Adventures in potty training

Madelyn has been on the potty training train for a week now. She was 26 1/2 months old when we started. I ALWAYS had the philosophy of wait until they are a little older and it will be easier on both mom and kid. Well, I know of several girls who have been potty trained much younger than Maddie, so I pressured myself into starting this circus! Just kidding! It has not really been that bad. First of all, I read the book "toilet training in less than a day" twice. I took notes and had a game plan. I felt I knew this method pretty good. And had my notes to fall back on. She EASILY passed the test to see if she was ready, so I figured what do we have to loose here? Even though Maddie is younger than Dylan (only by 4 weeks) I had always planned on potty training her first. Just for the simple fact that everyone says girls are easier and ready at an earlier age. I didn't really want to do them both at the same time either, just cause they would be at different stages in the potty game. Apparently "very active boys" become ready much later than a lot of kids.

Hmmmm, we have a VERY ACTIVE BOY HERE! :)

Let me back up just a little. When I first began to read the potty training book I had a mini panic attack! Just the thought of it made my heart pound, I got sick to my stomach and I began to sweat. I got that nervous jitter you get in your tummy before speaking in front of a crowd (for some people) It was weird! I was scared to death of potty training! I think part of it was because a little reality was setting in. They are growing so fast! In a strange way I will miss diaper days. Somehow in my mind this is a way to hold on to babyhood!

So here it is, all our supplies. Not really a fan of the pull-ups. I think diapers or no diaper. No in between. But, I bought them just in case...

For a few weeks prior to beginning the training, I taught her how to pull up and down her pants on her own, she went to the bathroom with me while I explained things, learned to flush the toilet and said bye to the peep! Which she loves to do :) taught her the difference between wet and dry, made her practice listening to instructions and following through which she was already pretty good at, when she feels like it. She is a two year old! Anyway, I feel like I did everything I could in advance to prepare. So, this picture above is on the first day (and supposedly the only day???) of training. This is when we taught the baby doll to peep in the potty. Makes sense, I always learn more by teaching. She was real into that! She loves baby dolls.

Then we ate salty snacks to promote drinking, which will promote peeing!! :) We needed to make training opportunities. She drank and drank. We talked all about potties and potty training and how she will be a big girl! And that daddy, grandma, grandpa, Elmo, and Clifford (etc..) will be so proud!

Then, it was time for our first try. She sat and sat. OR I should say wiggled and wiggled and WIGGLED around on the potty. Nothing happened. Many tries and nothing ever happened. I could tell she even needed to go. She just would not relax. This was a PROBLEM. The book failed to mention anything about your child's inability to sit still! Maddie definitely has trouble sitting still and concentrating. Have you ever seen this girl at church? Lol! Well, that day she was watching a DVD for kids about potty training. (btw, I know they are not supposed to watch TV or have any distractions during training according to the book. This was later; after the supposed 4 hours it should take. We were exhausted and needed something else to look at/ talk about. I was prepared w/ a potty DVD to stay close to the project at hand) At the end there was a part for parents. The doctor talked about one of the signs that your child is ready is their ability to sit still and concentrate. Dag nab it! I know what you are thinking, "Carrie! Duh, that's an obvious one!" But I was putting all my faith in this "In less than a day" book and I swear it did not talk about this issue. I had heard miracles come from this book! Anyway, the doctor continued to talk about like 10 more readiness signs, she shows them all. I was a little discouraged, but decided to continue what I had started.

Uh-oh! Maddie peed in her chair!

Now she's upset at the camera in her face. Can ya blame her? Actually she caught on to the "gotta keep my pants dry" thing fast. I never got angry (of course) or yelled at her. She just disliked the feeling of being wet and knew that I would be disappointed. It was hard first day, and a hard second day. She would not, did not pee in the potty AT ALL! She kept her pants dry for long periods of time but would not go on the potty. She would wet her pants with in minutes of me taking her off usually. She just would not relax on the potty.

So, a funny thing happened at the end of the second day. I was giving the kids a bath and all the sudden Dylan says, "Momma, I poop in the potty." I was like. "say what?" He asked again and seemed to mean it. I was surprised because I had not even talked to Dylan about any potty "stuff". In fact, Preston and Dylan left for half the day while I was training Maddie at first. So I sat him on there and he peed and peed and peed a river!

