The Potty Training Tango

Johnny turns three and two weeks. Since I always thought we would start potty training him around his third birthday, we decided a couple of weeks ago that it would be a really good idea to start now.

We picked out a few different things at the store to start our potty training journey; a small potty chair that looks like an actual toilet and makes flushing and giggling sounds when you pull it's tiny silver handle, and two different types of pull-ups (Iron Man and CARS). We also purchased a couple of step-stools and two seats that go on top of the regular toilet for Johnny to sit on, one for the master bathroom and one for the hallway bathroom in the front of the house.

Since I wasn't sure which he'd prefer, sitting on the big toilet with his seat, or sitting on the smaller potty chair toilet, I felt buying both was a good move and that certainly helped by confidence that we'd be covered no matter which he ultimately decided was a best fit for him.

I really could not explain why, but for as long as I've had children I have been terrified of potty training. I suppose a big part of it is that I always just assumed that there would be tears involved, on both sides, and that it would be a really stressful experience. I was concerned that no matter how gentile yet persistent I was, somehow I would emotionally scar my kids. My mom has laughed about this on sever occasions and finds it quite humorous.

Johnny has actually done particularly well, as far as being open to the whole process. He'll sit on his potty when we ask, as well as sits for his preschool teacher when they take potty breaks at school. 

He's even used the potty a couple of times for us at home, which I didn't expect but was very pleased with. Of course we've made a big deal about any time he actually uses  his potty like a 'big boy'. So far we have ran into no resistance to potty training with him, however I have to also admit that he's not telling us when he needs to potty either. At this point, I'm assuming that part comes with time and with him having a better sense of the feeling of needing to go potty.

Overall, as long as I remember to keep him on a good schedule for potty training, it seems to be going well. The schedule part is my biggest struggle. I'm on the road (usually with both babies) about 10 hours a week taking Hubs back and forth to work. Besides that, I just get busy and forget to check in with Johnny and take him to his potty. I'm earnestly trying harder to work on this aspect, as I feel like this whole process will go along quite faster as long as I'm better with actually getting him to the potty so he can either sit on it to practice, or to actually use it.

What are some of your best potty training tips?