Potty training: it's a journey

We didn't have the best experience potty-training Stasa, so we decided to take it easy with Lexi and let her decide when it was time. Lucky for us daycare convinced her it was time to kick the diaper habit. For weeks she has been going most of the day on the potty at daycare, but then refused to go once we were home. We didn't push it, just constantly asked her and encouraged her to go. Lexi knows she's got all of the power in this situation and there's no way we're winning this battle.

Then last week daycare suggested that she come in underwear on Monday. We went out to the store and she chose a package of Minnie Mouse undies and walked into school SO PROUD on Monday. She was so thrilled to tell her teachers (and anyone else who would listen) that she was wearing "UNDA-WEARS!"

Monday she made it through the day at school with no accidents and wore a Pull-Up for nap. We got home and encouraged her to go potty, saw her grabbing herself and then told her to go potty, put her on the potty and she freaked. So we just told her to keep her underwear dry. Fast forward. She was helping Tom clean up and gather the garbage around the house and BAM peed her pants. He put her in a new pair of undies and then changed her into a Pull-Up for bedtime.

Tuesday she woke up dry! And peed on the potty first thing! She ran back to her room and picked out her underwear for the day (this is quickly becoming her favorite thing to do in the morning). Went the whole day at school with no accidents and wore a Pull-Up for nap. Got home and she had another accident after begin reminded repeatedly to go to the potty. Another Pull-Up for bedtime.

Wednesday she woke up again completely dry, but freaked out when I told her to go potty. So I just let it go and ignored it since she was on the verge of a meltdown. Ten minutes later she was sitting on the potty and then grabbing a pair of underwear for the day. She went the entire day without accidents at school and wore a Pull-Up for nap. She came home and went potty a couple of times. No reminders from us. She would stand up, declare she needed to go, and run to the bathroom. No accidents all day. And a Pull-Up for bedtime.

Thursday she woke up dry and went potty then got dressed for the day. She had one accident at school and wore a Pull-Up for nap again. We asked her teacher about the accident and it happened while she was playing and they could tell she needed to go, she was holding herself, but she didn't want to leave her game and ended up peeing her pants. This is actually something we still see Stasa doing - dancing around while she plays because she doesn't want to stop playing for a potty break. She'll do that until she's literally about to burst and then sprints to the bathroom. After pickup from daycare we went to grab a bite to eat and then headed to Costco for a few things. We didn't plan ahead so we had no changes of clothes or extra undies with us. We told Lexi she would have to keep her underwear dry because we didn't have anything to change her into if she had an accident. After arriving at Costco we immediately went to the bathroom, but she freaked out at the noise of the hand dryer. There was a kid in the bathroom who kept playing with the dryer and between that and the toilet constantly flushing itself there was no way she was going to attempt to go. We left the bathroom and I told her she had to either hold it and keep her undies dry or she would have to sit in her wet clothes if she had an accident. She kept dancing around and holding herself throughout the store, so about halfway through Tom took her to the bathroom again and again she refused to go and melted down. We gave up and just let her be. We were worried that she would have an accident in the car, but figured if she did we would just clean it. No big deal. Well, she didn't. She held it the whole way home and as soon as we were in the driveway she insisted she had to go potty. I ran her inside and in a flash had her pants and underwear down and her butt on the potty. And thus began the biggest meltdown ever. I think she had held it so long that it was starting to hurt. She was literally holding herself and crying and refusing to pee. So I walked away and told her I wasn't going to make her sit there. I went to help Tom bring in the food and when I walked back in I heard her going potty. Big girl. I gave her a lollypop for going and staying dry at the store. Twenty minutes later Stasa told me that Lexi pooped in her pants. Sure enough she did and didn't say anything to us, just walked around like that. She was really upset when I changed her and realized she made a mistake. We told her that she should have gone on the potty, but that it was just an accident. Another Pull-Up for bedtime.

This morning she woke up dry again! What what! And without a word she got out of bed, walked into the bathroom and went potty. I came in and saw that her Pull-Up was still dry and praised her for going potty and then yelled down to Tom so he could give some love, too. She walked back to her room SO PROUD and picked her undies for the day. She promised to stay dry all day and went off to school.