Then he peed some more! I was so excited and celebrating like we had just won the lottery!! I had been trying to get Madelyn to squeeze out even just a drop for two days and here he was just freely flowing!!! I went to get him off and he said , "No, poop." So, I was like ok, whatever you say. Then, that little tyke began pushing and...there ya go! He peed and pooped! With no prompting on my part. His idea!!

He was SO EXCITED and you could just tell how proud of himself he was! I kept looking at Maddie in the tub. I wanted her to notice the HUGE CELEBRATION that was going on here. She could have cared less. Well, it looked as though I'd be training two kids at once. I was ok with that, since this one was showing a little more promise! :) Since it was the end of the day and bedtime, we decided to start first thing in the morning.

We went through the whole plan. He loved feeding the baby and making her pee. But that was about the end of it. :( He showed no interest in going near that toilet. In fact, he showed GREAT dislike for going potty like a big boy. He wanted nothing to do with sitting on the potty the way he had the night before. What had gone wrong here? He peed in his pants and thought it was funny and cared less about it. Hmmmm. Not ready. I did not want to force him into it. I think if I did, we would actually set him back. So it was just a fluke before. But that was ok, he can be my baby boy longer! That was the original plan anyway :)

So, this is the beginning of day FOUR! Pee Pee in the potty FINALLY!!! She had dry pants for two mornings in a row! Which NEVER happens. She's always quite wet in the mornings. I knew something must be going on here... as in somethings clicking. I did not/ do not expect her to stay dry at night. That is not usually even mastered until age 4 and sometimes 5 and beyond. But, I knew it was a sign that our persistence was working. In this picture the flood gates are finally opening! HOORAY! BIG Celebration and a treat for Maddie! At last!! After that, she kept dry for two days straight and continued to pee in the potty :) We have had accidents here and there but nothing like those first few days. Sometimes they are my fault though! Like the one that happened while she was strapped into her chair and I was getting ready for church. I was flying solo that morning. If her daddy would not have been to work he could have helped her out with that. Dang it. Accidents will continue to happen. Btw, when do you consider your kid to be fully potty trained? Maddie and me still have work to do. She won't even do number two in the potty yet! Yikes! Any tips on that? Sorry, TMI?

Sometimes we like to sit on the big potty with Elmo and look at a book. She obviously prefers her little froggy potty though. That's where she does all her peeing :) For whatever reason she feels more comfortable there. I originally was NOT going to get a training potty. I did not want to clean that up, and how unsanitary right? Well, not really, it has not been too bad at all, No biggie.

Going potty at grandma's. Funny how this less intelligent furry friend next to her was potty trained faster! Maddie's still a work in progress. I was pretty hard on myself about the "toilet training in less than a day" thing not exactly panning out at first. But you know, every kid is different. If it takes her a month to potty train I would not trade her for anything! Preston was sure I did something wrong. Thanks a lot! But I think how could there be a method that works for all kids across the board? I don't care what their study said, Maddie was not in it! :) (for anyone who's read it, yes, I did the 10 practice sessions for every accident, and she cleaned up the mess herself-with a bit of mommy's help. She is two! :) I feel as though I did it all just how you are supposed to.

Dylan "pretending" or should I say pee-tending? {I dumb ;P haha} in the background. Don't let this fool ya, he's really not the least bit interested. You can lead a horse to water....

With lots of hugs and support me and Maddie will get through this! Lol!

Moments like this always end all too soon. He was actually hugging her while she was on the potty. But I was not quick enough w/ the camera.

Luckily the huggin continued a few seconds longer :)

Too Cute!

So, that was a novel! I apologize. I think it would be interesting to read something like this that my mother wrote about me and my potty training experience. I am thinking after seven kids she probably does not remember. Hopefully I will follow through with this whole plan of printing out my blog to use as a family history. Does anyone know how to do that? I have not looked into it, I just know it is possible to print it out in a book form. Let me know what you know about that, or potty training for that matter! ;)