Well, this was the weekend. Larkyn has been "showing signs" of being ready for a while now, and I regret not potty training before school started. I knew I needed a full weekend to devote to staying in the house and not having plans. That meant this weekend. As in, it's still not over yet because it is only halfway through Sunday as I am writing this.
I chose the "weekend" or 3-day method because it works with our schedule, basically everything I read encouraged this method over dragging it out, and I like an efficient process! I'm hoping that by tomorrow night, this will have been a success and I can help other readers out in some way.
Signs that I knew she was "ready" (at age 28 months):
-A few months ago, she began hiding in the same spot when going #2.
-She enjoys sitting on her potty and loves everything about our regular toilet.
-More recently, she's said things like "Change diaper" or "Larkyn poopy" when she has gone.
Supplies I used:
-Nana got her the Baby Bjorn potty seat for her birthday in April, so it has been out and available for a few months.
-Pampers Easy Ups (Dora, of course) to practice the pulling up/down motion
-Gerber training underpants
-LOTS of small rewards: Goldfish, sprinkles, fruit snacks, a recorded show you can play when they sit for you
-LOTS of liquids for ample opportunities to pee in the potty.
Things I wish I'd done before starting:
-I cleared my schedule to not go out. Looking back, it would have been nice to have company, though. Kate did bring me Chipotle on Saturday night, which earned 1000 points in my book.
-Go grocery shopping on Friday! You are not leaving the house and when you run out of milk or anything YOU want to eat, you will become an alternate heinous version of yourself (my current state)
-Make sure your husband is on board to give you breaks or bring you comfort food when you want to scream (Oh yeah, if you are pregnant, you won't have the luxury of wine at the end of the night!)
Day 1 (Saturday)
7:15- Wake up, take diaper off and say "we don't need the diaper today, we are using the potty"
*Set phone timer for every 20 minutes, setting her on the potty and heavily rewarding for sitting*
8:30- She surprises both of us while she is sitting there and pees in the potty!
9:30- She is playing across the room when she fusses and runs over to the potty to pee. Hurray!
10:15- Is playing by me, fusses and I prompt the potty. Hat trick!
10:50- Reality sets in as she poops on the floor in the hallway, dogs come running, chaos ensues
12-2:30- Nap with a diaper (wet when she wakes up)
4:20- Pees in potty
*That evening, starts holding her booty and saying "diaper please". I think she wanted to #2 again. I wasn't falling for it though, because common sense and all articles say that putting the diaper back on when awake undoes everything you've worked on.*
7:00- First pee on the floor as she rushes to get to the potty in time
7:30- Bed with diaper
Pretty good start, right!?
Day 2 (Sunday)
7:15- wake up
12:00- NOTHING. She won't sit on the potty on her own, hasn't peed anywhere, and has no interest in this little shenanigan. I guess the positive way to see it is that she is practicing holding it??
12-2:30- Nap with diaper (I leave the house before I need a padded cell from cabin fever)
4:00- Out of sheer boredom, I put on the training pants with the instructions "do not pee pee on these"
4:11- She pees in them
*For the next 3.5 hours, I tried new treats (M&Ms) and showing her the Swedish fish I got for her only if she peed in the potty*
7:50- I kept her up past her bedtime because I was DEAD SET that she would pee in that damn potty. And she did! She danced around it, fussing and holding herself first, but with my prompting, she made it. And the Swedish fish were there to celebrate. She actually screamed with delight when she tasted one.
Tomorrow is Daddy Day. Matt is generally 10x more relaxed than I am in parenting, so we will see how this goes. Could go better than it did with me, could be a disaster. She tends to do most things easier for him, so I am hoping I will come home and she is 100% potty trained ;)
I chose the "weekend" or 3-day method because it works with our schedule, basically everything I read encouraged this method over dragging it out, and I like an efficient process! I'm hoping that by tomorrow night, this will have been a success and I can help other readers out in some way.
Signs that I knew she was "ready" (at age 28 months):
-A few months ago, she began hiding in the same spot when going #2.
-She enjoys sitting on her potty and loves everything about our regular toilet.
-More recently, she's said things like "Change diaper" or "Larkyn poopy" when she has gone.
Supplies I used:
-Nana got her the Baby Bjorn potty seat for her birthday in April, so it has been out and available for a few months.
-Pampers Easy Ups (Dora, of course) to practice the pulling up/down motion
-Gerber training underpants
-LOTS of small rewards: Goldfish, sprinkles, fruit snacks, a recorded show you can play when they sit for you
-LOTS of liquids for ample opportunities to pee in the potty.
Things I wish I'd done before starting:
-I cleared my schedule to not go out. Looking back, it would have been nice to have company, though. Kate did bring me Chipotle on Saturday night, which earned 1000 points in my book.
-Go grocery shopping on Friday! You are not leaving the house and when you run out of milk or anything YOU want to eat, you will become an alternate heinous version of yourself (my current state)
-Make sure your husband is on board to give you breaks or bring you comfort food when you want to scream (Oh yeah, if you are pregnant, you won't have the luxury of wine at the end of the night!)
Day 1 (Saturday)
7:15- Wake up, take diaper off and say "we don't need the diaper today, we are using the potty"
*Set phone timer for every 20 minutes, setting her on the potty and heavily rewarding for sitting*
8:30- She surprises both of us while she is sitting there and pees in the potty!
9:30- She is playing across the room when she fusses and runs over to the potty to pee. Hurray!
10:15- Is playing by me, fusses and I prompt the potty. Hat trick!
10:50- Reality sets in as she poops on the floor in the hallway, dogs come running, chaos ensues
12-2:30- Nap with a diaper (wet when she wakes up)
4:20- Pees in potty
*That evening, starts holding her booty and saying "diaper please". I think she wanted to #2 again. I wasn't falling for it though, because common sense and all articles say that putting the diaper back on when awake undoes everything you've worked on.*
7:00- First pee on the floor as she rushes to get to the potty in time
7:30- Bed with diaper
Pretty good start, right!?
Day 2 (Sunday)
7:15- wake up
12:00- NOTHING. She won't sit on the potty on her own, hasn't peed anywhere, and has no interest in this little shenanigan. I guess the positive way to see it is that she is practicing holding it??
12-2:30- Nap with diaper (I leave the house before I need a padded cell from cabin fever)
4:00- Out of sheer boredom, I put on the training pants with the instructions "do not pee pee on these"
4:11- She pees in them
*For the next 3.5 hours, I tried new treats (M&Ms) and showing her the Swedish fish I got for her only if she peed in the potty*
7:50- I kept her up past her bedtime because I was DEAD SET that she would pee in that damn potty. And she did! She danced around it, fussing and holding herself first, but with my prompting, she made it. And the Swedish fish were there to celebrate. She actually screamed with delight when she tasted one.
Tomorrow is Daddy Day. Matt is generally 10x more relaxed than I am in parenting, so we will see how this goes. Could go better than it did with me, could be a disaster. She tends to do most things easier for him, so I am hoping I will come home and she is 100% potty trained ;)
Comments
She'll sit on the potty but won't do anything and still pees any and everywhere she pleases, so I figured that she's just not ready.
It's just that she's so verbal and I guess I get tricked into thinking that she's further along than she is. Just the other day I was sitting on the sofa and she walked up to me and was like 'That's unacceptable behavior.' All kinds of serious and everything! She totally cracks me up. :-)
Although I'm seriously hoping that she'll be potty trained by the time baby #2 gets here because two in diapers doesn't sound like my idea of fun...