Sparkle Spotlight - The Potty Boot Camp

I'm sure by now, most of you have been introduced to Bean but for those of you who haven't, this is my son:


Bean is an adorable, loving little boy. He can also be extremely stubborn, as you can probably tell by the picture. Bean just turned four a couple of months ago. This picture was taken one week before his birthday. Oh, and one more thing? He wasn't potty trained at that time.

I had tried on and off for two years. Nothing would get this kid to sit on the potty, much less go in it. On the rare moments that he would sit on it, he'd stay there, sometimes up to an hour without doing anything. Yep, he's stubborn. My goal had been to have him potty trained by the time his little sister came along. It wasn't going well, and then she was born a month early which really threw everything off. So, here we were, a week before his fourth birthday and he still wasn't potty trained.

The night before his birthday I did some desperate googling. I had just attended Bloggy Boot Camp a couple of weeks prior, so I guess the phrase "boot camp" was still fresh in my mind. At any rate, something prompted me to type "Potty Boot Camp" into the search field. I clicked on the first result, and found out that there is actually a program called The Potty Boot Camp! What's more, is that there was a link to the eBook, available for purchase for $5.95. I bought it immediately. There's actually a money back guarantee for the eBook, but I didn't even notice that when I bought it. At this point, I was willing to try anything.

A couple of days later, I put it into action. I approached Bean and told him we were going to start Potty Boot Camp. To my surprise, he agreed! The book emphasizes the importance of your child being ready, so this was a step in the right direction. Then we followed the simple directions of the method, combining them with a sticker chart. I love the way the method is set up - it tells you step by step, exactly what to do and when to do it. More importantly, IT WORKS! My four year old, who had never gone potty in his entire life, went by the end of the first day. The second day he self initiated and had NO accidents. A few days later I decided to be brave and take away his pull up at night time. To my surprise, he stayed dry! He did have a few accidents that first month but those were few and far between.

These days, he's only too happy to go potty and loves being a "big boy." So thanks, Potty Boot Camp.. You've added a little sparkle to my days.