Routines in the White House :: The Toilet Training Terror

The first thing that raced across my mind at our first ultrasound with the triplets was “We have to potty train THREE at once!?” We had yet to start potty training Avelyn, but I was dreading it…three at once was terrifying! And yet, here we are, three years later, attempting to potty train three at once.

I’d love to tell you that it’s gone amazingly and that everyone is completely out of diapers, but…. that would be a lie: A big ol’ fat, stinky, wet lie. And yes, it’s turning out to be as bad as I expected it to be.

They’re all interested in the potty. They will all sit and do something in the potty {1 or 2}. None of them do any of it with any kind of consistency that makes me willing to forgo the diapers.

James is the closest. I think if we were to work with him for a week he’d be done. For the most part he is dry in the morning, dry after naps, and pees quarts at a time, but then there’s that #2 thing. That’s not working out so well. He either doesn’t go at all, or then goes in his underwear. The biggest battle with him is that he’d rather go #1 and 2 in a diaper than in the potty; so we have to be on him about going.

Henry is the least interested, but wants the undies the most. We’ve told him, no undies until he’s dry for 3 days…hasn’t happened yet. He wakes up absolutely soaked in the morning, demands water all night long {I get up with him more now than I ever did when he was a baby—and he gets water all day}, and doesn’t care if he’s wet or poopie.

Ellie is interested, but again not motivated to be consistent.

For all of them the toilet is great fun! They love using it! They love flushing it! They love it! The biggest problem we face is Mommy Burnout, because taking one to the potty consistently is hard enough….THREE is an absolute joke. You would think I’ve never done this before because I feel like I’m at a complete loss.

The hardest thing is when one wants to go the all want to go, but then they’re all in the bathroom and playing around and making messes and causing chaos and I want to curl up on the couch in a ball. It’s quite literally insanity. But this too shall pass.

I’m hoping this winter, with Matt home a bit more regularly that we can tag-team and get this whole potty training thing done and over before the Spring.