Potty Training the Little One

Two weeks ago I decided it was time to get Cassandra on the potty train.

Avery was just over the age of 2 when we started training her. I wanted to do it over the summer with Cassandra, but we never had a few days in a row at home with nothing planned. So it just kept getting pushed back.

Two weeks ago, we had a relatively free weekend and nothing to do on Friday so I decided to go for it.

She was all excited to wear undies Friday morning. I was trying to pump her with fluids, but she wasn't really into drinking much. We were using the same method we did with Avery-put them right in undies and anytime they have an accident, you rush them to the bathroom immediately. If they get anything in the toilet, it's all about praising them.

Friday and Saturday pretty much panned out the same-she had 2 accidents both days. She peed in a diaper at naptime and then the 2 accidents and that was it. I was getting nervous because at this point she hadn't gotten anything in the toilet yet.  Not a drop! 

Sunday morning she was acting like she had to go and while I was getting ready for the day, she ran in and told me she went on the potty! YAY!! She had a treat, we were so happy for her, etc.

After nap on Sunday, we went to Gabe's parents' house for dinner and she wanted to wear her undies there. Around 6pm, she looked like she had to go. Every 2mins she said she had to pee and we took her to the bathroom and nothing. We left their house around 7:30 and she still hadn't gone. We got home and by this point she wanted to be carried everywhere and was crying about having to pee. I took her up to get ready for bed and again she was in the bathroom every 2min with nothing happening. I got her diaper and PJs on and again she had to go-stripped everything off and nothing. This happened at least 10 times over the course of the next hour!  Keep in mind, she's still crying because she had to go but just wouldn't go anywhere! We even dragged out the kid potty for her and she wouldn't go on that either. Finally around 9:15 or so she was running to the bathroom screaming "I GOTTA GO!" and she got half in the diaper and half on the toilet. 

Unfortunately, this became the norm from Mon-Thurs. She would hold it all morning, pee in her diaper at nap, then hold it all evening and would go through this crazy production at bedtime. I've heard of kids holding their poop, but not their pee. And I was really worried she would end up with a UTI and then we'd be really screwed because then it would hurt for her to go. 

So....we had to give in. Diapers went back on for good on Friday. She asked a few times that day to wear underwear so we did put them on her. As soon as she had to pee, she asked for a diaper on. I have no idea what is going on with her. Avery was so much easier-by day 3 she was on the potty most of the time. Cassandra is just holding it and holding it!  I don't know if it's a control thing for her (like since we're telling her to do it, she won't?) or if she's scared for some reason (she sits on the potty just fine though). So I'm sort of putting this back into her hands-when she's ready, I guess she'll be ready to do it on her own. I'm just out of ideas and don't know how to get her to release and let it out!  Crazy child! And they say the second one is usually easier to train! Not for us!

I guess we'll see where this goes over the next few months. Stay tuned!

Daycare-The Real Test

So our big "test" as far as potty training goes was to see how Avery did at daycare.

On Tuesday we sent her in her underwear and came prepared for the day-lots of extra undies, pants, socks, and of course treats for when she went on the potty.

I was curious at work all day wondering how she was doing during the day. Was it accident central or was she doing an ok job?!

I found out when I picked her up.....she had one accident in the morning. Not surprising-lots of kids, lots of stuff going on, different bathroom, etc.

Apparently she woke up dry after her nap (which never happens at home) and right after nap the teacher took her to the potty and she went! Then later on, Avery did tell the teacher "pee pee on the potty" and went!

I was SO proud of her!

She was also at my in-laws all day on Thursday and unfortunately had 2 accidents there that day. I guess she didn't tell them she had to go and would just run to the bathroom. By the time they got there, she had already peed her pants. Not a total fail, because she did know to go to the bathroom!

Avery was at daycare again yesterday and I forgot to ask how she did on the potty. I noticed she was sent home in a diaper, but also in the clothes she went in in the morning so I was confused. I did end up emailing the teacher because I was curious how she did. She did stay dry all morning (not sure if she peed on the potty or not) and was put in a diaper for nap. The teacher forgot to put her undies back on after nap, but was checking to see if she peed and apparently she didn't. It was a different teacher than normal that day, so I don't think she remembered about Avery's new undies!

So it's been a week now and so far, not too bad. Yes there will be accidents with different situations, but overall I think she picked up on it pretty well! Will keep ya posted!

Potty Training-Day 4

So Monday was my day 4 of potty training. I decided since I had the day off I would tack on an extra day since I only did a half day on Friday. I will say that I really wanted to go out somewhere since I was bored being at home all weekend, but we did end up staying home.

