Saturday, October 17, 2009

Adventures in Potty Training

The potty training saga continues and let me tell you, it's getting old! After several of you commented and told that when Brooke was ready that she would pick it up, I decided to stop stressing about it. However, over the last couple of days we've been talking a lot about potty training and this morning she actually asked to wear her Elmo panties. I wasn't going to say no so I went with it. Here's how the day went...

*She was dry from 9-11:30 and went pee pee on the potty twice. At that point, I thought that she just might be getting the hang of it and I was VERY excited!

*Today was John's day off and we had some essential errands to run so we left the house. Brooke wanted to wear her panties but I suggested a Pull Up. After some coaxing, she was fine with that. When we got to our first stop (the grocery store) she said that she needed to use the potty. After rushing back to the store's bathroom she saw the big potty and said, "I want MY toilet mommy!" I said, "Brooke, you're going to have to use that big potty. I promise it won't be scary!" At that point she told me that she would just hold it. Whatever... I didn't want to make a big production and traumatize her so I just let it go.

*When we got home, the Pull Up was moderately wet but I didn't really let that get me down. We switched right back to panties and she used the potty once and then stayed dry for another hour or so.

*Then... The accidents started happening for the rest of the night. The first accident was my fault because I was upstairs putting laundry away while she was playing downstairs. I forgot that I really do need to be on top of her at all times throughout this. The second accident happened about 2 minutes after she had sat on the potty and said she didn't have to go. That one CRUSHED me. The last accident happened while she was eating dessert. Who could blame her... Dessert or potty? Hmm...

When it was finally bedtime, I think John and I were both relieved that the potty training was done for the day. This is SO MUCH WORK. Holy cow! I love having kids but so far, this has been the worst part of parenting.

So, all you experienced mamas out there, I have some questions...

1. What do I do when we go out? She's petrified of big toilets and I'm not sure how we'll ever be able to go places when she's fully trained.

2. Do you have any tricks for getting your child to actually go on the potty when you know their bladder is full? Remember how I said that she went in her pants like two minutes after "trying." Is there a special trick to help with that?

3. Obviously I can't put her in panties while we're out and about now... Are Pull Ups too much like diapers to really do the trick?

I HATE POTTY TRAINING. But... I love my little girl:-) It can only get better, right??

1 comment:

rccalyn said...

1. When you go out, she should wear a pull-up. We told Marissa "pretend it's underwear". She thought that was funny, and it helped her remember. We also bring a tiny potty (from Ikea, so cute) that's always in the trunk. Marissa actually used it in a parking lot late at night when we visited NY for the spiedie fest. Very handy! Also, I keep a pack of post-its in my purse. I read somewhere that you can put them over the sensors on auto-toilets to keep them from flushing early. They also make foldable seats to carry in your purse that you can put over a big seat. Ew, weird, but maybe that would help?
2. I don't know if it actually works, but sometimes I turned the faucet on a little. Lol. Have her sit and "try" for a while. Sing songs, etc. and just wait it out.

Hope some of these help!