A Potty Training Weekend

Hubby left town last Wednesday & didn't get back until Sunday afternoon.  And I decided that in those 5 days, I was going to give potty training my all.  And I'm crazy.  But...for the most part, it's worked!  Incredibly well! 

 

Disclaimer:  This is my family journal.  So if you have no interest in hearing about the details of Elyse's potty training...feel free to skip on over.  But I want to document this for future kids and also in the hopes that maybe I can help another momma out! 

 

Let's go back a little bit shall we?  First of all, for various reasons, I have not really even attempted potty training with Elyse.  She was 2 1/2 on June 13 and I hadn't ever tried.  Sure, there were days were I left her out of her diaper just to see what would happen...I'll tell you what happens, lots of accidents, a frustrated little girl, an irritated momma, and a little girl who NEVER went in the potty.  We had a potty in her bathroom, and she sat on it practically every night before bath.  She followed us into the bathroom and we talked about going potty a lot.  But we NEVER forced it.  And honestly, it was probably due to a fear of failing...because let's all be honest...DIAPERS ARE EASY!!!! 

 

However, with another baby coming in December and Elyse being 2 1/2, I at least wanted to see if Elyse might be ready.  So...with a crazy summer schedule, my only real option was this past week.  I read a few different blogs, googled all sorts of things, and also bought the 3 Day Potty Training e-book from Lora Jensen.  Sure, this might have been something that I could have trouble-shooted and figured out on my own, but I wanted something quick and hopefully almost perfectly successful! 

 

So with very high hopes, and maybe semi-low expectations, I read her book and gathered my supplies.  I felt armed and ready for a 3 day potty training boot camp!  ha! 

 

I found a personalized Frozen potty chart on Etsy complete with Frozen stickers.  Of course I had to have it! 

I took Elyse to Target with me and had her pick out a new potty chair.  We bought this Fisher Price Princess potty chair after I steered her toward it!  ha!  This specific one had been talked about on another blog about little girl potty training and Elyse was in love.  We previously had the Bjorn Potty Seat & also Bjorn Potty Chair, but she was NOT at all interested.  However, she loved this princess chair because it sings when the sensors get wet.  Momma loves it because it is super easy to clean, and can also double as a stepstool. 

I loaded up on treats for potty successes.  M & Ms are some of Elyse's favorite so I grabbed plenty of those along with some fruit snacks, multi-colored Annie's bunnies, and other various things.  I also purchased some of the Honest Kids Juice Pouches. Elyse isn't a huge water drinker, and I knew that milk wouldn't run through her often enough to get enough practice. 

We also picked out some new big girl panties with Minnie, Daisy & Disney Fairies all over them.  And I also made a pitstop in the Target dollar aisle to pick up some bigger "treats" for Elyse to have once she achieve so many potty successes.  Bubbles, sticker pages, a new book, water toys, etc....basically anything small that would excited Elyse!

We began the process after breakfast on Wednesday morning.  Elyse helped me throw a huge stack of diapers (I hid the rest in the closet to pass on to my SIL) in the trashcan, we changed into big girl panties, and then I talked with her about how she was a big girl and how things were going to change.  We had our very first success at 10:40 on Wednesday morning.  I know because we called Mamaw & Gigi and texted multiple people.  I may or may not have looked like a fool as I potty-danced my way around the house! 

We stayed home ALL day on Wednesday & had about 3 successes, and too many accidents to count.  BUT...she stayed dry during nap and stayed mostly dry overnight. 

Thursday we had swim lessons (which I was dreading), but we made it to lunch, swim lessons and back without any accidents.  We had several more successes than Wednesday, but still our fair share of accidents. We stayed dry again through nap, had 3 successes in a row, but then had a few more accidents before bedtime. 

Friday we headed to my mom's house so I could work.  And it was a NIGHTMARE!!!  Elyse would tell my mom that she had to go potty as it was running down her leg and creating a puddle on the floor.  By lunchtime she had had NO successes, and LOTS of accidents.  I'm honestly not sure if this was a result of the new environment, or if she was just testing us.  Needless to say, my mom was discouraged, I was frustrated, and almost ready to throw in the towel all together.  However, she stayed dry through nap and all afternoon and then finally had her first success on Friday evening when my dad came home.  Elyse & I stayed for dinner and right before dinner we managed to have our first #2 success (sorry for the TMI) after multiple "tries" and also after we handed her a Reader's Digest to relax a bit. 

One of those priceless pictures that my dad told me I had to snap!  She WILL hate me one of these days! 

We had one more accident on Friday evening, but otherwise had a fully successful night of her telling us she needed to potty, running to the potty, making it there successfully, and then doing a ridiculous potty dance while being rewarded with M & M's and stickers. 

Saturday I cancelled my original plans so I could stay home to make some more serious progress.  She had ONE accident on Saturday morning which I will take full blame for because I wasn't paying as close attention as I should.  We even went back to my parents' house to spend the night and she was fully successful all evening. 

Sunday I went to church with my parents and we made another big stride when she went potty on a big potty at church (something that had previously seemed to terrify her).  We had multiple other successes, another dry nap, and then even more successes last night. 

I hate to be too proud of her, or of myself, but I honestly think we're practically there.  In regards to daytime at least.  Nighttime will be another challenge, but I have high hopes with how well everything else has gone.  I did follow the 3Day Potty Training book pretty much perfectly...and I would say that it has definitely worked for us.  So I would recommend it...you also get lifetime mentoring on the site with the author.  And I don't know about you, but I always like to ask questions when I'm going through such a huge transition. 

In just a matter of 3 days, diapers are completely out of our vocabulary and potty is a word repeated countless times throughout the day.  Instead of changing diapers, I'm using phrases like "Elyse, remember to tell mommy when you have to go potty, ok?" only to be followed with her first start of sarcasm..."OOookkkkkk Mom!"  ha! 

While it's not perfect, and of course there will still be accidents, I still feel like I can say...in Elyse's words..."I DID IT!"  Or at least I helped Elyse do it!