Signs of a Free-Range Potty Learner Home

So the time for potty-learning is upon us once again!

The way I "potty train" is much different in many ways than most people potty train their littles.

I don't believe in forcing a child to do it before they are completely ready and pretty much fully interested in the whole process.

Even if that means waiting much longer than most people want to.

Mahri was potty-trained before she was 3.

Christian was around 4.

Austin pretty much potty-trained himself at 18 mos.

And Levi is now really getting into it at 3 and a half years old.

We've dabbled in it before with Levi but he clearly had no interest in being out of diapers. So I didn't push it. But he was showing more signs of being ready and I finally realized "it's time" because...here's the thing: he knew when to go potty on the potty for both #1s and #2s.

He just didn't want to.

And since he's been going to church classes a few times a week and his not being potty-learned was holding him back from going into the appropriate classes (he is supposed to be completely potty-learned before entering the 3 Year Old Class.

So, buddy, it's time to stop being lazy and comfy in diapers....

But I didn't spring it on him all at once. We've been "at it" for a couple of weeks now and he's still not in underpants.

No, no, no.

You see, we do "free range potty learning".

That means that during "learning hours", he is completely pantsless. No diaper. No underpants. No disposable Pull Ups (which I NEVER use because they defeat the whole process...)

Just a nude little guy running around the house.

I started out by setting a timer for 2 hours.

For those 2 hours, every day, he would have to go without a diaper.

A couple of days later, I'd extend the time by 15-30 minutes.

Soon enough, he was up to 3 hours. Then 3 and a half. 4 hours.

And during those hours over the last couple of weeks, he's had ZERO accidents! He does all of his "business" in his froggy potty that I have sitting in the living room.

Why the living room? Because little guys (and girls) tend to wait until the last possible moment to run to the potty. Toys and playing is much more fun and no one wants to break away from fun to go sit on a potty. So it's sitting there, waiting, for a little boy that really has to go.

When he goes potty in it, I take it to dump it in the regular toilet. He flushes it and says good bye to his pee-pee or poo-poo. (hey, don't knock it! He loves to do it!) Then I spray a special sanitizer in his potty and rinse it out.

We are now not even using a timer. When he wakes up, I take off his diaper and that's it for...well, at first it was until he took a nap. But today I am trying something different. See the above pic. haha

I folded up a towel and put it under him, lest he should have an "accident". But it's been about an hour and he and the towel are both dry.

If he stays dry all of naptime, I'm going to try to go until bedtime.

I wonder if this is it...the final days of my having a little one in diapers...

::sniffle::

They grow up so fast....