Brady's Page

What a Potty Party!

Where do I begin...just 4 days ago we dove into the world of potty training.  Most typical developing kids potty train around age 3, and Brady is just 33 months old.  He is much younger than most kids with autism even start trying.  So, are we crazy?  Maybe...but so far so good!  Thursday and Friday were Brady’s “Potty Party”, Children’s Hospital’s “kickoff to potty training”.  We literally spent nearly every waking hour either on the potty, on the way to the potty, or on the way from the potty.  Our house should have had a revolving door on it, with our consultant, therapists, observers, and grandparents (for reinforcement of course) coming and going throughout the day.  It was an interesting and tiring few days that hopefully put us on our way to diaper freedom.

It all began at 8am Thursday.  Brady did really well throughout the day, enjoying reading his Nick Jr magazine, doing puzzles, singing, playing with Toby the Totbot all on his Elmo potty.  As he had success, we rewarded him with mini Oreos, fruit puffs, favorite videos, and time outside on his new swingset.  There were accidents of course, but nothing we couldn’t handle.  I was prepared at the start Thursday with 11 brand new pairs of underoos...and we didn’t go through them all in the 2 days, which was a pleasant surprise to me.  Everyone worked very hard to keep Brady happy and entertained while he sat on the potty, and most of the time he seemed to really enjoy himself.  He likes attention, so having all these friends hanging out with him was fun I think.  We worked every time we took him to the potty on showing him his pec for the potty so that at some point he will tell us he needs to go potty with this picture.  By the end of the day Friday we were set to give it a try on our own all weekend, the true test I think. 

Saturday morning we went to swim class, got there safely without an accident, had fun in class, and truthfully I would’ve bet money he’d gone peepee in the pool.  (Don’t all kids do that?) So, we headed off to the locker room to change out of our wet clothes for the ride back home, got Brady changed back into his underoos, and just as I began changing myself, he had the biggest peepee accident yet...all over the women’s locker room.  So, we cleaned up our mess, and headed to the car in a second pair of dry underoos.  Now we were home to camp out for the weekend and figure out Brady’s potty schedule.  His therapists gave us some extra help Saturday, and Sunday we were totally on our own.

He had his ups and downs Sunday, but the best moment yet came late in the day.  I got him out of bed just after 4 from his nap, his diaper was wet but not warm...he had been going about 2 hours between pees, so I hadn’t put him on the potty yet...then at 5:20 he ran to me, sat in my lap facing me, grabbed at himself while looking me in the eyes like he needed me to know something.  So, we took off running to the potty, and within seconds of getting his underoos off he peed in the potty, with only a small spot on his undies.  I know it isn’t perfection, there was no pec involved...but I was thrilled he made such an effort to not go in his underoos and let me know he needed to go!!!  For a little guy that doesn’t communicate with us very much, this was HUGE!  I am sure we are in for some ups and downs, successes and accidents, but the boy LOVES his underoos!  He is already putting them on himself (sometimes both legs in one hole, but he’s learning) after he’s done.  Maybe we are crazy for trying this so early, but he was showing interest and does not like to have on a dirty diaper.  And I won’t lie, when everyone left Friday evening and the kids were in bed, I went through one of those incredibly stressful “overwhelming moments”.  But, I think that is something we autism moms just have to relive every so often, wondering what the future will hold, how we can recover our beautiful children, why we have been chosen for this journey...but that is a whole other blog...for another day…

Just discovered your blog today and am amazed at how many similarities I have found between your situation and ours!  We’ve pretty much done it all too: the IBI program at Children’s, the mad scramble for funding, the potty party, the food program (getting him to eat normal foods), OT, speech, communication devices, biomedical/nutrient therapy, preschool, buddy camp, zoo, COSI, swimming lessons, horseback-riding, upwards soccer (we try to have one extra-curricular activity each season or quarter), etc.  Our boys seem to have a couple of other things in common too: ours, who just turned six years old, still loves his Elmo and Grover, although he no longer shares this info with his peers now that he is older, but still insists on sleeping with his little Elmo he’s had since birth and the Grover he got last summer at Sesame Place, and he just got a new swingset too!  We have found that the key to it all in this crazy life is balance.  I know, easier said than done, right?  We have always insisted on fitting in family time to do things all together or with grandparents or even just daddy-son time or mommy-son time, and I believe that it has been time well invested and has truly bonded him to us in a way we never expected!

Thank you so much for your wonderfully honest and insightful blog.  Keep doing what your doing for little Brady...you’re doing great and so is he!

PS. The part in the potty party story where he came to you and told you what he really needed just made me eyes water!  As a mom of a boy like Brady, I know exactly how that feels!

It sounds like Brady is off to a great start!  I think it is so awesome that he is starting to make the connection and communicated to you that he had to go!  I haven’t started working with my son yet, but your story gives me hope that it’s not as scary as it seems.

Thanks for sharing!