How I potty trained my 2.5 year old son in two days!

This past week I had about 10 more diapers left, and I told myself I would not buy another $40 pack of Pampers Cruisers again. My pediatrician had told me that my son was a great age to begin, and  be potty trained and I decided to go for it. Cannon right now, is two and half years old.  I had read many blogs before looking at what other mommies did, and saw all these posts about doing it within 2-3 days. At first, I thought "no way" because I heard from many others that it takes so much time, and how boys are so much harder... blah blah. I decided to go for it anyways. I wanted to potty train him and I was determined to not buy another diaper. So this is once again one of those blogs about how I potty trained in 2 days, really about two and a half because we started late one evening. I wanted to just share what worked for us, in hopes maybe another mommy or daddy out there could use the advice also! 
Side note: My son is in daycare, and has been constantly introduced to the toilet and starting this process beforehand. This wasn't a complete out of the blue challenge, he was comfortable with the potty, but had never actually used it before and done well. He also has worn "big boys" over diapers, having him pull them up and off, making him familiar with them as well. :)
Wednesday Evening/ Preparation Step 1: We went to Wal-Mart and he picked out pairs of underwear he loved, which ranged from Spider Man boxers to Paw Patrol briefs. Then I told him we were going to go pick out "potty toys". I explained to him that they were only for the potty, and he had to use the potty to get one. I think some people don't quite grasp just how much a two and half year old can understand, and he understood me entirely with the concept of "potty toys". We also grabbed a bag of M&M's for "potty candy". While checking out he even told the cashier "this a potty toy". Lastly, I let him pick out a poster board (which was eye piercing hot/bright pink), and told him we were going to make a potty chart. He understood entirely what was happening, thankfully. 
Step 2: Once home, we placed all his "potty toys" which ranged from airplanes, a pack of hot wheels, and a few balls in a gift bag right beside the toilet on the counter. He would say to me "these for potty, I have to use potty first", so he never bothered them. Then we sat down together and placed letter stickers on his chart that spelled out "Cannons Potty Chart". I involved him throughout the entire process of getting prepped. He even placed his toys in his gift bag. Next I drew out 4 sections on the poster, labeled uh-oh, tried, PP, and Poo-Poo. He immediately was intrigued and wanted to start his tally's, but I told him he had to go potty before we marked his poster. 
Step 3: He picked out his first pair of "big boys" (aka, underwear in our house) to wear that evening. This was roughly around 6 p.m. already, so we started late. I actually was worried that all this work and prep for the evening would be forgotten by morning, but it wasn't, thankfully. That evening, we had maybe 2 accidents before bedtime, in our house we called them "uh oh"'s. I told him it was okay each time, and never scolded him or shamed him for an uh oh, because accidents happen and I knew if I scared him he would be more reluctant to be potty trained. I wanted to encourage him throughout everything. That night he went to bed in a pull up. 

PP Setup 

Poo-Poo Setup  

"Potty Toy" Gift Bag 

Potty Chart 

Day 1: Thursday Today, we tried it again. He picked out big boys to put on each time, and we had A LOT of accidents. Probably roughly 8-10. I even was a little discouraged and doubted he was too young, or just not ready. I referred back to some blogs I had read, how to just keep persisting and trudge through, so I did. Although it wasn't successful in my book, this day I think was beneficial for him overall, because he didn't like the feeling of being wet or peeing on his underwear. It wasn't comfortable like a diaper had felt before. I also constantly asked him if he needed to go PP, or poo-poo but he always would say "I'm fine", or "no thank you". Again, every time he made an uh-oh we was never shamed for it, and he also would mark his chart each time. This day we also worked on trying, he went to the potty many times and would try. But nothing ever happened. Again, he marked that also. 
(Cannon was trained to stand up while peeing, and sit while #2. He would stand on his stool and hold the back of the potty....which allows for great aim for boys actually. And uses his Elmo toilet ring seat for #2.) 
Day 2: Friday  Once Friday rolled around, I tried a different approach. After obviously not getting anywhere yesterday, I wanted to try a different route. I began to think that he may have had so many accidents yesterday just because he still had that comfort and feeling of having something there to catch him when he went to use the restroom. Although 100% cotton underwear isn't a diaper, its just the fact that maybe he just felt like there was something there so he could go like usual. Once he was up this morning, first thing we did was go the restroom. We grabbed a lot of toys, and we closed the door behind us.  I also only had him in a t-shirt, he was butt naked from the waist down. I figured this way, he would recognize he is going, and maybe stop or at least tell me before he went to the restroom. Plus, he always go #2 in the morning, so I wanted to catch him with that also. Knowing his routine was beneficial. 
SO we hung out in the bathroom and hung out some more. We gave his toys very thorough baths (haha), cleaned the mirrors... did anything to occupy his attention to not want to leave. Then it happened, he started to PP and I immediately took him to the toilet and encouraged him with clapping and cheering him on. He then got to mark his chart, and get a potty toy, which he couldn't have been more excited about. 
After that we waited around for #2....and the same thing happened. He began to go, and I immediately said "stop" and took him to the potty to finish with encouraging cheers, marking his chart, and a potty toy. After this I think something began to click with him.
That day he stayed naked from the waist down entirely until bedtime. He would realize he was about to go, but had nothing there and would tell me and we went to the bathroom. Again, each time we would mark his chart, have a cheer session, and get a potty toy or potty candy gift. I began to get a lot more confident in him, and knew I was in too deep to stop now. Another piece of advice, look for indications of your kid needing to go. Cannon would touch his private area, or get really still when he was about to go. I also nagged him all day by asking, "do you need to go PP?", "Do you need to go poo-poo?" I stayed on him, which in turn was also a reminder every so often to him. He went to bed that night in a pull up again. 
Day 3: Saturday This day, we did the same thing but introduced his big boys back into the picture. I was afraid we would backtrack to Day 1 with that feeling of having something there, but he did great. Out of the entire day he only had 2 accidents. Even though they were uh oh's, he had started to go, and realized, then would go to the potty to finish, which in my book was a win. He had done great, and I considered him potty trained. 
This was successful for us, and I hope it is for another mommy out there wanting to train her kiddo! If anything, I hope it gave you some ideas that may work for your angel baby. It worked great for us, and even on Monday, while writing this, he went to day care and had no accidents!
Potty training in my book, just takes a lot of dedicated and persistence. If you can block off 2-3 days in your schedule and really dedicate yourself to your kiddo, you can definitely do it also. I doubted all the blogs titled like mine, but in the end it worked. I even question if I would've skipped to my routine on day 2/Friday, that he may have done it even sooner. Spending that morning in the bathroom, I feel like is what really helped him to learn. 

P.S. Thanks Winter Storm Jonas for snowing us in, allowing me to dedicate this time to potty train, while also having a blast sledding and enjoying my little man! :) Much appreciated. Thanks for reading, and good luck!! 

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