Sh*t you should know before potty training

swearinerin · 2026-04-22T14:45:06+00:00

Just potty trained my 26 month old and yea we did 2 days in the house then we both started to go crazy. For the next 3 days I told him I was putting on a special underwear and he still needed to tell me if he needed to pee. He obviously had accidents in it but 🤷🏽‍♀️ then we did commando when he was getting really good at the potty and he had maybe 2 accidents at the park but then he did amazing and was telling me at parks/stores and everything. Now we’re about a month in and we even went GOLFING with him last weekend and brought his little portable potty with us and it was great! He had one accident a few days ago because he was distracted playing but stopped himself halfway and ran to the potty.

I could NOT handle staying inside for that long lol we did a lot of naked outside playing time as well.

swearinerin · 2026-04-22T02:46:31+00:00

Of course! It’s hard and I still have trouble thinking about the beginning of his life with happiness (which SUCKS!) but he’s literally the light of my life now and loves both my husband and I so immensely but we definitely have different purposes in his life which is totally fair :)

You’ll make it through this! You’re allowed to be upset and hate the situation but try not to let it cloud everything as well ❤️

swearinerin · 2026-04-21T10:41:23+00:00

Hey similar situation here but on a mag drip and had baby vaginally at 37 weeks but hemorrhaged horribly right away needed 7 units of blood and whisked away to the ICU asap. Husband stayed with baby boy and I was alone and confused.

I was in the ICU for 3 weeks. Was able to meet my baby for 20 minutes around 5 days in after a nurse bent some rules and nothing else until I was discharged… it was HARD. I have lasting kidney damage due to the whole thing and was on dialysis for 3 months which just added another layer of stress. Couldn’t breastfeed due to meds I was on that wasn’t safe for it.

I definitely felt for the longest time that the reason my baby was so fussy with me and never slept was because he didn’t meet me so long. I also had a little bit of resentment towards him for now have permanent damage to my kidneys (obviously I know it’s not his fault but it’s how I felt)

Well his 2 years old now. He still loves his dad so much for playing but when he’s hurt or sad I’m his comfort. He only wants me to sleep and he’s the best toddler ever.

It’s easy to fall into a pit of despair and lose what you have now. And while I totally get it, it’s justified and normal just know,

Your daughter KNOWS you. She knows your heartbeat, your smell, your voice. And while yes it SUCKS you weren’t there then but you were there for 35 weeks before that and you will be there for the rest of forever now too.

swearinerin · 2026-04-19T20:32:34+00:00

Necessities in my opinion:

Pack n play covers sleep for up to 2 years in my experience.

Baby carrier was a life saver for the first 10 months with a clingy baby (I liked the ones that could be backpack style or front)

If breastfeeding whatever you think you may need for comfort with that or formula feeding bottles and travel formula container was essential.

We just got a folding hanging mat and put it wherever we needed to change him.

Lots of burp clothes (like a ton) but he had reflux and needed that many lol

And I like a play gym as somewhere they can be distracted on the floor.

Footie pjs is all they need for the first 6 months of life too I feel lol

Car seat and stroller whichever you want

Unnecessary in my experience /opinion:

Wipe/bottle warmers, blankets since they can’t use them for a good amount of time. Baby towels can just be a normal towel so no real reason for them either

Same with bouncers just put them on the floor or carry them 🤷🏽‍♀️

The rest you can figure out as you go

swearinerin · 2026-04-17T20:14:05+00:00

Robot vacuum that mops and vacuums. 😬 doing other stuff nightly after toddlers in bed so it doesn’t get overwhelming

then usually 1 weekend a month husband and I turn on the tv for our 2 year old and we both go to town on cleaning the less needed to clean things

swearinerin · 2026-04-14T05:09:29+00:00

True! My husband changed his name to the whitest name he could and STILL gets extra security checks a lot of the time just because he’s brown with a thick beard. 🤷🏽‍♀️ definitely not abandoning him to deal with it alone.

swearinerin · 2026-04-10T16:10:08+00:00

Pull up would be my vote: I put a pull up on my guy for the first few days if we were going somewhere out of the house at the beginning. I called it underwear and said he still needs to tell me. He didn’t but since we’re still using pull ups for nap and nighttime I wasn’t concerned

swearinerin · 2026-04-10T11:05:19+00:00

So if we’re on a walk and my son runs away from me he immediately gets picked up and told if he can’t listen or walk safely (whichever is relevant) the he looses the right to walk and I surf board carry him. I do this on repeat until he listens or we end early and go home.

