First Day Potty Training (for real)

For several weeks, Emily has been able to pee in the potty fairly regularly, but since she wears a pull-up or diaper, there was never any rush for her (or me) to get her to a potty to do her business every time. For about 6 weeks, she has been pooping in the potty with average success. It is a whole lot easier for us to make it to the bathroom in time for her 2-3 times/day poop than the 10+ times she needs to go pee. We recently hit a plateau where she is able to go to the bathroom, but I we weren't getting any closer to truly being potty trained. It was time to ditch the pull-ups.

Let me just say that it is very inconvenient to potty train a child. (This is possibly the understatement of the year!) You need several days where you do nothing but pretty much stay at home. Also, Emily's schedule is different each day. Mon: with sitter, Tues: with mommy, Wed.: with grandmother, Thurs: with mommy, but at parent's day out 1/2 day, Fri: with mommy. Most weekends we have plans big or small, travels to see family, church events, etc. There is never a good 2-3 day period to really work on potty training. So, I always have ample excuses to avoid it. This week we will be in Louisville all weekend. Jeremy and I are keeping Emily's class at church on Sunday and Mom is going to keep Emily at our house Monday. Basically, we have from today (Friday) to Wednesday next week to focus on potty training when she will either be with us or with one of her grandmothers.

Today hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be. I had planned to let Emily run around in her underpants and leggings, but after her first accident at 9 am, I decided I was going to have way too much laundry to do! So, she's been wearing only training underwear, a warm shirt and house slippers. She looks absolutely adorable running around in her underwear and slippers! I love those strong little trim legs. Also, it has been easier for her to get to the bathroom in time when she doesn't have to mess with pants. I think we've been through about 5 pairs of underwear so far. I've cleaned up three small pees on the carpet and one on the kitchen floor. She's made it to the bathroom every time for her 3 poos (3 already!) Even though that is a lot of accidents, she's also had a lot of success. I've been setting the kitchen timer and taking her to the potty every 30 min. It has helped. We have a rewards chart over the potty and stickers to give. She also gets one piece of candy for a pee and 2 pieces for a poo. I'm learning that stickers are not much of a reward compared to a piece of candy. Then, we do a little happy dance and song. It is kind of fun when she gets it right! She's so proud of herself!

I'm hoping she naps now. I'm exhausted and need a break. She's procrastinating falling to sleep and singing all of her favorite songs.

I'm going to try to make a few posts this week about how it is going.