After our potty-training experience with Stasa and the battle of wills we were never going to win, I have to admit I was hesitant to get started with Lexi, but it's been so easy (KNOCKONALLWOOD). I am a little worried about how it'll go this weekend when we're out and about, but I suppose we'll eventually have to rip off the band-aid. Now that she's been wearing underwear there's no way we're going back to diapers and Pull-Ups during the day. And I think if she goes all next week without having an accident over the night we'll stop the Pull-Ups at bedtime. All in all this has been a pretty easy potty-training and thanks to Lexi I now know about every kid in her class who wears underwear, diapers, and Pull-Ups. I suppose we'll need to get her more underwear now. I tried to get Stasa to go through her underwear bin and pull out the ones that are getting a little small, but she FREAKED OUT and refused to give up a single pair. I'm not prepared to fight that battle, because let's face it, I just don't care enough about making her give up some underwear. Not a battle I want to win so I'll just buy Lexi her own.

UPDATE:
She went the entire day on Saturday without an accident, which was slightly surprising since she spent the majority of the morning playing outside and then out at the town center in the evening. We didn't ask her to go while we were home and each time she either came to us and said she needed to or she just walked straight to the bathroom. When we were at the town center I was a little nervous and kept asking her and took her two or three times and each time she refused to go. Finally she asked to go and actually went on the potty. Told ya - power. 

Sunday she went almost all day without an accident and even walked away from the play place at the mall to tell us she had to go. I'm so proud that she's recognizing the signs that she needs to go and is okay to walk away from what she's doing to go potty. Both days she woke up dry in the morning and after nap. If she's able to wake up dry every day this week we're going to take the plunge and put her in underwear for bedtime. 

Potty Progress

We haven't been pushing the potty training as much anymore, although we do encourage Stasa to go potty throughout the day and almost always change her "panties" in the bathroom to help her make the association.

Well, Monday afternoon she announced that she needed to go, walked into the bathroom, dropped trou and went. And as she was going she was applauding herself and asking for a "nummy num," otherwise known as a potty treat. Fast forward to this morning when she woke up dry so I asked if she wanted to sit on the potty. She walked into the bathroom, climbed up on the potty and asked for a book to read. LOL As I was walking down the hall to get her book she yells, "MOMMY I PEE PEE! I GO! I POTTY!" Now, she announces this all.the.time and usually there's nothing in the pot, but this time she actually went. And as soon as she pointed it out to me, she said, "I flush it down? NUMMY NUM!"

She's going to get it.

The Big Girl

She sat on the potty at daycare three times today. Twice all by herself - pants off and all and once because Nia did it.

After dinner tonight she told me she needed to go potty. She took off her pants and Pull Up and ran into the bathroom. Nothing happened, but she happily sat on the potty for a few minutes and then put on a new Pull Up. All by herself.

She's getting it.

Back to the basics

Well, we sent Stasa off to daycare with a bag full of training pants and a few changes of clothes. As of 11:00 am she's already had 4 accidents and isn't even trying to go potty. It's like an entirely different child. She hasn't had that many accidents since we started this whole thing.

To make it easier on everyone we've decided to put her back in Pull Ups at daycare, though I'll be buying the cool alert ones instead of the ones that fade when wet, and we'll keep her in training pants/undies at home.

every time I want to give up I keep hearing that stupid Yo Gabba Gabba song "Keep Trying". She's going to get it. If not today, maybe tomorrow, or maybe a week or month from now.

Two steps forward, two steps back

We're still potty training and at this rate I feel we'll be potty training forever (I know, I know, it's only been 4 1/2 days). As of yesterday we entered the power struggle phase. Do you know who wins in a power struggle with a toddler? I can tell you it's definitely not me. So we go with it and stay the course.

Last night Tom told me to take off for a couple of hours to regain some sanity. I went to the mall for a coffee and some retail therapy. Only even then I couldn't fully get away from potty training. I found myself at Borders Express buying the only 2 books they had on potty training. I know you're not supposed to change methods and you have to stay consistent, but I wanted different perspectives to see if maybe we were missing something that would help.

I also got Stasa a princess ABC book with an attached Magna Doodle as a special potty time only book. I knew she'd want it because it has 3 of her favorite things: princesses, ABCs, and drawing. I came home, showed it to her and told her it was only for potty time. Don't you know that girl whipped off her panties and happily sat on the potty. Was this the same kid that refused to go anywhere near the potty not five minutes earlier? See? Power struggle. Only clever mommy won this round.

I went to bed last night thinking "tomorrow's a new day" and was ready to give this whole thing another shot. This morning she peed on the floor in front of me, almost defiant-like. I told her it was yucky pee pee and it needs to go in the potty, made her walk to the potty and sit on it, made her check her panties to feel that they were wet and then made her help clean up her mess. I'm definitely going to make her start cleaning up her messes.

Tom also pointed out that this is the longest she's been cooped up in the house. We weren't even inside this long during the snowpocalypse. Today we're going to attempt our first trip out of the house sans diaper. I'll just be prepared for multiple accidents while we're out.

Tomorrow she's going back to daycare. I need a break.

