#2

So, potty training is quite a process, especially when you have a child as stubborn as our dear sweet Evan.  (Can't blame anyone but myself for the stubborn gene though!)  At this point, Evan is "preschool potty trained".  We can call him that because he wears big boy pants all day long except for nap and bedtime and does fine at preschool with no accidents.  In fact, he's gotten to the point where he really doesn't have many accidents at all. 

So what's the problem?  Our big problem is #2.  He still refuses to poop on the potty.  He'll wait until nap time and then go in his diaper.  If he feels like he has to go and he's not in bed, he'll say that he's "sleepy" and he wants a nap and diaper.  Hmmmm.  He definitely knows how to work the system.

On Wednesday, we had a morning playgroup at a neighborhood playground.  In the middle of the time at the park he started saying that he's "sleepy" and wanted to go to bed with a diaper.  I, of course, said that it was not nap time, but he could head to the nearest potty if he needed to.  He refused and went on with the playdate.

We got home and it was time for nap.  I put Ben to bed.  Then, I knew that Evan still needed to poop, so I decided to wait him out.  I said that he wouldn't get a diaper for nap and that we would stay in the bathroom until he pooped.  I really thought I had him.  Since he had to go and was tired I thought, for sure, he would go and then he could head to bed.  However, I underestimated the stubbornness gene I had passed down.  He did "try" a couple of times, but then he refused and laid down on my leg.  He then actually fell asleep on my leg! 

At that point, I felt like maybe that wasn't the right course of action and like all mommies I was questioning myself.  Plus, I wasn't about to wake up my little sleeping, bare-bottomed boy.  So, I covered him up with a nearby towel and we sat...for about an hour...on the bathroom floor. 

Eventually, he woke up, we put his big boy pants back on and we proceeded with the day.  That night, we put him in his diaper for bed, and he pooped in it.  Sigh...score one for Evan that day.

The next day we were back to where we started.  The day progressed as usual, then we got to the evening.  We were sitting around, Evan was bare-bottomed as he sometimes is after a trip to the potty.  He was sitting down when he started crying.  I asked him what was wrong, but it was becoming evident that he had to go!  In fact, he was starting to go #2 right there!  That rarely happens.  So, I picked him up, ran him to the toilet where he finished the job right where he was supposed to. 

Even though the intent to go on the potty wasn't there, we celebrated like we had won the lottery!  We cheered that he had actually pooped on the potty!  We yelled, we danced, we flushed, we got a ring lollipop as a treat, we called all the grandparents to tell them the good news.  Evan was pretty thrilled!  That was my plan...I figured if we could show him what a good thing it was then maybe he's be more willing the next time.  I thought this was the motivation he needed and we might finally be on the road to a completely potty trained boy!

Today he pooped in his diaper during nap.  Sigh.  We're going to be buying diapers into the next century!

(a picture of Evan when we first started this process and got a potty, a year and a half ago!)