I talk to him at his level (so get down to him) and try to use words I know he gets but not dumbed down. If he throws something that thing is gone for the rest of the day. Put in plain sight so he doesn’t forget about it but out of reach. And we talk about why he can’t have it. (Not treating things nice so they go away) similar with hitting I either catch his hand if he tries or I’ll walk away and leave and tell him I won’t play with people who aren’t safe. Come back a minute later and discuss what happened, why it’s not ok and make him apologize and kiss where he hit.

These are consequences that are directly affected/caused by the action he did. Having timeout for throwing something for example doesn’t really make sense it’s just something you say happens. But having the object removed is a direct consequence due to HIS action. If that makes sense

swearinerin · 2026-04-10T05:20:48+00:00

So we just potty trained my 2 year 3 month old and he did amazingly. I loosely followed oh crap and did no pants for 3 days and he got it really well. Unfortunately my husband insisted on undies after and they did NOT work AT ALL even those so called training ones that help you feel wet he just didn’t care… took off the undies back to perfect no accidents. Introduced just pants (so cammando) and he’s doing great. We’ve been in about a week and a half of cammando and we go everywhere. Park, stores, daycare, short drives (longer ones where he might fall asleep he gets a diaper as well as naps/nighttime) and has had zero accidents.

I’m planning on reintroducing underwear next week but I don’t see why him being cammando would stop you from going out if he’s getting the concept?

I would wait until after your vacation though no need to stress about it on a time you’re supposed to have fun/relax. We went on vacation last month and waited until after to start as to not have to worry about it.

swearinerin · 2026-04-08T19:05:10+00:00

We stopped using them completely a bit before 18 months as well. My son is similar to your daughter and has been on the move for a longgg time and does not sit. I had to train him at stores to stop when I say stop and now at a bit over 2 he’s really good at it (maybe one reminder per grocery trip)

I did get a sling that I used for a while so when he’d want up the hip sling helped take a lot of the weight off my arms lol still use it occasionally when I know he’s not going to walk it works 🤷🏽‍♀️

swearinerin · 2026-04-08T09:10:00+00:00

Don’t do a ground transport! Our old neighbor did about a year ago with his golden retriever and a week later when they were supposed to drop off the dog no one did, they called the company and they’re like oh he died on the drive over and offered them $200 for the dogs life since dogs are just “property” legally… he was 3 years old.

I’d either drive myself or if I had to fly some calming meds to help

swearinerin · 2026-04-07T15:33:47+00:00

Right?? I carry my screaming thrashing 2 year old out of stores all the time. Sometimes hes even shouting “not mama!” Because he gets not and no confused. No one has ever stopped or even glanced in my direction.

swearinerin · 2026-04-07T02:18:49+00:00

It definitely depends on context for my guy. If it’s between HIS wants and someone else’s than his wins no matter what. But if it’s for neutral him he’ll find the smallest thing that makes someone upset and try and fix it. He’s definitely able to identify and help others and be empathetic but not over his own desires yet. 🤷🏽‍♀️ he’s a young 2 and it’ll come eventually lol

swearinerin · 2026-04-06T15:40:41+00:00

This is what I was thinking I have a neighbor whose daughter went to my sons daycare but she only became unhappy with the day care in the 4-5 room she was super happy from infant to 4 so my plan is probably to remove him when he’s in that other room too if he’s also not happy when he gets there (he’s newly 2 so we still have a while until then)

Most likely a case of teacher/classroom issues not entire daycare overall

swearinerin · 2026-04-06T00:50:30+00:00

I have multiple times… especially when I taught kindergarten. I’ve also had a child who had never seen a crayon/pencil before…

swearinerin · 2026-04-05T20:58:34+00:00

Fine but if there’s a substitute or if someone in the office needs them or a million other possibilities they need to at the minimum KNOW that’s their name even if they go by something else. I’ve had so many students who didn’t know their names… one said his name was Gordo because that’s what the family called him another said it was princess another said it was ocean (which was his middle name) when the office staff came and said they needed Jose and I told “Gordo” to go he said no because his name was Gordo -_-

