A few months ago I posted on the gram about Abey being potty trained before turning 2 and got a number of questions regarding how in the world we managed to do that, as if it’s an unfeasible task. Well, I’m here to tell you that according to a Go Diaper Free coach, Monet Combs, on a Birthkweens podcast, you can start potty training even earlier than we did (he was potty trained at 21 months), IF you feel that your child is ready. Babies apparently have sphincter control way earlier than we think. You should know that although I am a medical professional, I am not a potty training expert. I did not read any “get ready for potty training” books, nor did I do any research on it. We did what felt right for us and decided to have fun with it. This post is therefore strictly opinion based. I encourage you to do your own research (or not), and do what feels right for your family because every child and situation is unique.

When Abey was around a year old, he was showing signs of being ready for potty training. He would pull off his diapers as if they bothered him, and for about a week or two, I also noticed that his diapers were dry in the morning. At some point during that time, he had a tiny rash on the side of his bum, which did not seem to bother him. At his one-year pediatric visit, his pediatrician noticed the small rash. Without me even mentioning that Abe was  pulling off his diapers, she pointed out that such benign rashes sometimes appear when a child is ready for potty training. “Ready for potty training?”, I thought, “no way! That’s not what I was told research says”… research that was apparently funded by Pampers, according to Monet Combs. How convenient ay?

Side-eyeing Pampers like… bruh, you know what ya’ll did!

Abe’s pediatrician encouraged us to start potty training slowly by simply just having him sit on the potty whenever we used the bathroom.  I of course continued to look at her like she was crazy, the same way I looked at my mother when she bought Abe a potty when he was 9-months old. I remember arguing with my mom then because she too was convinced that starting potty training that early is possible. According to mom, I was potty trained by the time I was 15 months old, which is apparently the case with most kids in Zanzibar.

Prego & Abroad; Nov 2017

After the pediatrician’s visit, I dreamt of potty training Abe that early. Besides, we had just found out that we were pregnant and I had just turned down a great job offer because we had decided to relocate to Costa Rica. I thought to myself: How amazing would it be to not have to buy two sets of diapers for our two babes, especially since we would be living on one income? That dream, however, lasted for about 5 minutes. Who was I kidding? I had just quit my job around then because juggling work, Abey, classes, and family practice clinicals was too much, let alone potty training! I was also not convinced that it possible to successfully potty train that early… so why waste my time?

16-months-old Abe during our first week in CR; August 2017

When we first got to Costa Rica, it was hot as a mug! The sun was unbearable by 10AM and we didn’t have a car so Abe and I would walk to the beach, grocery shop, or laundry mat early in the morning and make it home before the sun was too hot, soaked in sweat, and ready to swim in the pool in our complex. It may have been the fact that I was super pregnant, but I was having a really difficult time tolerating the heat. We would get home and neither one of us would want anything to do with clothes. We lived in a tiny one bedroom apartment in a hotel with cheap blinds so I was not trying to traumatize anyone. I therefore usually kept my clothes on but Abe on the other hand, was living the dream in his birthday suit.

16-months-old Abe running to our apartment

Who needs clothes in the tropics anyway, right? Abe ended up spending 70% (don’t ask how I calculated this) of the day naked, which I thought was great for potty training. “He will definitely be potty trained by the time Soraya arrives,” I optimistically thought, until reality hit me like 10 minutes later. After a few days of bending over with my huge belly to clean pee and turds off the floor, I gave up and decided he could potty train himself some time before college. He then ended up living in his diapers (but still without clothes).

Walking to the store in his diaper; Sept 2017

About a month or so before Soraya was born, I decided again that we were not going to deal with diapers for both of our two under two. At this point,  Abe was 19-months-old and we were over purchasing his Huggies (the only brand that seems to be available in most stores around us). Not only are they a million dollars here (everything imported to CR is $100,000,000), they’re also horrible for the environment (and no I was not about that cloth diapers life even though, according to Monica Combs, they make potty training easier… we didn’t even have a washer to wash our own clothes… so…yeah, no). By the way, did you know that ultra-absorbent diapers are especially bad for the environment AND make potty training even more difficult? Yeah, I didn’t know either until I listened to the Birthkweens podcast.

Daily mother-son beach dates; September 2017

We bought him a potty and decided it was time to kiss his diapers goodbye! Plus we had just hired a nanny so the timing seemed perfect…she could clean the turds (lol, jk!). We started having Abe go bottoms out again and gently encouraging him to pee in the potty whenever we remembered to. We had decided early on that we wanted the whole potty training experience to be as stress-free as possible.

