We’ve had a little potty in the house, and I try to encourage it when I think of it, but we haven’t had any really consistent work with it. I blame the move, and my own lack of motivation from being tired and pregnant.
I recently realized, however, that if I don’t get her potty trained soon, then I’m going to have two in diapers, which I’d really like to avoid… And with only 9 weeks left to the arrival of Baby Awesome, and Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years all in there, that doesn’t leave much time for potty training.
So a few weeks ago, I began reading all the potty training materials I could get my hands on. I’ve decided to meld together a few different “techniques” and pretty much go no-holds-barred for the next three to four days and see what happens.
And I have absolutely NO IDEA what I’m doing.
With everything I've read they all start with, “Is your child ready?” This question irks me. Physically and mentally she is definitely ready. But, the “is she ready?” questions never address items like, “Does your child adamantly refuse to do anything that you suggest, no matter what it is, just because you suggest it?” I’m sure if it did, the answer would be, “then she’s not ready.”
I’m not willing to accept this, because I’m pretty sure she’s going to refuse to do anything I suggest for pretty much the rest of her life because she is my daughter, and even to this day I tend to be like that with my own mother. (Sorry mom, it’s just a reaction, I can’t control it.)
So here’s my plan for Potty Training Bootcamp:
- We’re going to make a big deal of how it’s her “Big Potty Day!” (we’ve been building this up for the last few days and counting down)
- We’ve been reading potty books before bed for the last few nights
- Her little friend, Maura, who is four, is going to spend the morning with us tomorrow – and hopefully show MissBug how to use the “big potty”
- We’re going to “throw away” all the diapers
- We have new princess panties
- We’re going to spend the next three days in the princess panties and a t-shirt, and stay home
- She picked out her own Dora potty seat, which will be unveiled tomorrow (she’s forgotten about it)
- We have M&Ms for rewards for going in the potty
- We have lots of chocolate milk (not something she gets daily, and her favorite), Capri Suns (extra treat), and salty snacks – to encourage the drinking
- We have a potty chart and stickers
- We get to call Daddy if she goes in the potty
I’d love all the help, wise words, etc. I can get!
3 comments:
My son did the same thing your daughter did. We bought a potty and for about a day he was excited and used it once. Then months later when he was more than 2 years but less than 3 I just decided I was tired of buying the pull-ups and started making him wear "big boy" underwear. He did not like the feeling of his butt being wet or dirty and starting using the toilet instead. Every kid is different though...good luck over the next several days!
p.s. I tried the chocolate cake and it was really good!
Aiden was actually pretty easy to potty train. But what got us kick started was a "potty watch." They actually sell these. And its actually shaped like a toilet. It's hilarious but it worked for Aiden. You can set the watch to go off every 30, 60, or 90 mins. and when the watch goes off it plays a little song and they even provide words for you so you can sing along. (again hilarious) Aiden thought it was so great. And everytime his watch went off he knew it was time to go sit on the potty. I liked that because then it wasn't mommy making him go sit on the potty...instead it was the watches fault that he had to go sit on the potty. If the watch went off he had to atleast sit and try. Eventually he got the idea and starting going. I also put the potty in the kitchen so it was visible. It really only took him a couple dedicated days to get the hang of things. Good luck!
You're awesome! I can't wait to hear how it goes! GOOD LUCK! And if you need anything from the outside world, let me know. We can come by. :)
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