Max amazes Mama

So, as I write this I am STILL amazed that in just over two weeks time Max is completely potty trained.

Potty. trained.

Wearing underwear. Refusing the diaper.

Propre as they say in French. 

Not sure how it all happened. We had been trying to interest him in the potty by buying him one of those bells and whistle potties that sing and play music when you go poo or pee. Well, he played with it more than actually using it. Then Alixe came home and there was a click. She's a little baby. She wears a diaper. She poops and pees in her diaper. I'm a big boy and why am I still wearing a diaper? This is what I imagined Max thinking when he'd look at Alixe.

One day he came home from the Creche and said to me, "Mommy, je veux une culotte". I want undies. I broke out his Thomas undies that had been long piled under his PJs and off he went. That first week we had a few accidents because of timing on his part, busy playing and forgot he has to go pee. And then one day about three days into wearing his culotte at home he just started telling us on his own that he needed to go.

And boy did he go! All the time. All hours of the day. Middle of the night trips to the potty were hard but sometimes I was up with Alixe so it worked out alright. And then starting this week he started sleeping through the night without a drop of pee in his pull up. 

Last week, the assistants kept telling us that Max was peeing in his diaper at nap time. Which I found weird because  on the weekends when he'd nap for me I put him in his culotte and he'd either wake up int he middle of his nap to go pee or he'd wake up dry and go afterwards. Finally, Julien was able to get it out of one of the younger assistants that they were NOT LETTING HIM GO TO THE POTTY DURING NAP TIME. And they would tell him to go pee in his diaper! Coincidentally, that week they were doing this he took HORRIBLE naps at the creche and we had the hardest time getting him to sleep at bedtime because he was overtired. I mean, yeah... if I was told to pee my pants and then go take a nap I'd not sleep. And then at the end of the day report time when Julien would pick him up, Max always had notes in file saying that he was agitated in the afternoons. Hmmm... I wonder why?

So, I flipped out a bit. How completely counterproductive, right? Well, I was ready to take Max to the Creche the next day and let the assistant hear me out. But Julien calmed me down and said he'd deal with it. He's good at smoothing things out when it comes to Max. My mama bear-ness just comes out and it's a bit hard to control sometimes. Julien talked the assistants into letting Max go to the bathroom BY HIMSELF since apparently he's one of the few kids in the class that can actually flush the toilet. And since last week he's been getting up from his nap, going to the bathroom and coming back to sleep again all by himself. He even washes his hands by himself.

One of the assistants asked how we got Max potty trained so fast I just told her that we really didn't do anything but provide cute undies (Thomas the Tank Engine - which helped a lot to motivate him to wear them) and ask him periodically like when he's watching TV or playing intensely if he needed to go. And somewhere along the way he figured it out.

As a reward, we took him to see the dinosaur exhibit at Le Palais de la Decouverte as his reward.  We went out all day without a diaper on him (Julien being the risk taker did not pack a change of clothes in case of accident) and Max used a public potty on his own. Apparently, it impressed him so much that he now uses our toilet without the toilet seat adapter. Not to humiliate my son later on in life I will not post a picture of him on the big potty but it's pretty funny. He's pretty much falling in but he makes it work.

All I gotta say is having one kid in diapers. Yes, yes, yes. thank you very much.

Comments

[The Bold Soul]

Oh, isn't that wonderful! Good for him! I remember my nephew also seemed to take to the potty better than most little boys and before he was 3, he was totally trained and no accidents (well, not that I know of, but I'm not his mom). And they never did get into using the pull-ups either; what my sister started doing was this: Steven had to go to bed by 8:30 or so, and they'd get him to pee beforehand. But then at 10:30 or 11 before she and her husband went to sleep, one of them would sort of semi-wake Steven up for another bathroom trip. He never used a seat adaptor either, and they taught him to kneel on the toilet seat and hold onto the lid to pee, instead of sitting down, because he was too small for the seat. So when he was half-asleep we'd just help him kneel him on the seat (since he wasn't fully conscious), and we just sort of had to point him in the right direction (if you get my drift) and tell him to pee, and he would! I used to babysit a lot of little boys and never once saw this technique used, but they did it and it worked like a charm. No night-time accidents, no pull-ups and just like that (snap!) he was a big boy.

He also seemed to give up the bottle early and switched from his crib to a bed early. Maybe he was just a quick starter at that age. Not that he was so perfect (oh, the temper tantrums from that little red-head!) but my sister had it easy with that kid as a baby and toddler. He made up for it later in life (LOL).

Anyway, full props to Max!

[stefanie]

Yay Max!

[cj]

I fully understand the mama-bear coming out in you when someone, anyone, is mean/unfair/cruel to your child. I describe it as being a Mother Lion, and I still react like that, and my boys are teenagers! They know how my protective instincts can come out if provoked, and they get a big kick out of it (and they both tower over me now). Good for you, what is a mother for, if not to be there as back up when needed.

[Mary Anne]

Glad Julien worked that out...poor Max....BUT Awesome Job big boy Max! Yea mama!

[Doc]

Mélanie did it all on her own, too! Must be the 10-pounder club. And hon, ain't NOTHING better than having them out of diapers.... except, maybe just maybe, having them out of the house.

[Alice]

You go, girl -- and GOOOO Max! Congrats to you both. What an incredible achievement!

Jean is very impatient about Emma learning to be potty-trained, and she just turned 18 months! Funny thing is, I really want us to take our time, and I don't want her to feel rushed into it and have it not go well... We have a little basic potty here already, passed on from her cousins, but obviously she doesn't "get it" quite yet... She's starting to understand when she poos, but not when she needs to go to the potty herself. Again, I know it's really early, but here's hoping it will come gradually... She's pretty regular about when it all happens during the day, but there's no way to tell for sure! Funny thing is, I know I'll end up getting tired of it, but changing her diapers has never been that big of a thing for me... Then again, I would obviously love for her to be potty-trained before she turns 3! That would be wonderful.

[Ellen]

Yay! I'm a big proponent for watching for the cues they show on their own- if you have a good relationship with your kid and they communicate well, it works! If you make them ignore those signals and pee during a nap, well, it doesn't work so well. They're capable of much more than we give them credit for, I'm convinced. My wee one just trained at 19 months. I have no idea why or how, she just did, and I'm over the moon about it! Go Max!!!

[jadie]

oh, how happy you and max must both be!

[Lee]

Yeah, we are going through the same thing here! It's great - Teo seems to have gotten the hang of it, though I still keep a diaper on him at night. A few days ago, we went to a public park and he had to pee. The public restrooms are being restored so there was nowhere else to go but in the bushes. He did great! And the next morning, I dropped him off at day care and he the first thing he said was, "I PEED IN THE BUSHES!!!"

[Jolie in Philly]

How wonderful! Congrats Max!

[Tournesol]

Congratulation to the whole family! And great reward to go the Palais de la Découverte, fantastic place to go to for/with kids - used to go there regularly (long time ago) on Saturdays with my parents; there is so much one can try out!