Potty Training

So Misty and I decided that we would attempt to potty train Angelo before baby #3 arrives. We bought little undies with Cars characters and pull-up diapers. Suffice to say that Angelo turned the tables on us and trained us on what he would and wouldn't do. This child refuses to go to the bathroom when asked. We set a 30 minute timer and every time it beeped we asked Angelo if he needed to go potty. Of course he said no and then 2 minutes later told us that he just pottied in his pull-up. As a side note Pull-up diapers are ridiculously expensive. It is clearly the last jab from the diaper companies knowing that they wont see those hineys again until incontinence sets in 60+ years later; but I digress. So clearly I am miffed that the overly expensive diaper has just been micturated in after I just asked him if he had to go.

Searching for answers Misty and I embarked on a journey to find alternate ways to potty train without breaking the bank on Pull-Ups. So we put him in just underwear and let him run around without pants. Sure enough the same thing happened. As punishment we decided to make him sit bare-bottomed in the laundry room while his undies got washed. He dutifully sat there while they went through the spin cycles and then was happy to put on another pair. No sooner had we re-clothed his loins then he did it again.

Next we tried letting him run around naked in the back yard. This was a stroke of genius because there would be nothing to throw away or wash if soiled so we figured we would let him pee on the fence or in the grass...anywhere so that he could get the feel of it. Well he didn't go on the fence or the grass like I had hoped. What he did do was drop some rabbit pellets on the back porch which I then had to hose off. Perhaps I should have titled this posting "Lack of Potty Training!"

We have tried positive affirmations and treats (he is really fond of malt balls and gummie bears) to no avail. This child is so obstinate that it makes me want to pull out what's left of my hair. We have all but given up for now. We figured that #3 isn't due for another 3 months so we still have a little time, but our goal is still to have only 1 child in diapers at any given time. Angelo is going to give us a run for our money on this one.

It is with a great deal of skepticism and cautious optimism that we picked up the book "Potty Train Your Child in Just One Day." Needless to say I am unsure of its claim to work in just one day, but we will see. It can't hurt to try because everything else doesn't seem to work. If any of you have any great ideas or stories to share drop me a line and let me know what your secret is becuase we're about all out of ideas.