Progress

We decided to go with the 3-day potty training method and needless to say the 3 days have passed and she's not quite potty trained. BUT we have had progress. Enormous progress, in my opinion. 

We went from having 10 accidents in a 5 hour period to just 1 accident. Progress. But since we're not all the way there, I'm keeping her home until we are. I'm hoping it will only take a couple extra days because man it's exhausting. 

Because I'm literally glued to her side I haven't been able to take any pictures, although I did manage a handful on my phone. And poor Lexi gets tossed aside (in a gentle loving way, of course) whenever Stasa announces she's got to go. 

Keep wishing us luck and if you really love us, you'll bring us ready-to-eat food. 

What potty-training looks like in our house...

Okay, so these next ones have nothing to do with potty training, but are so cute I couldn't *not* include them.

How we'll be spending our weekend

Why, yes, that is a huge pile of toddler underwear. We're going to tackle potty training this weekend which means we'll be house bound for the next few days. I'm determined to get it done especially since she's showing that she's ready. This morning she took off her diaper and wiped herself. She's ready. Wish us luck!

Hide and seek in the bathroom

For some reason Stasa loves the bathroom. Loves sitting in it in the dark while she waits for us to find her. Who does that? And you'd think that someone that loves the bathroom that much would also be easy to potty train. Not so much. We've pretty much given up for now and won't start again until I'm on maternity leave and she's in a daycare center. 


Since Sunday was a nasty rainy day we spent all of it inside (well, Tom took her to the mall play place while I got my prenatal massage - HEAVEN!). Stas and I played a game of hide and seek while Tom made dinner. Guess where she chose to hide?








Yeah, she loves this game.



She also loves getting her hot little hands on my point and shoot camera and instructing me to cheese.



And she AND Tom love making pillow forts out of the couch cushions.

Who cries over poop?

We've been slowly introducing the potty to Stasa and we ask her all of the time if she wants to sit on it - sometimes she does, but a lot of times she just wants it nearby and will carry it from room to room. The past weekend she managed to poop on it twice. We clapped and cheered and gave her some jelly beans. She cried. She wanted to pick up her poop and really didn't like me dumping it in the toilet. She did get more excited when we let her flush the toilet and say bye bye to it. 

Now she's got some sort of complex about pooping in her diaper. It's obvious when she's going and I'll ask her if she needs to go potty and she says no. If instead of asking I just say "let's go potty" and put her on it, she freaks out. But then she cries the minute she's done pooping in her diaper and sadly brings me a diaper and wipe. While she's laying there crying, she's saying "poo poo potty." So the whole time I'm changing her I'm reassuring her that it's okay to poop in her diaper and maybe next time she'll go on the potty. 

It would be much more convenient for me to really focus on potty training while I'm on maternity leave, but I don't want to discourage her interest either. She's also extremely interested in her "poo poo book" that Uncle Pete got her (Everyone Poops). I'm thinking maybe I should find a few more potty training books for her. Perhaps a trip to the library is due. Any book suggestions?

"Uh oh poo poo!"

Stasa has recently learned how to alert us that she's pooped. 


She'll either tell us "mommy, poo poo" or "daddy, poo poo" (and now "ya ya, poo poo), or will simply bring us a clean diaper so she can be changed. Unfortunately she's also learned that if she yells this when she should be sleeping, we'll come up thinking that she needs to be changed. And she calls it out over and over again, until we eventually stop checking on her and she gives up her charade. 


The little girl that cried poo. This should be a fun phase.

Introducing the potty

Almost all of our friends started introducing the potty to their kids and Stasa was starting to show the signs of being interested in her diaper and the potty so we jumped on the bandwagon and bought her a potty, too. We got her the First Years 4-in-1 potty since it was a no-frills, gender neutral and easy to clean potty.





So far she understands what it is and runs to it if we ask "do you need to go potty?" but she hasn't peed in it yet. She did go #2 in it for the first time the other night, but it wasn't because she alerted us and went. I noticed her poop signs and asked her to go to the potty. And cleaning poop out of the potty that doesn't flush? Pretty gross, but much easier than changing a poopy diaper.


We try to get her to sit on her potty at least once a day, but she's still more interested in putting toilet paper in it than actually using it for its intended purpose. I did take advice from a colleague and put a small stack of books next to her potty to keep her entertained while she sits and that seems to work for about 10-15 minutes, which is plenty of time for her to do her business. I did try running water while she was sitting, but that was a bust because she preferred playing with the water instead of sitting on her potty.


We're going to keep at it, but not force it. For now at least she is getting used to having the potty around.


Update: She peed in the potty first thing Thursday morning!!!