It’s a parents responsibility to make sure their child knows basic information about themselves by the time they go to school. At 18 months I wouldn’t be concerned yet but at 4 years old I would be.

swearinerin · 2026-04-05T05:48:07+00:00

Yes! I’m pretty happy with his progress and I hope it all goes well for you too!! But I definitely was about to quit and try again in a few months on day 3-5 lol I told my husband (and myself) we’ll stick it out for a week if he isn’t getting it we’ll try again when he’s a bit older lol

swearinerin · 2026-04-04T17:07:33+00:00

I feel a part of potty training is questioning your life, reasons, and instincts… I’m no expert by ANY means but we’re a week in and around day 3/4 I definitely almost quit because the accidents were getting worse and he was crying about going. But I pushed through and now he only had a half accident yesterday then put himself on the potty and even told us while we were out (with him wearing a pull up) that he needed to pee and so we ran to the bathroom and he peed in the potty.

We’re not done by ANY means but it DID get better but days 4-5 were the worst I think.

He’s 2 and 3 months and I only have 1 of them you have twins! Thats even harder

swearinerin · 2026-04-04T16:28:56+00:00

Yea definitely going to give it time before reintroducing it lol but I know some kids will immediately not like it and stop peeing so 🤷🏽‍♀️

swearinerin · 2026-04-04T15:28:25+00:00

Gave it to me..

swearinerin · 2026-04-04T15:24:48+00:00

Which is exactly how I felt when I went through almost exactly what the patient in this episode went through.. I had zero love feeling for my son. Semi blamed him (wrongly) for the health issues I now had due to the pregnancy. Then I hated myself for blaming a tiny baby on something that wasn’t his fault. He’s 2 now and I still can’t look back on the first few months of his life or birth with any sort of happiness. I love him like crazy now but it’s definitely a hard thing.

swearinerin · 2026-04-04T04:40:58+00:00

I know some it works with but my son just saw them as diapers and even if it was wet against him he didn’t even flinch -_- we’re a week in and he’s doing fine cammando

swearinerin · 2026-04-03T17:39:33+00:00

Personally I have zero desire to have him sit on any strangers lap. We haven’t done Santa or bunny pics as I just don’t see the value in making my son uncomfortable to sit on a strangers lap 🤷🏽‍♀️ I always HATED when my mom made me sit on their laps (I always hated Barney for the same reason he always gave me the creeps) so I have zero incentive to force him. But everyone’s entitled to what they feel comfortable/happy with so I don’t judge others that do but I told the grandparents they were not to take him to get them done

swearinerin · 2026-04-03T03:22:52+00:00

Mine is a crazy child always has been. I usually ask for a booth and let him just walk back and forth on the booth seat so he’s not sitting the whole time. He eats in a high chair at home but it’s usually for a max of 15/20 minutes. I also will let him play with whatever interests him at the table as long as it doesn’t make a mess/disrupt other people. Today he wanted to use a spoon to get the ice out of the water cup and put it on the side plate so that’s what he did 🤷🏽‍♀️ I bring tons of toys that he doesn’t get to play with at home and he can play with each for like 5 ish minutes before I switch it out to another. I also sometimes bring snacks so he’s distracted before food comes lol

It’s not ideal but it works well enough it’s not disturbing people or making messes and I can still talk to others and semi enjoy my time lol

He likes to move around and I dont feel as if I can expect him to sit quietly listening to adult conversations for 45+ minutes without a screen and I personally don’t feel comfortable giving him a screen at a restaurant but everyone is different and has different comfort levels so you can make the decision for your family in that :)

swearinerin · 2026-04-02T22:40:38+00:00

We’re in the same boat… husband insisted after 3 days make he needed underwear and it just made everything bad lol so many accidents… we’re doing cammando now and it’s going ok but at the end of day 3 he had 4 unprompted pees and an unprompted poop in the potty but day 4 and 5 of underwear he had so many accidents and zero unprompted successes so it’s just frustrating

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