Your new driver; September 2017

Abe’s potty didn’t live in the bathroom. It was for the most part wherever Abe was… We would cheer and sing “Abey, Bomaye” (yes like the Muhammed Ali chant – except I just learned that it means “kill him” lol) every time he peed in the potty. Abe LOVES getting cheered for so he thought it was the funnest game ever. He would gallop around in circles after peeing in his potty like Steph Curry does when he hits a 3! A few days later, he peed in the potty 50% of the time during the day and would sit on the potty  and make grunting sounds as if he’s pooping but he rarely actually did.

19-months-old Abe and almost full-term Soraya; Nov 2017

The progress we had made was unfortunately interrupted by our journey to Turrialba, where Soraya would be born. We ended up getting distracted and forgot all about potty training. Once in Turrialba, we were so busy exploring and mentally preparing for Soraya’s birth that potty training was put on the back burner. Days after Soraya’s birth (when Abe was ~ 20-months-old) and many newborn diaper changes later, we decided it was time. Changing two kids’ diapers was not our favorite. So we whipped out the potty. Getting him back to his Steph Curry mode was like riding a bicycle, especially with his grandparents around. The more cheers the merrier; that Abey sure loves an audience.

Soraya’s home in the mountains; Jan 2018

When we came back to Playa Flamingo, 10 days after Soraya was born, Abe peed in the potty 100% of the time during the day (with occasional accidents, which he still has when he’s having too much fun and forgets to urinate on time). We had the peeing in the potty situation down!  Getting him to poop in the potty, on the other hand, was a challenge. There were days when he would not poop unless we put a diaper on. We figured just like how we trained him to pee in the potty, we would cheer for him every time he pooed in the potty also. According to Monica Combs on the Birthkweens podcast, it is more difficult to get boy babies to sit down to poop. I actually accidentally came across the podcast right around this point of potty training; the timing could not have been better. It gave me a much better understanding of what was happening. 

Papa bear and baby bears;Turrialba, Dec 2017

At around 21-months, Abe started pooping in the potty! Initially he pooped in the toilet with a toddler toilet seat. He loved getting cheered for so much that each time, he would squeeze out a tiny little poop, gallop around like a winner, then go back to squeeze a tiny bit more, and so on. He is such a superstar. By the time he was done pooping, we were poop(ed). As time went on, he pooped more in the toilet and his potty. He now much prefers pooping in his potty and refuses to poop or pee in the toilet unless we’re out. In fact, he often wants his potty to be put next to a window near our bathroom so that he could poop with a view (as if he could see outside of the window).   

Mountain simplicity in Turrialba; Jan 2018

Until he was around 22 or 23-months-old, Abe still required a night-time diaper. Around this time, he himself decided he was super done with diapers. He would not let us put them on (thankfully he has never been a nighttime pooper). He started sleeping in his tiny undies instead (he has accidents sometimes – DO invest in waterproof mattress covers – when he drinks too much water before going to bed, but otherwise he is mostly dry in the mornings). Our baby was all grown up and we were two proud parents… until we realized what Abey being potty trained meant; needing to stop to pee at least once on most car rides longer than 40-minutes and occasionally for poops. This is where the potette (and because he’s a boy, a beer can for long car rides, lol) comes in handy.

Swag in his tiny undies; June 2018

Don’t be like us though and forget to bring potette liners with you at all times. I will never forget the day we were at an outdoor restaurant, when Abe was first learning to poop in the potty, and he whipped out his potette and decided he would go poop on the side of the road. Thankfully we have doggy poop bags on us at all times and we were the only people around. Oh and another time we were on the beach… and that time we went hiking… Need I say more? 

When being on top of a mountain inspires you to take off your clothes; #InspiredbyNature

He now poops in the toilet when we’re out (he is 25-months-old) and in the potty at all times when at home. The potette can get converted into a toilet seat, which is very handy when out. We usually carry Clorox wipes with us to disinfect toilet seats before putting our potette on (yes I’m a germaphobe… so what! Building his immunity doesn’t have to involve him sitting on other people’s pee… mmmm k?).  The peeing piece, however, does not always happen in the baño. It happens wherever he happens to be when the urge hits him; it may be in a bush, river, or the side of the road. Oh the joys of being a little boy in the tropics. You know how the saying goes in Costa Rica: Pura Vida! 

When you need to pee, you need to pee. Even when crocodile watching; June 2018