Potty Training

I know I'm tired and busy, but I have to squeeze some time for the blog otherwise Autumn will be here without sharing enough. When my son turned two, he started showing signs to be potty trained; such as; mommy I want change, and he woke up dry sometimes. I was not on top of him for many reasons, first, I thought potty training will just happen, and second I kept postponing. I had someone from "Help Me Grow" that came to my house once a month, and they told me that boys are potty trained later than girls between 3-31/2 . To support their statement, I came across a lot of articles from Children magazines that says the same thing. Thus, I was not pressed about potty training him. I bought a potty, and told him what's for and tried to remind him to use it. By the time he was 2 1/2, I removed him from diapers to pull ups that I called big boys pants. He was excited for a moment; actually he started peeing in the potty, but still doing # two in his big boys pants. I tried to motivate him with stickers and M&M, but it didn't work. When he turned three, I started to worry because he understood almost everything, and knew exactly what he was doing, but refused to use the potty. My mother in-law told me not to worry much. She told me that she has never seen a 4 year old not potty trained, so by the time he is 4 he will be using his potty. I talked to a couple more people, and they told me he should be potty trained. I decided to go online and find info about other moms that have kids around my son's age. Oh my gosh, I thought I was the only one. I end up finding even funnier stories. One boy who was 31/2 would tell his mom, "mom I'm going to my room and poop now." As I read other mom's stories, I began to laugh at myself. One thing many other mom responded was, don't enforce potty training. Sometimes ignore the child for a while and then come back later. I also leaned that a new change can be a big issue such as, a new baby in the family or moving to a new house. I could not stop telling him to use the bathroom every time I change his big boys pants because I was tired of changing him. I promised to give him stickers or M&M if he use the toilet to do # 2, but all he says is "OK mom next time." Every time I asked him where do we do # 2, he sweetly respond "In the toilet." I never shouted at him, I really tried hard to be calm whenever I talk to him. I have been thinking hard about what to tell him that might work. After I came home with the baby, I knew he was a proud big brother; thus, I told him that he need to show his sister that he is a big boy. He needs to use the potty. All he say was, "Ok mom." At first I thought he was just saying his ok mom as usual. Before I knew it, he called me to go help him wipe. I thought it was a joke. I went there, and called Brian to witness. After he went for three days, we decided to let him wear underwear. Berhane will be 31/2 on May 14th, and I'm proud to say that he has been using the potty since April 3 of 08. He is officially potty trained.