Ms, and good cleaning supplies.

As with pretty much everything parenting related, there were a million different ideas, books to read, methods to try, but there was one piece of advice that I heard most often from been there done that parents, "it'll happen when they're ready." It's true - trying to force a toddler to do anything they don't want to do is like pushing rope, so why torment yourself?

For Charlie, we kept a little potty seat in the living room and encouraged him to go as often as he was willing. Some people hate that method, some people like it. Whatever floats your potty boat. Like I said, it took a lot of patience and good cleaning supplies. Luckily, there were no serious messes to clean up and I learned that microfiber diaper inserts are fantastic to clean up pee off the carpet (duh, right?)

As odd as it sounds, he potty trained over night before the daytime. We limited drinks after dinner, made him go before bed, then half woke him up around 11pm to pee before we went to bed. He's woken up dry 98% of the time since. Daytime was another story, but he eventually got it. I am super grateful to daycare; his teachers did an amazing job of reminding him and encouraging him to go like the other big boys and girls in his class.

When we went out of town for St. Patrick's Day weekend, it was Charlie's first trip in underwear. I brought 3 diapers just in case....and a huge stack of extra clothes and underwear. He didn't have a single accident! Even when we were running around the big city, he told me when he needed to go and held it until we found a bathroom. Hooray!! There was much celebrating.

When we got back home, I accidentally left his little living room potty in the car.....then purposely left it there. Ever since then, he's been using the bathroom in his room. SCORE. He'll go in, turn on the light, pee, wash and dry his hands, and turn off the light.

A few things that have really helped get him into the potty mood are all of the "special" things only he gets to use since he's a big boy. In addition to the cool underwear he picked out, the super friendly folks at PampersKandoo sent us Kandoo Flushable Wipes and Kandoo Moisturizing Hand Soap to try! Charlie loves these fun products made just for big boys (and girls....you know what I mean).

The containers are bright and kid friendly - easy to open and easy to use. The wipes have been a great transition from baby wipes to regular toilet paper and the perfect size for little hands. Have you ever accidentally flushed a regular baby wipe? Yeah....I don't recommend it! Kandoo wipes truly are biodegradable and safe for septic and sewer systems. They come in two scents - sensitive and Magic Melon. Charlie's "big boy wipes" sit on the back of the toilet tank next to his potty frog.

The moisturizing hand soap is his favorite. It is bright green (his favorite color) and smells SO good! We have the Magic Melon scent and it smells great. With Vitamin E and fruit extracts, it keeps his hands from drying out between the frequent washings and the cold, dry weather. I really appreciate the bright green color of the soap - it has been easy to teach him how to wash his hands because the green color stays in the suds until you rinse so you know you have good coverage. Genius, Kandoo - seriously.

PampersKandoo has a whole new line of personal care products made with kids in mind including body wash, conditioning shampoo, foaming hand sanitizer, bubble bath, and detangler. These products are hypoallergenic and paraben free, which is music to a crunchy Momma's ears.

Nothing like a proud "I did it!" face on a toddler. Would your toddler love some Kandoo? Enter below for a chance to win a Kandoo prize pack!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Also, be sure to check out the Kandoo Clean Crew for fun activities and tips on potty training, hand washing, and hygiene at home, school, and on the go! There are also tips on how to deal with hygiene struggles when your little one isn't the most cooperative during wash time. Not that I'd know anything about that... ;-)

Thank you to PampersKandoo for sharing these fun products with us!

So.....Potty Training

I'm not quite sure how to categorize today's potty training attempt. It wasn't a complete failure, but it wasn't exactly a "good" day, so maybe a semi-success? Let's just say we'll be taking this one day at a time.

The set up. For today, I had 11 pairs of underwear on hand, a waterproof mattress pad for the couch, a big jug of water, mini M&Ms as a reward, and his potty chair. There are many opinions on where to put the potty, but I chose to stick in the living room. Yes, I realize that under normal circumstances you want them to pee in the bathroom, but since I was simultaneously taking care of G, I wanted to be able to coach C through a potty break if I was nursing or otherwise busy. We'll work on making it to the potty first, than to the bathroom.

Also, did you know a crib sized mattress pad fits over 2 couch cushions almost perfectly? Cool, huh?

It's no secret that C is a little high strung, so I started out the day very slow. I changed his diaper and gave him a choice of underwear to put on. Then, I gave him a big ol' cup of water and started a 15 minute timer. I downloaded a simple kitchen timer app on my phone that let me set an alarm for potty breaks. Super helpful when you're also taking care of a newborn and constantly lose track of time.

Thankfully, G napped very well this morning so I got a lot of one on one time with C. Whenever the timer went off or I noticed his underwear a tad wet, I asked him if he needed to go and calmly moved him towards his potty. Most times he sat and sat and sat. A few times he actually peed. One time he said he needed to pee and when he sat down, pooped! Yeah, we went through pretty much every pair of underwear and almost 40 ounces of water (I swear, this kid is part camel), but it was going alright.

Then around noon, he peed on the floor. Like, a full pee. And I accidentally scared him.

I saw him peeing. No big deal, let's go over to the potty! My voice was calm, but my actions were slightly frantic. I grabbed him under the arms, quickly moved across the room, and plopped him down. I celebrated the few drops that made it in the bowl. He lost it. I don't know if he thought he was in trouble or the wet underwear were uncomfortable, but from then on he became more anxious and stubborn when I asked him if he needed to go. I put him down for a nap (with a diaper) and when he woke up, he'd lost all interest in using the potty and didn't want to put on underwear.

I know he's a sensitive kid and I'm not going to push him. We'll start again tomorrow. I think the more I accept his temperament and tailor this process to him, the more successful he will be. He doesn't respond well to things being done "to" him and I should have remembered that. Maybe that means letting him pee on the floor, then asking him to sit on the potty after the fact. Not ideal, but better than him shutting down.

As a side note, microfiber cloth diaper inserts are great for soaking up accidents!

The biggest success for the day? This evening, we were filling the tub to give C a bath and he was standing on the bath mat throwing in toys. He stopped and said, "pee pee!" A few seconds later, he started to pee all over the bath mat....and I was super excited! He knew he had to go! That's step one!! He'd never said that before. Despite all the pee I cleaned up today, I know that no matter how slowly, we are getting somewhere.

WW: Let's Get this Potty Started

Pixar underoos and M&Ms can only mean one thing.....

Wish us luck.