It was nice outside so I decided to chance it and take her outside to play while we have the nice weather. Our neighbor's daughter was also outside so they got to playing with each other. I was a little worried that she would be too distracted, but I kept giving her reminders and praise (for dry undies) every few minutes. The reminders weren't as frequent as they had been because I really wanted to see how she'd do with less reminders in a day.

After awhile of running around and playing she ran up to our front door and stood there. When I caught up to her she said "pee pee on the potty" so I took her inside. Sure enough, she peed!

That was the only time she went before her naptime. When I went to get her from her nap, she had pooped in her diaper.

After nap, we were back outside and eventually we made our way across the street to play with some other kids. At one point, Avery ran down their driveway and was pretty far away from me. When I looked at her, she was just starting at her feet and I couldn't figure out what she was doing....then I saw it....a huge puddle of pee! She came running towards me and said "I peed!" So, she had an accident but it was partly my fault. I wasn't reminding her as much and I let her get too far away from me. Not to mention there were 4 of them playing so I'm sure she was quite distracted.

After dinner, Gabe gave Avery a bath. To our surprise, during her bath, she said "pee pee" and Gabe said "you want to go on the potty?" She replied yes so he put her on the potty all soaking wet and sure enough she peed! We were very shocked at that!

Overall not a terrible day-2 potty trips and one accident. She went to daycare on Tuesday in just undies, so that was the "real" test.

Potty Training-Day 3

Sunday was day 3 of potty training.

Avery woke up again asking to wear her underwear and as excited as could be. She walks around a lot now saying "I went pee pee on the potty" and "I want a treat!" Kid cracks me up!

It took her awhile before she went again-I think it was around 11am or so. She was playing in our family room and all of a sudden said "pee pee" and ran into the bathroom!! I quickly followed her in there and sure enough, she peed on the potty!

About a half hour later, she was still in our family room and Gabe heard her say "poopy" so he quickly ran to her and got her on the toilet as fast as he could. And surprisingly, she did a poop on the potty! I couldn't believe it! And as an FYI her poop reward was a piece of a cookie-we had to up the ante for that!

Gabe's parents invited us over for dinner Sunday night and I was skeptical about going-I didn't want to break the "don't leave your house" rule and I knew my nephew and neice would be there so I was a little nervous. But...we haven't been to their house for dinner since July 4th (ususally it's a weekly event!) so we decided to go. Besides, I was getting ready to be out of the house a bit!

So we went over there and she wore her underwear in the car and did great! She was playing a lot and having a great time! We were sitting at the table either finishing dinner or something and she ran by saying "pee pee on the potty" so I ran and took her in the bathroom. Sure enough, she peed on their potty! She stayed in her undies on the ride home and did just fine then as well! I can't say enough how proud we are of her!!

I have to say that day 3 was pretty great-no accidents at all! I am doing one more day since Friday was only a half day in undies....so it's my 3 1/2-4 day plan!

Potty Training-Day 2

Saturday was Day 2 of potty training for us (or maybe day 1 since day 1 was only a half day?).

Avery woke up and as soon as I went in her room she said "my underwear." She was very excited to get them back on again! I brought her downstairs and let her pick out the ones she wanted to wear again.

We had breakfast and played a lot-again with me right by her side and giving reminders every few minutes. She was up a little after 8 and was a camel again-I don't think she peed until after 11!

Her and I were out in the kitchen and she started to pee. I ran her to the toilet and she got a very tiny dribble in the toilet. We celebrated that and she got a reward!

After that incident, she realized she could easily take her undies off-so she stripped herself down naked. The 3 day program emphasizes them keeping their underwear on, but I didn't see the harm in it for a little bit. Maybe a half hour later she started grabbing at herself so I said "Avery let me know when you need to go potty" and she sort of grunted and I took her to the potty. And sure enough, she peed! She got another reward and was super excited then. It sort of became a game and she just kept running to the bathroom to see if she could get any pee out to get a reward. She ended up peeing a total of three times on the potty before naptime!

I put her diaper on her for nap and she slept just fine.

After nap, as soon as I got her she asked about her underwear again and all day she was so excited and kept saying "I went pee pee on the potty!" Of course we called Daddy (he was getting his haircut) and Grandma to beef up the praise!

Undies went back on after her nap and she didn't take them off this time. At one point we were playing in our back family room and she started to pee so I ran her to the bathroom. It was the biggest pee ever and none made it in the toilet-but she left a nice pee trail from the family room all the way to the bathroom and a nice puddle on the bathroom floor!

Later in the evening she had another accident. Gabe was out mowing the lawn and she was watching him through the front door and started to pee. So I took her to the bathroom, but none of it made it in the toilet.

