Let the potty training begin

Back in July, we found ourselves stumbling into toddler-led toilet training. And to be honest, since then, not a lot has changed. We continued in much the same pattern – some days Little Man would opt to use the toilet or potty, and some days he wouldn’t. For a couple of months, he lost interest completely.

And then recently, he decided he was interested in using the toilet or potty again. And after three or four weeks in a row with no size 5 nappies in Tescos and no decent deals on boxes of nappies in any of the local grocery stores, I thought, “What are we waiting for?”

So this weekend, we decided to just take the plunge and see how we’d get on if we ditched nappies completely. Surprisingly well as it turns out. Two small accidents this morning, and seven successful potty and toilet uses.

To help encourage Little Man, we picked up a Pirate Reward Chart. Every time Little Man uses the potty, he gets to pick a new magnet from the selection of treasure chests, gold stars, pirate flags, and tropical trees. I don’t think he understands the concept of X number of stars on the reward chart equals a treat or anything like that. Right now, it seems choosing a magnet is a reward!

The Pirate themed chart is particularly relevant as well because our potty training book of choice is pirate based as well – Pirate Pete’s Potty. (There’s a Princess Polly’s Potty version too for anyone who isn’t quite as enamoured with pirates as Little Man!)

Of course, it should come as no surprise that the iBook version on the iPad is the preferred version in this house! Pirate Pete’s Potty: A Ladybird potty training book (enhanced version) is almost identical to the physical version of the book, except for some added interactivities. You can help Pirate Pete choose the perfect potty, and pair of big boy pants, and you can even help him learn how to pull his pants up and down.

It remains to be seen whether or not we’ll be nappy-free in a couple of weeks time. I certainly hope so, but I know that right now Little Man thinks the whole thing is a great game, and he might not be so thrilled with it when the novelty wears off in a few days! We’ll just have to wait and see! 🙂