Potty Training: Not Yet

I was hoping to write a post outlining all of our wonderful successes with potty training.  Not so much.  I thought Henry was ready, but I just don't think he is.  He was very excited about going to the potty, but now I realize that there's much more to being ready than thinking flushing is fun.  Here's how the past three days have gone...

Day 1
We stayed home and Henry was completely naked on the bottom.  He was very excited about going to the potty and especially about getting that M&M after.  As a result we went to the potty about 50 times, no joke.  He peed about 20 times but only pooped in his diaper, which he wore at nap and bedtime.  He didn't have a single accident.  I finished the day exhausted but encouraged.

Ain't he cute in his Percy undies?

Day 2
After the great success the previous day, I decided to bust out the big boy undies.  He had two accidents first off, and then none the rest of the day.  I had to set the timer to remind him to go every 30 minutes, and occasionally he would ask to go on his own. 

Day 3
Again in big boy undies at home.  Started off the morning fine, and even rode with Daddy to pick up some bagels for breakfast without incident. I went to take a nap around 10:30 and that's when all hell broke loose.  He had a couple of accidents before nap, and then after nap I went to get him and he protested sitting on the potty.  He still wanted to wear the big boy undies but didn't want to pee on the potty.  Later on we were on the potty happily singing an endless round of Old MacDonald and he suddenly just freaked out and hugged me while he cried, still sitting on the potty.  This afternoon he had some success (stayed dry during a short walk) and two more accidents.  I am feeling increasingly demoralized and Henry seems stressed.  Though I have not ever lost my cool with him about accidents, I have been increasingly short with him in general.

So we've had 0 accidents on day one, 2 accidents on day two, and 4 accidents on day three.  Most of those accidents happened just after going potty.  I realize looking back that he was successful on the first day because he went to the potty so many times that he never needed to hold it. Based on his diapers I know that he can hold it longer than he is, but for whatever reason that's just not happening.  He is peeing only a dribble at a time, so I suspect he might not be patient enough to let it all out, or to wait till he really has to go.

After much discussion, we have decided to table the potty training for now.  It was a hard decision because I don't want to give up if we're close to a breakthrough.  Then I think that if he was really, truly ready he wouldn't just be successful for me and not Daddy, or when naked, or when I remind him every 30 minutes.  We could keep going and maybe find success in a few weeks, but at what cost? Hanging around the house so much is driving us crazy.  There's a dark cloud over all three of us, and I just don't think it's worth it.  The process will be a lot easier on everyone if we wait until he is truly ready, both physically and emotionally.  At 2 years and 5 months he's still on the young side.  And changing diapers is SO MUCH EASIER than potty training, especially when your kid won't poop in the potty, so I don't see a huge downside to waiting. 

Hopefully we'll have good news to report in a couple of months, when it can be his idea and his accomplishment, not ours.