Guess who is potty trained!? ELSY!!!
I have gotten some raised eyebrows at her being so young, (23 months old) but honestly, she was ready. The gal would tell me every time she peed in her diaper and before she would go #2. She would stay dry all night and through her naps. I thought, eh why not? Let's get this over with while I'm not going anywhere because I have a newborn. So we did it!
Here is how we did it. While Elsy was wasting a million diapers because she would go just a drop and want a change, she was still very nervous about sitting on her potty with a bare bum. (We bought her a potty months ago just to have her sit on it while I went... Because, lets be honest, little kids love to be an audience when we are going ourselves :P).
Sooooo I bought some pull ups. Everyone says pull ups are a no-no when potty training, but I did it for convenience because the first two days were to get her used to sitting on the potty with a bare bum, not for going. We still called them diapers, it was just nice to not have to take her pants off and her diaper every time I had her sit on the potty. So for two days we just randomly would go sit on the potty and read Little Critter's "The New Potty" or one of a few potty training picture books we got from the library. I got lucky because both days she told me she was going "poo poo" and I ran her in fast enough to get the poo in the potty. Yay! right? Eh... its a little gross. :P
We went to the store and picked out panties. I'll let you guess what Disney character is on Elsy's panties...
I talked to some people about how to go about doing this whole thing and read a little bit online. My aunt Stacy's philosophy is, once you decide to put on panties you NEVER EVER EVER go back to diapers. That is the end of it. (You can still do diapers for naps and over night however). This way your kiddo isn't confused because you went to the store in a diaper or church but now you are in panties at Grandma's house and at home or whatever. I thought this was a good idea but it made me extra nervous to potty train because I knew there was no going back.
An idea I had seen and thought was completely bogus online was keeping your kid naked for three days. Yeah welllllll, I decided it wasn't so bogus after all and did it. Only I only did it for one day. Here is why I decided it wasn't such a dumb idea. I realized that Elsy just wasn't aware of when she was going potty until her diaper was wet. So with her having bare legs, she suddenly became VERY aware of the wetness and was able to coordinate the feeling of having to go with actually going.
As you can tell, I was pretty worried about potty getting everywhere. I think the only two people who will truly appreciate this photo are the two people whose house we are sitting. ;) I just didn't want to have to deal with pee in carpets and on couches. I gathered all kinds of salty snacks and juices (salty to keep her thirsty and liquids to keep her 'going'), lots of movies and toys, and of course my crochet. We watched Peter Pan and Barbie Nutcracker a LOT and were camped out in this room for two whole days. I may have been climbing the walls by the end.
I couldn't resist this picture...
That first day Elsy held it and held it and held it. She was so afraid to go on the potty that she would start to go a little and then hold it (because she could feel the wetness and didn't like it) and then not go on the potty because she was scared. She drank a TON of apple juice. I couldn't believe her ability to hold it. It just showed me how ready she really was. She had some serious control!
When she finally did go it was in her nap diaper. And she went SO much it leaked out the diaper (which hasn't happened in forever people). And sadly, she happened to be in my bed when it happened.... sitting on Logan's pillow. Yikes. Logan said, "After all the trouble to get her to not pee on the carpet (speaking of all my blankets and towels everywhere), the one place she goes is my PILLOW!" We had a good laugh.
Once she finally went on the potty ("Yellow poo poo Mommy!") she didn't have any more problems. I put her in just panties the second and third days because she was doing so well I didn't think she needed more days naked. We did start to have more problems when we put pants over the panties (I think the pants made her feel more secure like a diaper) but we soon got over that.
Our rewards system has been stickers and a candy (a single M&M) or a cookie (mini Oreos). Elsy would get so excited after she went and say "Canny, sticka, canny, cookie!" over and over.
I tried to stay really positive through the whole process. Whenever she had an accident I would say, "Uh oh! That's okay! Just remember, pee pee goes in the potty!" I would try to say it all perky even though I sure didn't feel like it. Especially when she ran out of pants.
The whole thing went surprisingly well. She only had three accidents on the carpet (so far). The nice thing about wearing pants is if she has an accident, the pants mostly absorb the pee so it doesn't get anywhere. Logan has been really helpful too, if you couldn't tell. We take pants and panties wherever we go. I even brought her Elmo toilet ring to church the first week.
It has been a month since we started. Overall it has been a success! Right now our only issue is I have gotten used to her going on the potty and don't ask as often as I should. So now she will pee a tiny bit in her pants and then stop and yell "Poo! Poo!" (because it is all poo poo to her) and then she will finish on the potty... which is great!... except we still have to change her panties. So we are working on that. But for the most part, we are doing great!
