We have officially conquered the third and final step of becoming a big girl. Wow, crazy. We started potty training the weekend before spring break. I took off the entire weekend so that I could help dedicate our time to getting that girl potty trained. I also wanted her to be as far along as possible before Monday when Tim would be on his own. As a mom I felt some major guilt about not being the one to be there the whole week during the journey, but it is what it is. Tim and I are a team and sometimes one has to carry the load.
So Friday night went out to dinner and to the store to buy big girl panties. We tried to hype it up and talk about how exciting Saturday was going to be. Saturday we woke up, today was the day!!! We both got ready then went into Addy's room ready to tackle the potty beast. I had found the "one day potty training method" on Pintrest. Basics were take them to the bathroom every 15ish minutes to try to catch them in the act of pottying. No TV, restrict activity, give them tons of liquid, and encouraged junk food that might increase their liquid in take. So off we go setting the timer every 15 mins, shoving food and liquid down our poor child's throat. We sat on the toilet a lot that morning and missed her going every time. By lunch time Tim and I were worn out and cranky. And everyone was tired of the bathroom. However, we were bound and determined to get her to go on the potty. So before nap we ended up bringing her princess table in the bathroom and basically trapping her on the potty with playdough. Now she actually enjoyed this process, and went to the potty. We cheered, had candy, basically acted like we won the lottery. So with that done we threw her in a diaper (there was NO way we had the energy to tackle naps too) and put her down for a nap. Well during this nap that she didn't take, probably because she was hopped up on so much junk, she proceeded to take off her diaper and pee all over her bed. Aaaaahhhh, talk about frustrating! So now it is late afternoon, no nap, everyone hates the process, I was pretty sure my house now smelled of pee, and she is so fussy. At 5 o'clock, I gave in and we watched Dora. As I was sitting there with Addy on my lap, it felt like she might be running a fever. I had also noticed that she had been holding her ear. Rewind to Friday when I had proudly said to my boss that "Addy has never had an ear infection". (I just love when God humbles you). Addy proceeded to fall asleep on my lap, which has not happened since babyhood. We gave her Tylenol and she continued to run a fever and hold her ear all evening. By that point we had given up on going to the potty because she was crying anytime we entered the bathroom and we were all exhausted. All during this day I had basically put out a plea on facebook for help, and my cousin's wife sent me the 3 day potty training method. We also texted the pediatrician's nurse and she said if Addy still didn't feel well she would have the doctor meet us at the office tomorrow.
So day two, we woke up ready to try the 3 day method. (I know everyone out there reading this may think I am crazy for researching any method, but that is how I work. I like to research the heck out of things in order to make the most informed decision possible. Then I follow that research many times referring back to it during the execution process. Weird, probably.) So the 3 day method is much more relaxed. You are supposed to let the child guide you so that they learn their body signs. No sitting on the toilet or trying to potty. You simply remind the child one million times a day that the need to tell you when they need to go to the potty and that we want to keep their panties dry. When they have an accident you run them to the toilet and say oh no your panties are wet. That's it. You can do whatever activities you want with the child, but must be near them and focused in case an accident happens you can catch them. By the end of Sunday morning we had actually had a couple successes. She even stayed dry during our doctor visit to confirm the dreaded ear infection. By the end of the day, she seemed to start to understand the process we were trying to have happen.
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were better than the weekend, but still had a few accidents everyday. However Thursday was the magic day, no accidents!!! We have continued that trend, and even moved into no diapers at nap time. She has been out to restaurants, played with friends, ridden in the car for 30 mins, and stayed at my dad's house all with no accidents! She doesn't wake up consistently from nighttime with a dry diaper so I am just waiting for to cross that bridge when we get there. But I think it is safe to say that we have now conquered potty training!!!! Operation big girl is complete!
