Potty Training

Ever since Aiden turned 18 months old I have been thinking about when would be a good time to start potty training him. Since then Jaime and I have really tried to let him go with us when we go to the bathroom - just to show him what it's all about. Initially he didn't really care and had no interest in the potty other than playing with the roll of toilet paper. After about a month though he started showing more interest in it, and we started letting him try to potty too. He never went potty, but he liked being able to sit up there as if he was actually using the potty. We'd always tell him that he did a good job trying, and that we'd try again later.

More recently, he has started telling us that he needs to go potty. The first time he said it I remember I was so excited thinking that he would actually potty this time! He didn't. Ha! At that point I determined that maybe he is ready for some serious training, because to him it probably seemed like a game or something fun to do rather than something he needed to start doing.

So yesterday while Jaime and I were at Walmart I took a little detour over into the baby section of the store, and came back with this....

Isn't it cute? Aiden loves it! It has helped out a lot, because he can sit on the potty on his own, and we don't have to hold him. I think that helps him to feel more comfortable, which will help him to actually use the potty. Can you guess why Aiden likes it so much?? Yep, that's right....Elmo is on it! =)

I've taken him potty and let him use it a few times today, but so far he hasn't gone. We're gonna keep trying though! Right now we're basically still just getting him used to the potty, but after we move I am going to get a lot more serious about it. I feel like if I can get him to actually use it that first time it will help him out a lot. I don't expect that to be all it takes, I know it will take him a while to start going to the potty all the time - but I do think that after the first time he goes that he might start to understand better.

Wish us luck, as I know this will probably be a long process. Maybe we'll be getting somewhere by his 2nd birthday though, or hopefully at least by the end of the year. Ha!