We officially started potty training on Thursday of last week (as I mentioned the plan was last post) and while I am not sure exactly what teh requirements are to be "potty trained", Addie has done VERY WELL. However, I am not sure what to do from here-we are definitely learning right there along with her. This is going to be a detailed post about potty training, so if you are only here to see cute pics of the kids, this post is not for you. But, if you are interested, read on.
Day one: Addie was put in panties with no pants as soon as she finished breakfast. We set up camp for the day in the playroom, lined with a tarp since we do not have wood floors. Each time Addie started to pee, I ran her to her little potty so she could finish in that. She was then rewarded with an M and M as well as a sticker to put on her potty chart. We went through 17 pairs of panties that day, but each time she started to pee, she would say "uh-oh, poo poo", meaning she knew what was happening (kind of).
Day two: Addie went through WAY less panties (not sure of an exact count) and went pee in the potty a few times without going in her panties first, which was a huge improvement. Progress was being made, so we were then pretty sure we were going to just stick with it and not be done after 3 days.
Day three: No accidents when going pee! We even went outside to play and she did great.
Addie actually had her first accident since Friday this morning...and it was my fault because I didn't take her to the potty in time. She is really doing great. However, I am not exactly sure where to go from here. I have been told by lots of people not to put Addie in a pull-up once she is potty training because then she will be confused and think she can just go in her diaper, not the potty anymore. But, I also know Addie cannot hold her pee for long once she says she needs to go. So, what to do? She never goes pee on the potty if we just put her on and tell her to try and go. She only goes when she says she needs to and we take her. So, it's not like I can get her to go potty before we leave to go somewhere, to be sure she doeosn't need to go again anytime too soon. We can't stay at the house forever, but I want to get her out of diapers completely (daytime), if she is capable. Also, at this point, Addie is wearing a diaper for her nap as well as at night. She normally does not pee in it while she's sleeping, though, because if we go get her as soon as she wakes up and put her on the potty, her diaper is dry (usually). Does that mean we should try to train to wear panties even while she is sleeping? I'm really not willing to give up sleep for this, as we already have another child waking up at night, and we don't mind putting a diaper on just for naps and bedtime. I also don't want to confuse her, though.
One problem we also have is poop. For the first couple days, she just didn't do it at all. That is not like her-she normally goes at least once a day, sometimes 2 or 3 times. But, she seems to be out of that, and now even says she needs to "poop". Thankfully, she is now differentiating between that and pee. A couple days ago she said she needed to poop and when she sat on the potty she just had gas. So, I told her "Oh, it was just gas, that's okay. Thanks for trying!" Now, she is constantly saying "poop, poop" and I ask her if she needs to poop, to which she says "Yes!" I run her to the potty, she sits down, and nothing happens. She then says "just gas" and starts cracking up (mind you, there is no gas). It was funny the first couple times. Now, it's getting old. In fact, it's the reason she had an accident this morning. Our little girl who cried wolf had been run to the potty countless times with nothing coming out and her mommy (myself) was trying to get dinner in the crock pot, while Levi was screaming his head off, so I ignored her. She of course peed in her panties as well as on the floor and started crying and I felt terrible.
So, to sum it up, Addie has caught on to the potty concept great. I just don't exactly know where to go from here. We still give treats for her going on the potty and get very excited with her when she goes. But, how do we continue to progress to the point of leaving the house in panties? And how do we get her to stop saying she needs to go when she really does not? Any advice ir welcomed. Thanks! We are so proud of our little (growing up) girl! I took a cute video of her earlier today and will try to post it soon so that I don't just have potty stuff on here!
I am probably not the person to ask (haha since it's taking me a year to potty train the twins!)... but I actually am a BIG fan of pull-ups. The twins do absolutely fine at home (and at school actually) in panties but if we go out in public, we still do a pull-up. I like to call it insurance :) And I know this would go against every piece of advice given, but we still occasionally do diapers as well. The twins know enough that they can differentiate. They know they need to go to the potty if they have on panties, and they can just pee right there if they have on diapers. They'll actually sometimes ask "Can I pee?" or "Do I have a diaper on?" I know, I know, it's terrible and not at all how the experts would advise. But for us, it works. Also, we had a huge problem with poop for Rebekah - she totally stopped doing it too, then would insist on a diaper or pullup being put on solely for the purpose of pooping in it. HOWEVER when we took a few months off, and have just now started back, she poops GREAT in the potty! So I don't know if maybe she just wasn't ready. Ok this comment is getting long enough, just thought I'd share our experience, since we're currently going through this as well (and I have no idea what I'm doing either). I think the bottom line is: it will happen eventually, no need to sweat about it. :) OH and something that has helped us tremendously is an "on-the-go" potty that we keep in the car so they can pee when we're out... sometimes it's just really hard for them to hold it AND I don't particularly like them going potty in public restrooms anyway!
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's tricky. Sophie's still in diapers for nap and night - she is dry a lot of the time, but it's hard to get in there right in the a.m. when she wakes up and I don't want her to get out of her room by herself. So we do diapers, but now she's starting to really hate being wet, so I think it won't be long before she just holds it well.
ReplyDeleteAs far as leaving the house goes, I think you might just have to time it. When I was training Soph I would make her try every 30 minutes. Now this was because she wasn't telling me when she needed to go, so that is so great that Addie is already telling you. But if you can try to time it like 30 or 45 minutes after she goes, then have her try before you leave, that's probably ideal. I mean they have to get to the point where they try before leaving. And then you might want to do panties inside a pull-up when you go out for awhile. But - know that this kind of messes up the absorbancy, so if she goes a LOT in the panties, it will come out through the sides of the pull-up. But it might buy you enough time if it starts to leak and then you have to run to the potty somewhere. Just make sure you know where the bathrooms are where you're going and start w/ small little trips. Way to go!
I like the panties inside the pullups idea! Brilliant! I also wanted to mention that we still make Maggie (age 7) go pee before we leave the house... and she's been potty trained for 5 years! So I think that's just a good habit to start. Before leaving the house & before meals (hate everyone getting up to pee in the middle of dinner!)
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