Day 1: Potty Learning

So, I’ve decided that since M is (almost) 20 months old and really pushing the big 2, it’s time to really start introducing him to the potty. He’s had some experience with a little potty that I bought for him when he was just 13 months old, he’s even peed in it a handful of times and has actually asked to use it with at least 2 times where he did then pee in the potty. It’s been a long while since that’s happened though. He’s sat on the potty several times, both the training potty and the big potty. I chose this
specific potty because the top comes off and fits onto a regular toilet. In the past month or so I took the top off and started randomly sitting M on the big potty to get him used to what that would be like. He has not peed on the big potty yet, but we’ll get there.

Here’s the plan:

1. Sit M on the potty every hour.
2. Give him books/toys to entertain himself for approximately 15 minutes.
3. After approximately 15 minutes, verbally praise and make a big deal about how he sat on the potty.
4. If he actually uses the potty, he will get a small piece of chocolate. Chocolate is something that is highly desirable but that he never gets.

That’s the plan. We’ll see how it goes. I’m hoping to blog about our experience, the triumphs and epic fails. So far today, we’ve had one time sitting, I tried to catch him in the pooping moment, epic fail. No big deal, he still sat nicely while reading a book and playing with a wipes container for about 20 minutes. He then ran around the house naked. But, naked time is actually a legit method for potty learning…messy, but legit. In a little bit we’ll go for round 2.

Fingers and toes crossed. Who knows how this will go! I’m a behaviorist and this is just like any other behavior modification program…right? I’ve helped train dozens of children, including those with Autism. My child will be a piece of cake…right? Probably not. But, Here.We.Go.

M back in February trying out his new potty

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