Potty Training is NOT for Sissies

I can say without a doubt, that potty training was one of the hardest things about parenting. I hated every moment. As a self-proclaimed, proud germophobe, trying to get the kids out of diapers was a bit of a struggle. Of course, the fact that the kids didn’t care either way, didn’t make it easy for me.

My youngest fought toilet training from day one – she had zero interest in it. With her tough little personality, she just could not be persuaded to give it a chance until she was good and ready. Once she was ready to put on her new Strawberry Shortcake underwear (yes, I bribe with cute underpants), she did really well. The only times she ever had an accident was when she was too busy playing to take a potty break. That may have happened A LOT, but she was young, and it was a huge relief to be so close to being dry all the time that I really didn’t care. Once she was out of diapers, we were still using pull ups at night until she was consistently dry. We have had to revert back to using them a couple of times, when she has been sick, but otherwise she’s dry all the time.

My oldest child’s situation is different and a bit more complicated. He too started out with zero interest in being potty trained, until one day he said he wanted to try. He spent an entire YEAR trying, quitting, and trying again. He did perfect the art of sitting on the potty with a good book however. Eventually, he was potty trained day and night, and Mommy was HAPPY. Sometime later, he got very sick with the worst case of Rotovirus – it ravaged him. It was just awful. Once he recovered, we had to go back to using pullups. Medically, I have no idea what happened, but he just could not control his bladder at night after that. We tried every trick that was suggested to us – no late night drinking, waking him at night for bathroom breaks – but nothing worked. He was also that kid, who was sick every other week. He caught every cold, every flu, EVERY ILLNESS – it was the worst time. We also learned he was asthmatic so he coughed a lot. And when he would have these coughing fits, his weak bladder paid the price. Then he started getting bladder infections – something, we were told, is very rare in young boys. Poor little dude couldn’t catch a break. As he got older, and continued to have them, he was uncomfortable wearing pull ups at night, so I did some research (ie. SHOPPED) and found GoodNites. I bought them solely because of their resemblance to underwear. They just made him feel better about himself, and as his mom, I was happy to help him feel that way. They kept him and his bed dry at night – and I consider that a success all around.

I was recently asked to be a GoodNites Blogger Ambassador and I’ll be honest, I’ve struggled with it a bit. Not because I don’t believe in the product, because I do and as I mentioned above, we have used them successfully. I was worried about talking about such a personal issue involving my kids. But I realized that SO many children experience similar issues, and there really should be no shame in it. I have however; decided to not talk specifically about dates and ages above, because I’m overprotective of my babes, in case you’re wondering why I did not.

In upcoming posts, I will introduce you to the GoodNites expert panel that can answer all your potty training questions. Do you have any specific questions  you would like answered? Please leave them below in the comments, and I will be posting the answers to all the questions in an upcoming post!

Disclaimer: I am participating in the GoodNites Blogger Ambassador program and I am being compensated for my time. However, despite my old age, my brain still allows me to express my own thoughts, as I always do on my blog.

Tagged as: Ambassador, bedwetting, Good Nites, Kimberly Clark, Potty Training, training pants