The Ups and Downs of Potty Training!

There are a lot of ups and downs when it comes to potty training. It is the WORST when it isn't working, and then the BEST (like on the complete other end of the spectrum) when it works. It really helps them feel more grown up, you save money on diapers, and it is so much more fun than changing diapers! Plus little kid underwear is so cute...especially little girl panties:)

So Jane's potty training saga is finally winding down. Here's the quick sum up: I started really potty training in November, although I had tried a few times during the few months before that. I wrote a post about that (this one and this one), and it actually went really well.

That all went down hill in December with my surgery and Christmas traveling. So we decided it would be best to take a break and start fresh...kind of like pushing the reset button.

So, about a month or so ago Jane woke up and asked to wear panties again and said that she was ready to be all done with diapers. I decided that this time I would be more careful to not use Pull Ups too much, just at night when she was sleeping.

So, the first day was horrible, but by day two she was doing really well and seemed to be remembering what this potty training thing was all about. An accident here and there, but mostly good as long as I took her to the potty about every hour and she was wearing big girl underpants all day long. Her main problems at this point were going number 2 in her panties, not telling me when she needed to go, and going number 1 in her pull ups in the morning before I could get her to the potty.

Here are some of the new methods of reward that I used this time:


A sticker chart:


Pee-pee prizes and...


...poo-poo prizes...



So, all in all I thought we were doing pretty well until one day I was watching an episode of Supernanny online and I watched as these parents were letting their 3 and 5 year-olds still drinking from bottles and they were putting their 5 year-old potty trained children in diapers at night so that they didn't have to deal with it when their kids wet the bed. Of course the Supernanny put a stop to all of that immediately and the kids responded really well. I thought to myself, "am I doing anything to my kids that's preventing them from progressing in their development just because I don't want to deal with it?" I realized that the only reason that I was having Jane wear Pull Ups at night is because I didn't want to deal with her wetting the bed. I immediately put all of the Pull Ups away and she has been wearing underwear 24 hours a day from then on and she is doing great (as long as I don't let her drink much in the evening).

This brings me to the reason that I am writing this post today: Jane has gone number 2 in the toilet two days in a row and I think we are on a roll. Also, speaking of ups and downs she has also had two number 1 accidents in the last 24 hours when she hasn't had one in a about a week, so who knows. One thing I've learned is most of this stuff just takes time and patience. So good luck to all of you potty training parents out there.

Day 5 - We Have Arrived

So, I can now say that Jane is officially potty trained. We are almost to the end of day 5 and she didn't have any accidents yesterday or today. Well, she had a little one yesterday and a little one today, but they were both my fault because we were out and I wasn't totally prepared. Also, when I say no accidents I mean no number 1 accidents...we're still mastering number 2, but she's even pretty good at that.

Yesterday (day 4) felt like a miracle. Day 3 hadn't been that great and I was almost going to quit, but I heard that if you can get through day 3 that you can do it...apparently it is common to want to quit on day 3. Anyway, I'm so glad that I didn't because she totally had it all figured out on day 4. We even went to the store (to pick out some new fun potty treats - jelly beans and Starbursts) and I put her in a Pull Up so that I didn't have to bring another outfit if she had an accident. She went to the bathroom on the potty at the store and she also didn't even pee in her Pull Up once.

I worry because Pull Ups must seem like diapers to them. But I've really been stressing to Jane that Pull Ups are special sleepy time panties or panties we wear when we have to go on big adventures...and that we still need to keep them dry, just like normal panties. Anyway, it must have worked.

Today has been equally as great as miracle day #4. Jane has been going 45 minute to 1 hour stretches staying dry and she goes to the bathroom every time we sit on the potty. Also, yesterday she came up to me and told me she needed to go potty, which she had never done before and I was thrilled. I hope she keeps that up, because for the most part I am just telling her that it's time to go after it has been a decent amount of time (I'm getting pretty good at gaging when she will need to be going again). Anyway, I am so absolutely excited that potty training is not a hoax...and that it actually works. I hope that Elmo potty show gets here soon :)

Bye Bye Diapers!

