Potty Training

We briefly attempted potty training with Mara in January.  Madeline was barely two weeks old and Josh was gone for the weekend.  Needless to say it was udder failure.  She didn't want to.  I didn't want to.  After 1.5 days of pee on the floor and a newborn, Mara ended up back in diapers.

We've been thinking about doing it again but just hadn't jumped in with both feet until last Wednesday.  Mara caught sight of some Minnie Pull-ups that I had and in toddler fashion just had to wear them.  Skeptical I told her those were only for when she went on the potty and asked if she'd like to try.  She said yes!  (huge news in this house)  So still not believing anything would come of this, I sat her on the potty.  Low and behold after a few minutes she went.  I was true to my word and put her in the pull-ups.

The rest of our day consisted of lots of talk about keeping Minnie dry and trying to go on the potty.  Although Wednesday was the day that got the ball rolling I'd label Friday as our all in day.  I started talking it up on Thursday and then announced as of Friday morning no more diapers.  We rolled up the carpets in our house and got the potty chair within reach.

Friday was spend on the potty.  We set up a timer.  20 minutes off and 5 minutes on.  At first this didn't seem to resonate with Mara.  I know most parents will recommend loading up on fluids but Mara doesn't like juice and will seriously only drink so much water in a day.  We just kept offering it to her whenever we could and played drinking games (you drink when I drink lol).

Nap time came and I pulled out the pull-ups again.  Up until now she had not successfully gone potty in the potty.  I talked about how it's important to keep Minnie dry and she nodded.  Bless her she did and went for the first time that day right after her nap.  The rest of the evening went better and our end of the day tally was 5 accidents to 4 successes!

Day 2 was for the most part a breeze.  We kept the 20 minutes off and 5 on schedule (with the help of our kitchen timer) and she managed to only have 2 accidents all day.  I was extremely proud of her because that night we loaded up, potty and all, and went to a friends house for dinner.

Sunday was the easiest even with church in the morning.  We again lugged that potty, which was good because we did have to use it.  By this time we were letting her wear panties at home.  My mom bought her some Minnie panties and she was so excited to have them.  Our old sediment of keep minnie dry was working.

So here we are on Wednesday, 6 days later and were doing it!  Except for last night she has even been dry through all nights and naps!  Today I am finally seeing her control as I have extended the timer time.  She basically pees immeaditily after sitting now.  We have also done a few of the exclusive number 2's so I think we're rocking and rolling.

Potty training was super stressful for me in concept.  With a young baby, I was baffled as to how I was going to monitor a toddler at the same time.  Once I just did it I was surprised at how manageable it was especially with my timer system.  Mara also really got into our sticker reward system and now gets to pick out a special prize since she filled her chart.  We're now working on a new number 2 chart!

I am thankful that we waited as long as we did.  They say when they are ready, it's easy.  And it has been.  Mara still fights a little about sitting when we have to pull her away from playing but her control and ability to use the toilet is great now.

Next steps...master the public toilet and telling mommy and daddy when she has to go!