For the last two weeks, I’ve been so proud to watch my little man run around in his Minecraft undies. It’s been a long time coming. My little man is finally 100% potty trained!

I was always certain that this day would eventually come and I knew it was just going to take some time. Dylan always masters whatever skill needs to be achieved, but he does it in his own time. I’ve always been supportive of letting him master these things in his own time and I know in my heart that it will happen eventually.

The toughest part about potty training has been dealing with other peoples expectations. I have always known that once he was ready, it would come pretty easily. I knew that it might take a little extra time, but that he would get there. Every time he takes a new step, there comes a point where it just clicks, and then all goes smoothly. It has always been this way with everything else, and I knew that this was how potty training would be too.

When it comes to potty training any child, neuro-typical or not, we often look for signs of readiness. Not liking to be in a wet diaper or hiding in a corner to go potty. You often hear people say that once kids start to show the signs of readiness that it is a good time to start potty training.

I think that most children start to show some signs at a certain point but as time went by, Dylan was not showing the signs. People would ask me if he was doing this or doing that, and I would tell them no, he was not showing any signs of readiness. People were quick to blow it off though and insist that we try anyways. I honestly wish I would have followed my own gut instincts and just left it alone, but despite him not showing any signs of readiness, I attempted to potty train.

Needless to say, it was an epic fail. Several attempts were epic fails. At the time I wasn’t surprised, and it all just ended up being super stressful for both Dylan and I. Each time I tried to push it, it seemed like he just regressed in that area. I was always happy to just go back to the way the things were.

Other people seemed to be bummed out and I felt like they felt that I should’ve tried harder. I still felt the need to pull back though and I knew in my gut and in my heart, that this was not the right time yet.

Slowly but surely Dylan made progress. Things got better and I was always okay with that. I was always happy and content with small steps of progress. I never felt the need to rush the process because I knew it wasn’t really going to help. This little guy always masters what he needs to but he can’t be rushed!

Recently he’s become so close to being completely potty trained. He started making more baby steps in that direction right on his own, without being prompted. Then a couple of weeks ago, I had him try on some undies under his new pants, and that was it. He never put on a pull-up again. Never asked for one, not even at night. He just naturally transitioned himself right into it.

This has truly been another case where something within him just clicked, and that was it, he had mastered the skill that was sought. Looking back, I wish I would have just followed my own instincts when it came to potty training. I would have avoided a lot of irritation and frustration for us both!

I’m okay with Dylan’s progress happening on his timeline and I didn’t mind that this skill took a while. I must say though, now that he’s running around in his Minecraft undies, I’m so freaking proud of my little man! I always knew he’d get there!