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Justin is now 100% potty-trained. I say 100% because he had been peeing in the toilet since November, 2009, but he wears a diaper when he poops. Two Fridays ago, when his dad went on holiday leave, he made Justin sit on the toilet when our son said he wanted to poop. Justin was hesitant to do as told and was whining all the time until he said he didn’t want to poop anymore. Justin’s dad then reminded everyone in the house to start encouraging Justin to pee and poop in the bathroom.

When Justin hinted he wanted to poop in the afternoon of the same day, his yaya assisted him in the toilet. He was still insisting he’d poop in his diaper, but her yaya didn’t budge. After much coaxing, he finally did it, not once, but thrice! Success! He was so proud of his accomplishment that he constantly boasted about it to all of us in the house and to his lolo when he talked to him over the phone. He agreed to poop in the toilet on the following conditions: (1) both his feet would be up on the toilet seat while pooping, (2) he wouldn’t be able to hear the sound of his poop dropping into the toilet; and (3) he wouldn’t be able to smell his poop.

It took us a long time to completely potty-train our son, but the long wait was worth it. Justin is turning four on July 7.

Today is only the third time that Justin wore briefs to school. The first time was unsuccessful. He peed in his pants the very minute I left his classroom. I told the teacher’s aide who assisted him that time to make him wear diaper for the remainder of his class. Yesterday, he peed in his shorts again, but when he changed into clean clothes, he began calling his teachers’ attention whenever he feels the urge to pee. That was definitely a lot better than last time. Today, however, is a totally different story because he went home with dry shorts and briefs, the very same pair that he had on when he went to school this morning. This means he’s already comfortable going to the bathroom in school whenever he needs to. Hurray!

Justin can now pee by himself in the toilet bowl, but our first attempt at making him wear briefs to school today was unsuccessful. When I was getting him ready for school this morning, I asked Justin if he wants to wear briefs when he goes to school. He said yes, and I was glad to do as told. I asked his teachers to assist him when he wants to use the bathroom and to ask him from time to time if he needs to pee.

I made my graceful exit afterwards and stayed awhile watching my son through their classroom window. I saw him playing with blocks (Their first 30 minutes in class, Mondays to Thursdays, is playtime). Then, he was talking to one of his teachers. Apparently, he forgot he wasn’t wearing diaper today. He peed in his briefs and pants.

I hurriedly went home to get him a new pair of shorts/pants. Good thing, his school is very near our place. When I came back, Justin was already back in his classroom wearing new briefs over his diaper. He wasn’t ashamed to be seen without his pants on because his usual getup at home is sleeveless shirt and diaper when he sleeps or sleeveless shirt and briefs when he’s awake.

I therefore conclude that Justin is not yet ready to wear briefs to school. We’ll try again next week. Wish us luck!

Last December 2008, I prepared a list of things I intend to accomplish in the coming months as far as my son Justin is concerned. That list included the following activities: potty training, bottle weaning and less TV watching. Here’s a quick update on that post.

Potty training – Justin is not completely potty trained yet, although he has shown considerable improvement in this area. He has gotten accustomed to wearing briefs, and he doesn’t wet or soil his underwear anymore. When he feels the urge to pee, he asks to be taken to the toilet. He wears a diaper only when he’s about to take his nap or at bedtime, when we go out of the house and when he wants to poop. He doesn’t really want to poop in the toilet, and this started when he was constipated a few weeks back. He finds it easier to do it on his diapers.

Bottle weaning – Justin sometimes drinks milk from a cup, but more often, he drinks milk from his bottle. But he consumes less milk now. He can actually last a day without milk. When we’re out of the house, he doesn’t usually ask for milk anymore, but on the rare occasions that he does, we simply offer him juice instead, and he seems quite content with it. He also goes to bed sometimes without asking for milk. I am actually relieved because less milk at bedtime means less baby bottle tooth decay.

Less TV watching – The two hours Justin spent attending his summer class (9am to 11am) meant no TV watching for two hours every weekday for the past five weeks. And because he was tired from school, he usually just slept in the afternoon, plus, we don’t watch TV in our bedroom anymore before he sleeps at night. I hope this trend won’t change now that his summer class is officially over. I just have to find ways to keep him busy and prevent him from watching too much TV.

This is my agenda for December as far as my son Justin is concerned.

Potty training – We thought Justin's first time to sit on the toilet last November 9 was a good start. Our rejoicing over that accomplishment was short-lived, however, as he never repeated the act again. Yesterday, I started placing his potty in the living room so he is reminded to plop into it when he needs to.

Bottle weaning – We also started making Justin drink his milk from a cup. The only time we make him drink milk from a feeding bottle is when he’s about to take his nap or at bedtime.

Less TV watching – We’re also cutting back the number of hours Justin can watch TV. Before, the TV set in the living room is on almost the whole day. Now, we’re encouraging more play and less TV. We keep him busy with his toys, his coloring book and crayons, and his notebook and pencil. He goes to the playground, too, to be with other kids.