Potty Training: the weekend that worked for my willful one

Three weeks ago...

Our lives changed just a tiny bit...I think for the better.

We started potty training!

Perhaps half of "potty training" is training the parents! I never knew I could keep such careful mental record of ounces (of juice), hours (between trips), and good ol' #2.

I'm sure all that fades. We're just three weeks in.

The best thing about potty training?

Easily...seeing the most glowing look of pride on Blakely's face. It's an expression I hadn't yet seen. I can't get enough.

Next best thing?

The encouragement I all of a sudden receive.

"Mommy?"

"Yeah, Blake?"

"You go potty?"

"Yep, I went shi-shi"

"Good job, mommy!"

"Well, thanks, Blake."

"I'm so proud of you, mama"


Since I can't remember being two, I certainly don't remember anyone ever expressing pride in my ability to use the restroom! ;) How nice.

Here's what we did/learned/worked (for us). Tactics vary. Kids are different.

Mine happens to be incredibly willful. We went heavy on the "buy-in." I knew it would either completely work or totally fail.

I had read some articles about potty training in a day (here's one link for a post I liked). We aimed for that, but it stretched through the weekend. The first two days were so-so successful (and kind of hard), but it clicked in pretty well on the third day!

1. Pretty potties (maybe that's a girl thing?) :)

2. Prize chart! She had to "earn" so many stickers in a row to get the prize. I shopped the party section of Walmart to find uber cheap trinkets that would spark her interest. After a day or so of her having the prize, I swept it up and put it back in a prize jar for another time.

2. Underwear options that I knew she'd love (Hello Kitty & Little Mermaid). The goal was that she'd want to keep them clean!

3. Stuck to the unds! She woke up on Friday, June 29th. We took off her diaper and never looked back (well, we did "look," we just didn't "go." hehe).

4. Napped in underwear. This was hard for the first week. I changed a lot of sheets. But, it actually worked out, too! She figured it out.

5. Excitement! Energy! We celebrated trying, sitting, going, etc... we toned it down each day throughout the weekend as well. She really worked for this ducky prize

6. Night night underwear (aka: pull ups). I was resistant to using a diaper at all because I didn't want Blakely to prefer the diaper over underwear. We just downplayed the pull up and called it her night time underwear. Who knows if that's a good idea or not. It's just what has worked so far. Some nights she's dry, some she's not.

7. Late night potty run. Before I crash for the night, I pick up my sleep beauty and plop her on the pot. She usually shi-shis in a half-sleep state.

8. Keepin' it simple. To ease big distractions for the first two full days, we played with toys, did puzzles, watched only short shows, and of course used the new prizes! She might have applied her whole thing of lip gloss in one application. :)

9. Coffee! I drank lots of delicious coffee the first two (trying) mornings.

10. Back to real life. Monday rolled around quickly -- Day Four of our "training." Blakely was doing awesome, but I was still worried about a car seat soaked in pee or an accident at the post office, etc.. Well, we had to jump back into routine sometime. We took the plunge! I now tote her little seat in one of my bags or throw her mini potty in my trunk.... just in case!

We are still new at this!

In fact, she's on the potty right now... I'd better go give her a thumbs up!

Happy Friday (and happy potty training if that's in your current or near future! xoxo)

p.s. I don't believe there is a right or wrong way to potty train :) I'm only sharing our limited experience because it was fun and it worked of us (so far)!