Learning To Use The Potty (private for Carrie96 and me)

[Omo90210]

When James woke up the next morning, the first thing he noticed was that his diaper was wet again.

[Carrie96]

Sharon woke up when she heard James stirring. She pulled him closer to her before she even opened her eyes. "Morning, sweetheart. You wet?" She mumbled.


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[Omo90210]

"I sorry, Mommy," James said, sadly.

[Carrie96]

"Shh, sweetheart, it's okay." Sharon pulled James into her lap and kissed his forehead. "Let's go get you changed." She picked him up and carried him to his room. "Do you want to wear your Spongebob undies or pull-ups?"

Sharon had thought about it the night before and decided to change her approach. There was so much conflicting potty-training advice out there, but, after doing some more reading, she'd decided to back off a little. She didn't mind cleaning up after accidents, but she didn't like how upset James got when he pottied in his pants. More times than not, he had enough warning before he pooped to hide first, so she thought she could at least go ahead and get him potty-trained for that, but let him wear pull-ups and slow down a little for the pee part.


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[Omo90210]

"Pull-up," James said quickly, looking relieved.

[Carrie96]

"Good choice." Sharon laid James on the changing table, unzipped his pajamas, removed his wet diaper, and wiped him down with a wet wipe. After helping him step into a pull-up, she pulled a t-shirt over his head, but didn't put any bottoms on him.

"Listen to Mommy. You did really good trying to use the potty yesterday, but we're going to wait until you're just a little bit bigger and have had time to practice pee-peeing in the potty before you start wearing undies again, unless you want to wear them. Tell Mommy when you need to go potty, but, if you don't realize you need to go until it hurts really bad and it's hard to hold it, then it's okay to pee-pee in your pull-up. I want you to pay attention and try to tell Mommy you need to go potty before it gets that bad, but I won't get mad when you wet your pull-up, okay?"


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[Omo90210]

James nodded, happy to feel less pressure to make it to the potty.

[Carrie96]

"That's my good boy." Sharon picked James up and took him to the bathroom. "Mommy's going to take you to the potty every morning when you get up, before bedtime, before we get in the car to go somewhere, and before and after naps. Other than that, try to tell Mommy when you need to pee-pee."

[Omo90210]

"I don't gotta go," James protested.

[Carrie96]

"Will you please try for Mommy? You may not have to go really bad, but I bet you can pee-pee a little bit."


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[Omo90210]

James obeyed and sat on the toilet for a few moments, pull-up around his ankles, and released some pee-pee into the potty after a few moments.

[Carrie96]

"Good job!" Sharon praised him. Once his pull-up was back on and their hands were washed, she carried him to the kitchen.

After breakfast, Sharon took James to the living room to work with him on colors, numbers, and other things he should know by now. On days that she didn't work, she created a pre-school-like setting for some of the day, as James had been behind other children his age when he came to live with them.

Sharon settled James at his little table and put his milk from breakfast beside him.

"Remember to tell Mommy when you have to go potty," she reminded him.


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[Omo90210]

James nodded, hoping he could remember.

[Carrie96]

Sharon had decided not to encourage James to drink so much like she had the day before, thinking he might have better control if his bladder didn't fill up so quickly. She'd given him his sippy cup for when he wanted it, but didn't encourage him to drink it. They worked for a little over an hour before taking a break.

"Do you need to go potty?" James's diaper was usually dry for two hours at a time, sometimes longer, sometimes less, but it was possible that he was starting to feel a twinge of fullness.


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[Omo90210]

James shook his head.

[Carrie96]

"All right. Pick out a book for us to read." Sharon would normally take James outside for a little while now, but she wanted to wait until he either used the potty or wet his pull-up, knowing he would need to go soon.


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[Omo90210]

James ran to his playroom and returned with three of his favorite books.

[Carrie96]

Sharon pulled him into her lap and began to read. When she'd finished the last book, she took James to his play room. "You can play in here for a little while, and then we'll go outside."


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[Omo90210]

James busied himself with his toys, completely oblivious to his filling bladder.

[Carrie96]

Sharon looked up when she heard James, knowing he had probably wet himself. His hands were shoved between his legs, and he was looking down at his crotch in dismay. "Honey, are you pee-peeing?"


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[Omo90210]

"I sorry, Mommy, it came out!"

[Carrie96]

"Okay, sweetheart, let's go change. We're just practicing now. It's okay if you wet your pull-up, we'll just try again next time, okay?" Sharon picked James up and carried him back to his room to change him.


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[Omo90210]

James lay on her shoulder, fidgeting uncomfortably in his icky pull-up.

[Carrie96]

"I know, sweetie. That happens sometimes. That's why you're going to wear pull-ups until you're a little better at knowing when you need to go potty in time to make it there before you go in your pants. It won't happen in a day, you will need to practice for a while before you get it, and I know you're going to have accidents while you're learning, and that's okay." Sharon laid James on his changing table and wiped his crotch and bottom with a wet wipe before helping him into a dry pull-up and a pair of shorts. "There we go. All dry. Let's go play outside for a little while, okay?" Sharon got a sippy cup of juice for James and took him outside to play.


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[Omo90210]

James struggled to get down when they got outside and ran for his sandbox.