You're probably wondering about pooping. She pretty much poops on a daily basis. When we started on Friday, she pooped that morning and when she woke up from nap so it was all before we started undies. Saturday she didn't poop at all which is unusual for her.

Oh and for rewards....the first time she went on the potty I gave her a sticker. Honestly, it didn't phase her much. So I bumped it up a notch. Avery is very food-driven and loves "treats" so now when she pees, she gets a tiny piece of chocolate (equivalent to 2 M&Ms I'm guessing). This of course gets her very excited!

So for today....naked she's 3 for 3 on the potty but with underwear she's 0 for 3.

We'll see what day 3 brings!

Potty Training-Day 1

I'm going to apologize in advance if I bore any of you with the next few posts. I just thought it might be helpful information for anyone going through this stage now or in the future, so bear with me!

I'm not really sure if there is a "right" age for potty training a child. Gabe was asking me the other day what age is considered "late" and I honestly don't know....4? So really, I had no idea when to start training Avery or anything.

When we went for Avery's 2 year appointment I asked her pediatrician about potty training. He told me that there is a window between 2 and 2 1/2 that you can train them very easily. He said typically once they reach 2 1/2 they're harder to train because they get very set in their ways at that age. So introducing something like this gets harder to do. So he basically said if you can catch that window, to go with it.

I'd say back in early to mid August Avery really started showing more readiness signs to potty train. For awhile she has said when she poops, but this was different. It started when we were ready to go outside one day and she goes "I pooped my diaper. Change diaper." and ran into the other room, threw herself on the floor, and basically was begging to be changed. And when I changed her, she didn't poop...she had peed. This became a trend-she didn't do it every time she peed, but she did it at least once a day. I also noticed that when she was sitting in her chair at dinner, if something got her seat wet, she would flip out wanting it cleaned up and to be out of her chair. I started thinking "is this the sign I should be looking for?"

Don't get me wrong-I'm in no rush to train her. Diapers are easy-I can take her out anywhere and she really isn't bothered by them. My thought process was this-she'll be 2 1/2 right after Christmas (the age when according to her doc it becomes harder to train). Early November we'll be moving-new house, new bedroom, new bed for Avery (LOTS of changes for her to come). I'm due for baby #2 in January (another HUGE change for her). Between the move and the baby is all of the chaos of the holidays. I didn't want to introduce training her then-it's just too much going on for her in just a few short months. And I know once the baby arrives, I'm not going to have my full attention on Avery anymore (*sniff sniff*) and it would probably be a dragged out process at that point.

So, I decided now was the time.

This weekend is my last 4 day weekend for months. We had nothing planned, so I decided this would be the weekend for it.

I followed the 3 day potty training method. Well, most of it at least. It's an e-book that you can buy online (I got mine from a friend).

Basically, you purge any diapers you have and put them right in underwear. They wear a t-shirt and undies for 3 days straight. Ideally, you do not leave the house and the child is by your side every waking minute. When you catch them "in the act", you rush them to the toilet. It's all positive reinforcement and putting the child in charge of training. You don't sit them at designated time intervals or anything-the child dictates when they have to go. No using pull-ups or anything.

I will say I was dreading being homebound for 3 whole days, but I was also anxious to see how things would go.

I started Friday afternoon after her nap. I wanted to get out Friday morning and take her to story time and have something to do that day so I figured after nap we would start things. She woke up after her nap and I brought her downstairs. We made a big deal out of her picking out the underwear she wanted to wear for the day and praising her for being such a big girl.

Then the games began and I followed her around until bedtime, giving her reminders every 5mins or so ("are your undies dry?" "tell me if you have to go potty"). The girl is part camel I'm pretty sure because she didn't pee until 4 hours after her nap-so right before bedtime! In fact, she was in her bedroom and we were getting her PJs and stuff out when it happened. I ran her to the toilet but she had already finished going at that point. We made a big deal about her underwear being wet and "yucky" now and that they needed to be changed.

Now the reason I'm only doing part of this method is that I'm not training her at naptime or night time yet. Honestly, she pees so much at nap and overnight that there's no way she would stay dry yet. I'm just aiming for daytime, awake training right now. Sleeping times will come at some other time!

So, day one (or half a day) is done-only one accident! Keep posted for the rest of the days!

Just as a note-I did take some super cute pics of her modeling her new undies, but didn't want to post them on here just in case....ya never know who's looking at these things! So the next few posts will mostly be photo-free (sorry!).

Oh, and if you have any questions, please ask! I'm more than willing to share my experience with you!