Potty Trained by 3: CHECK!!!!!

We did it!!! We survived potty training!!! Eli is potty trained before his 3rd birthday, only a few weeks to spare! And actually once we decided that Eli was ready and we needed to get serious it was so easy! We have gone back and forth with potty training since last spring. We were never really pushing him too hard. We would ask him several times a day but if he didn't want to try we wouldn't force him. About a month ago a friend of mine posted on facebook that her 2 1/2 year old was potty trained after 2 weeks. I asked her for some advice and she shared her method. She told me that when she thought he was ready she just took away his diaper and put him in underwear. She said she always had extra clothes handy and after 2 weeks he was potty trained. Mike and I talked about it and we decided that after the holidays were over we would give it a shot.

On Monday, January 3rd we went for it. Eli was pretty excited about wearing his big boy underwear. He got to choose between super heroes, Toy Story, and Mickey. I had 13 pairs of underwear and several pairs of pants ready to go. We set the timer for 20-30 minutes and had him try each time the timer went off. He only had 1 accident on day 1! I was surprised at well he had done and so proud of him! Then he only had one more accident the rest of the week! I couldn't believe it! He was still doing so well! Mike had even taken him out to run errands a few times. We put him in a pull up just to be safe and he kept it dry each time! Over the weekend we met my sister at the mall and Eli went potty 2 different times there and stayed dry the entire time!!! I couldn't believe it!!
Week 2 I decided to not use the timer and see how he did. Since we had been using the timer he hadn't really told us when he had to go. To my surprise again, he did it! There were NO ACCIDENTS!!! He told me each time he had to go #1 or #2!! I couldn't believe it!! He even graduated from the little potty to the potty seat on the toilet! He has also started to stay dry at night and nap now, before he was always wet when he woke up. I can't believe how easy it has been. Now we know what to do when we think Jude is ready!

I am just so proud of my big boy!