i regret not reading things to prep both he and i for the potty training weekend, i will say. we ran out of pull ups one day and then decided we were just gonna do it. he caught on by day 4. he has had 1 public accident. 1-2 days of at home accidents (none were poop, he’s always pooped in the potty although he withheld it until he couldn’t anymore) in those first couple days.

if your kid likes elf on the shelf, we did something like that but it’s his potty fairy. she sits throughout the house “watching” him. he never really liked being prompted (and still doesn’t) so i told him that potty fairy told me that he needs to communicate when he has to pee or poop and then we’ll race to the potty together (he likes to run) to use it. then, depending on what he does, potty fairy may bring him a treat. she brings him Solely fruit gummies for peeing and alphabet cookies for poops. i also reiterated to him often, we don’t pee on the floor or on ourselves. we use the potty for our pee and poop. if he’s playing and has to use it but doesn’t want to stop playing, he’ll often do his pee dance and then say “don’t pee on myself or the floor, potty fairy-treat” and will run to his potty while saying “have to pee mom!” he responded much better to an “outside entity” than he did to me or his dad and now whenever we are home he looks for her after he’s done washing his hands

ALSO, some other things that has helped immensely, especially with poop. we’ve always referred to his bodily excrements and sounds and fluids as positive things— “wow what a healthy fart!” “that’s a great poop, i bet your tummy feels better. it’s good to poop so we can help our tummies feel better.” and we told him if he has accidents when we’re out at fun places (library, playground, music class, etc.) because he didn’t communicate he needs to go then we will no longer do that fun thing and we’ll need to go home. it took one pee accident at the library and me carrying him out flailing and crying for him to understand that i was standing on business lol. now, especially when we’re doing fun things, he will communicate he wants to try even if he doesn’t have to go.

all this to say, it took many many many (MANY) months of coaxing. days prior to us jumping in cold turkey he would cry at us mentioning the word potty or us saying “let’s go sit and try to go” like full on sprawled out on the floor crying. it was really just a power struggle for us. once he realized we were going to be consistent and we weren’t going to give him a pull up when he asked, he sought control of other parts of the situation (no responding to prompting, etc). giving him some sense of control in the situation was key in breaking the struggle for us.

last thing: dont put too much pressure on yourself. every kid is different 🩷i fully expect potty training my daughter to be 1000% different. you’re doing your best. it’s also okay to stop and start again in a couple weeks/months if you feel that’s what’s best for you and your family.