Potty training has officially {FINALLY} entered the building. High Five!
Today, Monday, is the day we started potty training cold turkey. Julianna is 3 years and almost 2 months old. We've been talking to her about potty training for a {long} time now. We had her watch the Potty Power DVD, sit on her special potty, told her she could get a sticker or coins when she went peepee (we aren't doing food for bribery & she loves stickers & money haha!), told her only babies wear diapers, told her she is a big girl if she goes on the potty.... tried everything and she still refused to do it.
BUT ... all of this failed... until NOW.
Brian and I talked to Julianna about starting peeing on the potty last week because her daycare provider was going to be on vacation this week, and she's home with me & Tyler all week. So we figured this would be the perfect week to do it! She actually agreed to go along with it - and we've been talking it up for days now. This morning was the time to start.
You know toddlers; everything has to be ON THEIR TERMS. I never truly understood this until I had a 2 year old. You can't force a 2 (or 3) year old to do anything they don't want to do, especially potty training. Brian and I agreed we would not force Julianna to potty train and traumatize her. We also agreed we would not use pull ups... we were choosing to go right to underpants. If she were younger then we might choose the 'pull-up' route. But she is perfectly capable physically of using underpants & going on the potty on her own. She is stuck on the 'mental' aspect of this whole thing. We always said that she would go when she was ready. And she's ready now - she told us she is.
I am keeping a journal all day today for fun ... we'll see how this goes. I'm doing this on my iPhone to make it easier.
10am
Our progress so far: I put Julianna in 'underpants' (that's what she calls them, so we're going with that term!) after she got up this morning. I had her sit on the potty 4x so far. She told me 3x she did not have to go & didn't. She's also refusing to go sit on it if she feels she doesn't have to go. HELLO CAN YOU SAY CONTROL!??! Seems like she's having an issue letting herself go peepee on the potty. That has to be a hard line to cross mentally when you're so used to going in a diaper!
Then, she was sitting on the floor playing and I noticed her shorts were wet. She went & didn't tell me. Accident #1 of many more to come (I guess it doesn't bother her enough yet to tell me and she was ok with sitting in her wetness- grrrr). I calmly changed her, and told her it was OK and not a big deal... and I sat her on the potty right on the potty after that and .... BINGO! She finally went pee pee on the potty! She was SO PROUD of herself and once she was done, gave me a big hug and picked out a nice sticker to put on her potty chart on the wall in the bathroom.
11am
I had her sit on the potty again - and still nothing. I feel like she's holding it. It might take some time to get over that fear of going on the toilet. I can see I'm going to be trapped in my house with her trying to pee for the rest of my life.
Did I mention I'm taking care of a 9 week old during all of this too?! Ha! Can you say "multi-tasking". I was sitting on side of the tub feeding Tyler & burping him earlier when Julianna was sitting on the potty! Thank goodness he's on a good eating/sleeping schedule so I don't have to worry about him too much today while I go full-on potty power with the girl!
11:30am
Tried to squeeze in a shower. NEED MORE COFFEE. This is stressful.
12pm
Time to feed Tyler. Julianna is now refusing to go on the potty or go near it & she's whining and crying for no reason. I think the 'fun' of it all has gone out the window. Well guess what little girl, it's gone out the window for me too. The beast is coming out. She's screaming & crying she doesn't want to go on the potty and to put a diaper on her. Kill me now. I'm trying to stay calm. I am trying everything to get her to go sit on it... even bribery... no go. Time to break out the potty power DVD I think.
The good news is she's still dry. The bad news is she hasn't peed in over 2 hours. I feel a big accident coming soon, probably just as I'm feeding Tyler. Oh well. She can sit in it & just be wet, I'm ready to give up already. She can go to her senior prom in diapers for all I care.
12:20
She went pee pee in her shorts as I thought she would. And she could care less. I feel a horrible FAIL coming on for today. My emotions are so up & down about this! Still need to feed poor Tyler.
12:30
Success! She sat on the potty after her 2nd accident and went pee pee! She yelled "I did it!" - I gave her a high five, a big hug, a sticker for her chart and 5 coins ( did I mention she loves money!)
She was very proud of herself again! We called daddy at work to tell him the good news, she loved that part! The only bad thing is she peed onto her special pottery barn chair... So I had to take off the cover & wash it. And since I was rushing & didn't follow instructions, I ruined the embroidery. Big time Bummer! Maybe this potty training thing will work out. I have to go buy more underpants for her pronto!
2pm
Still hasn't gone yet and refusing to sit on potty again. Need more coffee.
2:30
MAJOR Meltdown because I asked her to try & go pee pee. No go. Nap is needed clearly. I put a waterproof pad on her bed for her nap since she now doesn't want a diaper for nap. Totally playing with fire no doubt.
3pm
Still no nap and I had to beg for 20 minutes but she finally went pee pee on the potty! Success again ... Sort of. She gets so excited when she goes that I have to assume she will want to do this on her own at some point so I don't have to spend the next 5 months begging and bribing.
4:30
Both kids are napping. Praise the good Lord. Let's just hope Julianna doesn't pee all over herself & baby giraffe (her favorite stuffed animal!) before she can get to the potty after she wakes from her nap. I did get to spend some quality time playing with Tyler after Julianna fell asleep! Look at that smile - I love this boy!
