Adventures in Potty Training

Warning... we are talking about bodily functions a lot in this post...


Recently and increasingly Lilly has become more sensitive to wet diapers. Usually in the day she is distracted enough that she could go on with a little wet diaper, but NOT at night. She would need her diaper changed SEVERAL times before going to bed... our record was 5 diapers in one hour before bedtime. Then she would wake up several times at night needing her diaper changed.

Not cool....

She was smart enough to learn how to be potty trained. We had introduced panties to her a couple of times just so she could feel how nice they were and had her sit on the potty with her tinkerbell transition seat just so she could get used to it... but we hadn't tried REALLY potty training yet. Like I said, she was smart enough she could get it, but she really just didn't WANT to. She loved her diapers and I think it was kind of like her pacifier... a comfort thing.

Until she started to realize that a dry diaper is comforting, but a wet one is nasty.

She still resisted using the potty or sitting on it at all, but I was NOT going to buy diapers like that... so we decided to try to push it a little bit more.

Monday, December 13th: Lilly's first time peeing in the potty. A big step. I knew if I made a big enough deal about it it would catch on. I was right. We shouted, we clapped, we paraded around the house, we sucker'ed... that girl was happy!

Tuesday, December 14th: Lilly went pee pee in the potty again... again we made a big deal about it!

Wednesday, December 15th: Lilly went Pee pee in Our potty, and Denise's potty. And again in our's later that day. It continued like this on Thursday. We lessen the reward from a sucker to a jellybean.

Friday, December 17th: Commence Serious Potty Training. Panties on and no turning back. Successful trip to Costco... no accidents out, but 3 accidents at home, including a poopy accident... no fun. And Lilly doesn't like Jellybeans that much, so we either find a good one, or give her a sticker, but she doesn't really see the correlation of potty training and stickers.

Saturday December 18th: Trip to Brick Oven... parents too scared to go with panties so we did a diaper.... forced Lilly to sit on the potty twice with no avail... but she came home with a dry diaper. 3 accidents at home. We find a potty treat that works perfectly. Strange.. but they are little chocolate filled cookies we get at the Asian market. She loves them.

Sunday, December 19th: Again, went to church with a diaper, but after sacrament she successfully went potty in a public place. Took her to Nursery (with no tears... finally)... then picked her up (dry diaper) took her to the potty and she went again! 2 accidents at home that day.

Monday, December 20th: This is where I learned the most. I needed to go Christmas shopping. We got dressed and it had been about an hour and a half since Lilly had gone Potty. I decided that once she went one more time we would go. I asked her if she needed to go, she said no... but I didn't believe her and put her on the potty anyway. She screamed. After a half an hour of waiting for her needing to go, I just decided we would get in the car and go to the first store and sit on the potty there. Which we did. I asked her if she needed to go, she said no... I put her on the potty anyway. She screamed. This repeated the entire day. Seriously we were out for like 4 hours. Nothing. I was completely nerveracked cause I knew she was just going to pee right in the middle of a store, and frustrated cause she still said she didn't have to go... and at that point I had started to believe her cause it had been 4 hours since she had gone... and she wasn't lying any of the other times she said she didn't have to go. hmpf.... We head home cause I'm going crazy... and Lilly falls asleep in the car. I take her out and put her in her bed, she wakes up immediately and tells me she needs to go potty, which she then does. This is the day I learned to trust her. 2 accidents at home today... one peepee, one poopy.

Tuesday, December 21st: Only 1 accident today. If I ask my daughter if she needs to go, I can trust her answer. It makes the whole thing so much more pleasant. I know this sounds terrible, but Lilly's naps have been crap lately, so she fell asleep on the couch naked after her bath. Yes... Lilly loves naked time after her bath.. especially since I don't want to put another pair of panties on and risk them getting dirty since we put a diaper on for bedtime anyway. I woke her up to get her dressed for bed and she wouldn't let me put a diaper on her. She didn't want it. I trust her...So I made sure her bed had a mattress pad on it and said here we go. Put her to bed with panties on.

Wednesday December 22nd: 3 in the morning... Lilly wakes up and tells us she needs to go potty. Which she does. She goes back to bed. Still dry. Lilly wakes up at 8:30... tells us she needs to go potty, which she does... still dry.

So. We have successfully completed Going number 1 in the potty... leaving the house and staying dry... using public potty's... and staying dry during naps and at night. 2 more hurdles to go... a big one coming up. Lilly still hasn't gone number 2... she knows she supposed to, and she tries, but I think she gets a little freaked out about it... So I imagine it will go something like, maybe another accident or two, but she'll feel bad about it and then muster up the courage to go poop in the potty.. and then we'll make a HUGE deal about it again and then she'll be sold on it.

The other hurdle is staying potty trained while in other people's care. We tested this out on Friday with my parents as Steve and I went on a date... she she was fine. And we tried it again at nursery on Sunday, but she wasn't wearing panties... not this Sunday but next, we will send her with panties, and then when daycare starts up again... we'll see how it goes but I don't foresee it being a problem.

Right now we are just enjoying our big girl and trusting her!