So, some of you have been wondering why I have been a little MIA lately and I assure you I have a very good reason. I am happy to announce that I just finished day 3 of potty training with Jane and things are going pretty well. I think that if things keep improving as they have been, that I can officially say that Jane is all done with diapers...I hope I'm not speaking too soon. I know that there will be some rough times ahead still and some set backs, but I'm hoping that the hardest days are over...

So here is the current bathroom setup:


Jane loves using the new Dora toilet seat instead of a potty chair. Also, the baby gate has been a big help because it keeps Maren out and Jane in. You'll notice that I've got the Clorox wipes handy for quick clean ups. Also, we now have a stool in front of the sink as well so that Jane can climb on and off the toilet by herself and up and down from the sink to wash her hands all by herself.


Here's a summary of how things have been going so far:

Day 1: We sat on the couch most of the day watching movies. Jane was sitting and a folded up towel (to make accidents less messy) in a t-shirt and her princess underwear. I would sit right next to her and every two minutes ask Jane if she was staying dry. Then we would set the timer for 15 minutes after every time she went to the bathroom on the toilet and for only 10 minutes if she sat on the toilet without going. She wears "sleepy time panties" aka Pull Ups while she naps and at night. We had about a 50% success rate over all and it felt like we were in the bathroom ALL DAY!


Day 2: Similar to Day 1, with a few improvements. She had fewer accidents over all and she didn't have to only stay on the couch, meaning she could get up and play without having too many accidents. The other improvement is most of the times that she went to the bathroom on the toilet, she would go pee as soon as she sat down instead of just eventually going after sitting on the toilet for like 10 minutes, which showed me that she was learning how to hold it.


Day 3: We had a bad morning, but then it got a lot better as the day went on. Jane has gone number 2 on the toilet a couple of times throughout these three days which is exciting. She went for stretches of 30 to 40 minutes staying dry. She still had several accidents today, but I'd say she had about an 80 - 85 % success rate. She always does a great job of helping me clean up her accidents and she has fun picking her potty treat after she has a successful trip to the bathroom. I ordered an Elmo potty video and I told her the Potty Fairy has a present for her as soon as she can go all day with no accidents. Now I know Jane doesn't exactly know what all day is, so the "Potty Fairy" will just give it to her soon once she is doing a really great job.


Anyway, wish me luck and let me know of any tips or advice you may have. Thanks to everyone who has given me advice and pep talks so far. I'm sure I'm going to be needing more. Hopefully life will be getting a little more back to normal now, and I'll be able to keep up on my blogging.

It's All a Big Hoax

So, I'm pretty sure that potty training is a hoax...

I got a free potty training DVD in the mail from Huggies and it is pretty great! Jane and I sat down and watched it together and she really liked it. It inspired me to hit potty training hard this week. Needless to say, it was pretty unsuccessful. This little conversation will pretty much sum it up for you:

"Jane it's time to go potty!!!" said mommy in her most enthusiastic and optimistic voice.

"NOOOOOO!" said Jane in her most dramatically sad voice.

"But Jane, aren't you a big girl now? and big girls use the potty." mommy rationalized with her 2-year-old.

"I not a big girl..." said Jane miserably.

"Well then, are you a baby?" questioned mommy.

"No, I not a baby." Jane answered matter-of-factly.

"Well then Jane, what are you?" said the confused mommy...

"...I'm Jane." Jane answered simply...and that was that.

Despite that, I'm just joking about the hoax thing, I know potty training is not a hoax...I'm just a little frustrated is all. It takes a lot of patience to clean up pee all day long. Especially when you forget that your little potty trainer is wearing big girl panties and you let her play on your bed and before you know it you have pee on your pillow. Bummer...

If only there was some place that you could send your kid for a week and they would come back potty trained, kind of like you can send away your pets to get house trained...

We're going to take a little break and begin again with renewed efforts and enthusiasm in a couple of weeks.