Reddit mentions of Big Boy Underpants

My son turned 3 last weekend.

My older son had woken up about 3 months before turning three, we hadn't even tried potty training, but he owned a potty and undies, and said "No nappies today Mummy." And that was literally it. He had two accidents over the course of a month, but other than that, he was 100% potty trained from that day.

Well, my toddler is *super* smart, and he loves to be like his older brother and sister and I thought it would be a cake walk, too. Gave him a potty and undies for his second birthday but jsut had them around the house, like with my older son.


Nope. And not only nope, but he wouldn't tell us if he pooped, and would just sit in it until I realised (you can imagine how long that sometimes took with a nursing newborn), so daily I was scrubbing poop off him.


He would RAGE if I asked him to use the potty.


I looked up stubborn potty training tips. Nearly all them started with "Sometimes you just have to wait. 4 is not uncommon."


And my brain panics. My son is in the 2 year old class at preschool but they'll boot him out if he's not potty trained for the 3 year old class and he won't have turned 4 when it starts.


I tell my husband we just have to do it. We lasted a morning, he kept deliberately peeing anywhere but the potty.


Well, last week at story time he picked up this book https://www.amazon.com/Big-Boy-Underpants-Fran-Manushkin/dp/0553538616


We got it Thursday and read it every night. It's extremely cute and funny.


On Monday night he said "Big boy underpants tomorrow!"


And so we did. It has not been the quick transition it was with my older son. He's done 2 out of three poops in his shorts, and an average 66% success rate with wees. The first day was about 50%, the next was close to 100% and yesterday he had three accidents. One he forgot I'd brought the potty outside to play and tried to get inside and couldn't hold it anymore, the second time he forgot to take his undies off, but was actually sitting on the potty (all successful wees he manages himself) and the third time he was 100% being a deliberate jerk.


But! We have gone out of the house with undies a few times, including to a playground and he's asked to go in time and he did three wees at preschool on Wednesday. And yesterday he was in full insane toddler meltdown mode, stopped, used the potty and resumed his tantrum.

Also, he LOVES to stand up at the regular toilet like his dad and brother.


So, I guess my advice is obtain some books and add them to your rotation so it seems fun and exciting.


Also, I cart the potty everywhere. Upstairs, downstairs, outside. The first day I set it up like a little desk, so he could have his toys in front of him and watch TV. It was great that first day, but it wasn't necessary the next two days.

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