Where's the Poop? In the Potty at Last!

Tyler with his prize for pooping in the potty:
the Grave Digger monster truck

Lots more prizes that still need to be earned!

Tyler has been exposed to potty training for what seems like a year now. He has been able to pee into the potty standing up for quite some time now but has not been super motivated to be potty trained. We have been somewhat lazy and busy with pregnancy and the new baby to be super motivated either. But now that Tyler is 3, Michael and I decided it is high time for him to be potty trained. This will ultimately make life easier and cheaper (no more diapers/wipes and a reduced daycare rate).

About a week and a half ago we decided to go hard core and put Tyler in regular underwear all day long and to only use diapers for naps and bedtime. The first day Tyler had 7 accidents (incidentally 5 of these happened within a 3-hour span). Now he is down to 0 or 1 wet accident(s) per day after feeling how uncomfortable it is to have wet underwear and pants. The biggest hold-up has been that until today Tyler would not poop in the potty, which apparently is very common. This has made for some messes! Yesterday we camped Tyler out in the bathroom for a good chunk of time. We got a new kiddie potty seat because he said his other one was uncomfortable. Tyler also sat on the regular toilet seat facing the toilet tank based on a suggestion from one of his teachers. That is what ultimately did the trick today along with a lot of help from the iPad. Michael set up the iPad on the toilet tank and we let him watch cartoons. This motivated him to sit for quite a while and get relaxed enough to do his business. I know we still have a long road ahead to finish potty training but I am relishing this small victory.