Sandy Esprit

ugh! Potty training is the one challenge I was not looking forward to. If you read my last potty training blog post you know that it did not go as well as I wanted to. I had all these expectations from listening to my mother talk about her potty training experience with me and my sisters and my husband was potty training in four days (FOUR DAYS?!). I read blogs on potty training in 3 days, I asked for advice from other moms and child care professionals and forced my daughter to watch potty training videos on youtube.

She wasn’t ready So we put the potty away decided to wait. You can read more here.

But I’m glad to see to say that my daughter is potty trained and I couldn’t be more proud!

When I found out I was pregnant with baby number 2, I knew that I wanted to have her potty trained before the baby came. However, when would she be ready? If she wasn’t ready then she’d be stressed which means I would be stressed. But then again I didn’t want to start buying diapers for 2 kids. Diapers are not cheap. So I did the wise thing and waited until she was ready.

How did I know she was ready?

1. She kept taking off her diaper at night. It was so frustrating. I’d wake up to see her diaper hidden between the wall and her bed. It was a daily game of hide-and-seek, diaper edition.
2. She didn’t want to put on her diaper in the morning. I mean at that point, I was forcing her to wear it. Once it was on, she was good but until then…yea.
3. She kept pointing to the potty. I mean it doesn’t get any obvious than that, I’m afraid. In fact, she used it when my mother was babysitting her and I wasn’t around.

What did I do?

At that point I sat her down and I explained to her that I was no longer putting a diaper on her during the day. I explained to her that she would need to use the potty. I was surprised at how much she actually understood.

I’m not going to lie the first week was brutal. I mean the spills were disgusting (thank goodness for Swiffer WetJet!). She even withheld her poop for 3 days. But eventually I began to notice the change.

• I had to keep asking her if she wanted to use the potty. I also made her stay on the potty for about 3-5 mins every 30 mins.
• Everytime she used the potty correctly, she got a treat. We made a big deal out of it. I mean, we cheered her on, told her how amazing she was and how proud we were of her.
• I also had to repeat myself about the usage of the potty. I’m pretty sure I sounded like a broken record. Eventually it became our little chant.
• When she messed up, she knew it. So I made sure to reassure her and let her know that it was ok. No use crying over spilt…urine?

It’s amazing to watch. I saw this little girl master the potty and she was so proud of herself. She knew how to let me know she needed to use the washroom. Now we’re cheering each other on when we use the bathroom but it’s still as big of a deal as the first time she used it. She saw herself do something like a big girl and I couldn’t be more proud of her accomplishments.

Did I miss anything? Let me what your potty training have been like? How long did it take? Share with your friends.