9:20pm
I wasn't able to write much more the rest of tonight because it got pretty busy with both kids, my girlfriend stopping by to visit, dinner and my husband getting home from work.
Julianna had another accident but ended up going pee pee on the potty 3 more times and went poop one of those times. (I'm sure you are just jumping for joy at poop & pee talk but that's my miserable little life now).
Overall I think the first day of potty training effort was a success, however Julianna fought me every time I asked her if she had to go. I know other parents have said they happily take their toddler to the potty every 30 minutes to prevent accidents, but that's just not happening here. She is not happily going anywhere. She is too resistant and I have to beg her to go near the potty. I am praying this changes or I might run from home away screaming soon. I do however think she is ready because she gets so excited when she does finally go, but I think it's a "control" struggle for her (or so I've read) to fight me on this stuff.
I'm exhausted now and really can't think about doing this again tomorrow and the day after that..... and so on. I feel like I'm going to be trapped in the house for a long time until this takes effect, and I don't do well sitting in the house. I'm just not "that" mom that can sit home all day and play happy games and build crafty fun things out of sticks, glue and paper towel rolls. I wish I could be. Forgive me; it's late and I'm in a hormonal mood & being brutally honest. Let's hope day 2 goes better.
For anyone interested,
Here is the potty seat we are using for the toilet;
We decided to use a seat that fits on the toilet and not a separate potty that she sits on. We only have one bathroom in our house and this is the way we needed to do it... and it's way less clean up for mommy & daddy too. Not to mention since she's older, we felt she was able to handle climbing up on a stool and sitting on the potty seat.
I wasn't able to write much more the rest of tonight because it got pretty busy with both kids, my girlfriend stopping by to visit, dinner and my husband getting home from work.
Julianna had another accident but ended up going pee pee on the potty 3 more times and went poop one of those times. (I'm sure you are just jumping for joy at poop & pee talk but that's my miserable little life now).
Overall I think the first day of potty training effort was a success, however Julianna fought me every time I asked her if she had to go. I know other parents have said they happily take their toddler to the potty every 30 minutes to prevent accidents, but that's just not happening here. She is not happily going anywhere. She is too resistant and I have to beg her to go near the potty. I am praying this changes or I might run from home away screaming soon. I do however think she is ready because she gets so excited when she does finally go, but I think it's a "control" struggle for her (or so I've read) to fight me on this stuff.
I'm exhausted now and really can't think about doing this again tomorrow and the day after that..... and so on. I feel like I'm going to be trapped in the house for a long time until this takes effect, and I don't do well sitting in the house. I'm just not "that" mom that can sit home all day and play happy games and build crafty fun things out of sticks, glue and paper towel rolls. I wish I could be. Forgive me; it's late and I'm in a hormonal mood & being brutally honest. Let's hope day 2 goes better.
For anyone interested,
Here is the potty seat we are using for the toilet;
We decided to use a seat that fits on the toilet and not a separate potty that she sits on. We only have one bathroom in our house and this is the way we needed to do it... and it's way less clean up for mommy & daddy too. Not to mention since she's older, we felt she was able to handle climbing up on a stool and sitting on the potty seat.
Here's Julianna's special nap area for today only since she peed on her chair and I told her she could lay on the cushions until the cover was washed ...
That sounds like our first day of potty training! Kylie was never one that I could get her to just try to go, if she didn't need to go then there was no way I could convince her to sit and try! Thankfully that has gotten better and she will now try most times we ask~before going to sleep, leaving the house, on long car rides, etc. I even used those big pad things for older people that they put on beds/chairs in case of accidents. I used it on our couches and Kylie's special chair because of accidents. I really only dealt with bad accidents a couple days, she will still occasionally have one if she gets busy playing, but she's only 3, I figure that's to be expected! We didn't use pull-ups during the day at home, only while she's sleeping. She does wake up dry, but I just don't want to have to deal with the clean-up that's bound to happen so for now she sleeps in a pull-up! For a long time, I put pull-ups on when we would leave the house because she was somewhat scared of using some public restrooms. I did find a portable seat that I take with us if we're going to be gone all day and I need to make sure she'll use public restrooms, it folds up small and fits in a large purse/bag. It seems to make her feel more secure in public. Sorry, I just wrote a book on here!!
ReplyDeleteI know potty training is frustrating, but I would call that a VERY good day! If she went on the potty more than once on her first day, you are on the right track. By my count, she went 5 times and a 6th poo? That's wonderful! Virtual high five for you and Julianna. Also, mad props for trying this with a newborn in tow. I cannot imagine the challenge that presents. Good luck with continued success!
ReplyDeleteAlso, (read unsolicited mommy advice...don't you love it) my mom came up with this clever trick and I was so thankful that she showed me. When you are ready to venture out the first time sans diaper, putting on their underwear first and then a diaper over it will allow them to still feel the wetness if they do have an accident but will keep you from having to mop up the floor at a restaurant. Just in case ;)
Congratulations on a great first day at potty camp, Skye. I marvel at your stamina. You're doing well. Julianna will soon get the hang of it. She's a smart cookie.
ReplyDeleteMom