So it's been over a month, and I'm proud to say that our little Emma
is potty trained! I waited a while to write this one because it's a
personal pet peeve when I read a post about someone potty training (or
any number of subjects) in 3 days, and they're writing the post on day 3
- I personally would like to know about day 4 and maybe even day 17
because life goes on after day 3. This pet peeve also applies to product
reviews when people say, "This just came in the mail today, and I love
it!" I'd much rather know how you feel about it a month from now, thank
you very much. But... I digress.
We did do the 3 day potty training method with Emma in which we stayed home for three full consecutive days and focused solely on potty training, although I must
admit that we began preparing a while back. We got her a potty chair for
Christmas, and it's been sitting in the bathroom for the past 7 months.
I showed her, using her favorite doll and some big girl training
panties, how you would pull down your panties, sit on the potty and go,
and wipe, and pull your panties and pants back up. She would sit on her
little potty (fully clothed and in her diaper) occasionally when one or
the other of us was using the bathroom, just to get used to it. We also
read a couple different books about learning to go in the potty,
including:
After Bryson was born in May, we had a few conversations with her
about how diapers were for babies (like Bryson) and she was growing up
to be a big girl who could go in the potty, and that her diapers would
be going away soon. We encouraged her to tell us if she needed to go,
and if we could tell she needed to go (think pooping face - you know the
face I'm talking about) we'd take her to sit on the potty.
On those occasions when she did tell us, or when we caught her in
time to go in the potty, she would get a jelly bean along with lots of praise and tons of high-fives. We also promised
her that we would take a trip to the zoo when she learned to use the
potty because (here comes the shameful lie) you are not allowed to wear
diapers to the zoo.
We went on like this from May to July, with Emma occasionally using
the potty and getting a reward but generally going in her diaper and us
not really pushing her. In July the blow fell. Derek came home from work
and told me that this year his company picnic was being held at the
Minnesota Zoo. So, we could either skip the picnic, or go and somehow
explain to Emma why she could suddenly go to the zoo in diapers, or we
could potty train.
The next week, I started an impromptu potty training marathon.
Honestly, I got home from grocery shopping with the kids on a Wednesday
morning and thought, "We have food in the house, and no plans for
Thursday or Friday. Why not just stay home and try potty training?" I am
type-A to the core, so this was very unusual for me, but I think it
helped that we just started spur of the moment and didn't have time to
psych myself out. So, after I'd put the groceries away, I told Emma that we were done with diapers and took
her diaper off. We use cloth diapers, so I potty trained with Emma naked
from the waist down because I was concerned that she wouldn't feel a
big difference between wearing a cloth diaper and wearing cloth
underwear. It also allowed us to get her onto the potty very quickly.
I moved her little potty chair into the nursery, spread a large sheet
out over the floor (we have carpet throughout the house), and shut the
door. It really helped me to have a "base camp" where we spent the next
few days so all accidents were confined to that space and it was easier
to keep an eye on Emma.
She had an accident within the first 20 minutes, and I took her to
the potty before she had finished and encouraged her to go on the potty.
She went a little and was happy to get a jelly bean and a hug. I put the jelly
beans in a clear plastic jar next to the potty so they were a visible
reminder to try to sit on the potty and go. I also let Emma have juice,
which she NEVER gets, and pushed salty snacks like pretzels and goldfish
crackers, to encourage her to keep drinking.
The first day went better than I'd anticipated. After her first initial accident, she went pee successfully on the
potty 4 times in a row. She even stayed dry during her nap in the
afternoon! Then tragedy struck. A poop accident! Thankfully the sheet on
the floor caught everything and there was no major disaster. She did
well the rest of the day and only had two additional accidents in the
evening right before bed.
She was wet when she woke up in the morning and continues to wear a
cloth diaper overnight, although she does stay dry during naps. We do
believe that night time dryness will come in time and aren't stressing
about it too much right now.
Days 2 and 3 went very well, with three accidents on Day 2 and two
accidents on Day 3. She continued to have about one accident per day
sporadically for the next week. After that first week, she really
stopped having accidents and now accidents are rare. She tells me every
time she needs to go and I help her to the potty. She is even getting
better about being able to pull her panties and shorts down by herself
and sit on the potty, although she does need help with wiping and
generally with getting her pants back up.
I think a big part of our success was that Emma was really ready to
be potty trained. When Emma was about 19 months old, before Bryson was
born, I decided to potty train her, but only made it about halfway
through Day 2. It was a horrible time full of tears, and accident after accident
with no discernible progress, but I think the answer can be found in the
last sentence.
I decided. I thought it would be easier to potty train a
19 month old before the new baby came. But I discovered it was easier
to train a 23 month old - even with a newborn baby in the house -
because she was physically and emotionally ready. Some signs of
readiness are:
- You are changing fewer diapers because your child is staying dry for longer periods of time.
- Your child communicates (whether verbally or non-verbally) when they are peeing or pooping.
- Your child asks to be changed or fusses when a diaper is dirty.
- Your child is able to perform simple undressing.
- Your child is interested in the potty chair or interested in you going potty.
I think nowadays too much emphasis is put on potty training early,
and if your child is ready to potty train at 16 or 18 months that's
great! But if they are not ready until 24 or 36 months, there's no shame
in that. Every child develops differently. And I'm going to let you in
on a little secret that others might not tell you: having a potty
trained toddler will not solve all your problems.
From now on every trip out of the house will begin with a trip to the potty. On top of that, you'll probably want to visit the potty as soon as you
reach your destination. Even if you do that, there will still be the
inevitable announcements of "needing to go to the potty" when you're
about to check out at the grocery store or right as you buckle your
child into their carseat, or sit down to nurse your baby. Not that any
of these instances have happened to me personally, ahem.
Even through all the ups and downs, it was a good growth and learning experience for Emma as well as for me. God has shown me new depths of patience that I didn't know I had, and I'm so proud of Emma as she is growing up into a big girl! Our story had a happy ending, and we got to enjoy an accident free day celebrating at the zoo as a family!
What potty training tricks worked for you?
