Potty Update

After a I got a couple of emails about it, I thought I’d update you all on Aidan’s potty progress. Firstly I couldn’t begin to tell you how proud I am of Aidan, and of Steve and I for sticking with it. I was worried we’d have setbacks with winter being so bitterly cold but Aidan’s been a complete champ.

Our daily routine usually consists of waking up and then we both go straight to the potty. That’s right, we both go at the same time.  I think watching Steve and I go helps him. This when he does a big poo. We sing songs or play with some bath toys or read a book. He lifts his hands up when he’s finished or gets up on his own (like he’s doing in the photo). I quickly wipe his bum and then I pop another nappy on and we waddle off down the hallway and have breakfast. He plays for awhile and then has a bottle at around 11am, then plays for a little while more and then an hour later we have lunch. Just before his nap at 12:30-1pm he goes to the potty and does a big wee and then hops into bed and has his nap, usually 2-3 hours.

When he wakes up he goes to the potty and does a wee and then plays for awhile or we go for a walk or go out and do errands. At 6pm Aidan has dinner and then Steve takes him to the potty and he does another poo or just a wee and then Steve baths him whilst I’m making dinner, catching up on emails or facebook. After that Aidan joins us for dinner and nibbles food off our plates and plays about until bedtime which is 8pm. He goes to the potty and then has a bottle whilst Steve reads a book aloud. Once the bottles finished I burp him and pop him in bed with Mooni and a minki blanket and he goes to sleep… only to do it all over again the next day! 

Some days are worse than others, the potty is too cold or he just simply wants to be held longer in the morning but it’s nothing a little distraction by a book or toy can’t fix. We have had three pooey nappies in the last couple of months and that was usually when he was sick or I was distracted. I don’t really have to look for signs and race him to the potty anymore, he kinds just hold off until he’s put on, just like adults do. One rule we’ve found really helpful is that whenever we have to go, he’ll most definitely have to go. Sure the only time Steve and I pee alone is at night time but it’s worth it.

He’s great when out and about. I bought a neat little travel potty and it can go under the pram or popped in the boot of the car if I know we’ll be out around poo-time. This is a photo of Aidan when we stayed in the city overnight. He was so good, the first time he’d ever sat on a toilet with his travel potty, the legs can adjust and sit like wings on the edge of the toilet bowl. The travel potty also have disposable plastic bags with sanitary pads attached to the bottom but aren’t cheap to buy so a normal plastic bag with some tissues down the bottom work or I try and use a proper toilet with it. We’ve been caught out once and I ended up laying a towel in the boot of the car and set the potty up (with a plastic bag) on the towel and he happily did his business there. 

Steve and I are buying a caravan in September and we have LOTS of family trips planned already. It’s comforting to know that our son is confident with the potty and we’re a lot more confident about handling the transition. I’m not sure how we’ll use our cloth nappies on our trips but there are always laundromats at caravan parks, it just might mean I have to bulk up our stash a bit. Using cloth and the potty just works so well for our family.