“Pee Pee in The Potty, Pee Pee in The Potty”….My not so silent chant.

I am a mom who likes to do a lot of reading. Pinterest is my best friend during naptime. (So. Many. Resources!) But, I have yet to find a fool-proof way to potty train. I have gotten advice from family and friends (both welcomed and not-so-welcomed), and have read way too many blog posts with step-by-step ways to get it done. I had it in my head that it would be easy! Just a few days and Brava, she would get it!

WRONG!!!!

I read a post titled “Potty Train in 3 Days” HA! I will link it here  if you would like to try it. But my very advanced 18 month old just wasn’t having it! She literally would scream and shake when she had an accident. The poor thing was so scared. 3 days of my precious baby scared and screaming all day. I couldn’t take it anymore. She obviously was not ready despite all the readiness signs { < great article about what doctors want you to know about potty training} she was showing. BK#1 was literally hiding and squatting every time she went in her diaper, and then coming to me and saying “poop”. Like, really kid?!?!? Just go sit on that green froggy potty over there!

Thankfully one of our fellow bloggers has babies just about the same age as me and posted this!  I no longer felt like I was crazy, and alone! I am not the only one shaking my head, and cleaning up pee off of my hardwood floors! Seriously someone, just tell me how you did it! Tell me your secret!

I will tell you their secret!

THERE IS NONE!

Every single child is different! Some kids get it, and some don’t!

There is a fine line of discipline and “I am the parent and we need to do this, whether you like it or not”, and breaking their spirit. I think as a parent that is my greatest fear! We decided to stop potty training, because she obviously wasn’t ready, and I didn’t want to scar her!  

Discipline is so hard! Every parent has come from different homes, and inevitably has different views and stances, whether you know it or not. You may think you are on the same page about parenting, until you realize that you really might not be. One parent might be a little more patient with scrubbing poopy carpet than the other! THAT IS OK! Just because one of you deal with certain situations better than the other, doesn’t mean that you’re a bad parent, or not doing something right.

So, before you start potty training, sit down with your SO and talk about your expectations for EACH OTHER. I promise, that this will be the best piece of advice you can find when it comes to potty training! If there is more than one adult in the home, you have to agree on what is going to happen, and how you will handle certain situations.

We are now really facing potty training head on now! BK#1 will be 2 next month, and we want her well on her way to no more diapers! And, for the love of God I am sick of changing her tush!

I thought I would share some tips and advice that I have found along the way that seem to be helping us. She is not potty trained yet, and for those of you who did it with your kids in 3 days: I applaud you! It simply has not been that easy with our stubborn one. It is taking a lot of TIME and WORK!

I hope my late night binging on The Mindy Project for sanity and comic relief, and searching for answers helps you, too…

***Except for the first, none of these are in a specific order! Just a list of what we are doing!***

• First,read   up on your toddler. Know the facts! Know what is going on in their tiny bodies and learn how they work. It will help you, if you completely understand bowl control capabilities, attitude, etc.

• Demonstrate. From the time that BK#1 could walk she followed me to the bathroom. Annoying as it may be, I let her. They have to see what is going on. It’s even more fun now, because she narrates everything…..

 

• Gerber Training Pants.  I have found that BK#1 responds to these the best. They are padded and have a plastic layer, so she can wear pants and feels when she goes a little, and then tries to rush to the bathroom. She absolutely hates getting her panties wet! (Still screams and cries when that happens.) I use that to my advantage though! During nap time she tends keep her pull up dry, because I put her panties over top of them. “No pee pee on the panties”

 

• Panties and Pull ups.  You will see a lot of different opinions on if you should use pull ups or not. We do both. During the day she is just in undies and at nap and bed she has a pull up on. It’s for my sanity really. Am I making it worse? Or am I helping her? Not quite sure of the answer, but it is what works for us. Make a big deal of the panties! Let them pick them, and or pick ones that you know they will be excited about! We don’t do a lot of cartoons/ characters in our house, so shopping for them was kinda hard. But BK#1 is really into shapes lately and we found some pink stars and just simple designs, and she likes those. They make them with every on them lately, seriously! You name the cartoon, there are underwear with the character on it. 

 

• Potty and Potty seat.

We bought this one and BK#1 loved it! Get the potty well in advance, and let your toddler get all the playing out of their system. Let them play with it, carry it around, put toys in it etc., before you are ready to potty train. That way you wont have a potty full of pee being carried across the house, because they want the potty in the living room….. When you get a seat to go on the actual toilet, get the ones that are one piece! The ones that are a cushion in between plastic get GROSS! This one smells, and you just can’t clean it well, unless you dunk it in bleach. 

• Flash cards.ABC’s, 123’s, shapes, and colors! It’s a great time to bond and teach! They have to sit still! Take advantage of that one on one time! Again, it’s another distraction so they relax

• Drinks.I have been doubling her water intake She probably feels a little crazy, but I am trying to keep her bladder full and teaching her what that feeling means!

• Gate in an easy to clean area.  A lot of accidents happen. A LOT. Just know that going into it. Thankfully we have a bathroom right off the kitchen, so we have been spending a lot of time in there!

• Use a timer.Pick a small amount of time and set the timer to take your toddler to the bathroom. Whether they go or not. We set one for every 30 min. They have a ton of great apps but we use the Pull Ups app  There is a game to play when they go.

UPDATE: While this app is great, it does freeze and close without any notice, leaving you without a timer! It’s a really nice app, with alot of great features, but they have yet to fix the problem. So, I have just been using it as a potty time game reward.

 

• Lots of apples and fiber. Trying to encourage the need to poo! That takes a lot more time to do on the potty, but I am hoping that if we increase the frequency then it will be easier!
• Nakey!  If she doesn’t want to put her undies back on, I don’t make her! She tends to just hang out on the potty.
• Distractions for Siblings. Try and focus as much attention on your training toddler as you can. BK#2 just turned 6 months old and is loving his new walker, and I tend to put him in that if we have to spend more than a few seconds in the bathroom. Know your littles are safe. Older kids? Maybe get some new craft supplies, let them help you potty train, grandparents’ house for a few days? Try not to let them feel forgotten, even though a lot of their time will be taken away.
• Stop training if they get a rash. This piece of advice is straight from our pediatrician. You don’t want them to associate pain with going potty. Unfortunately BK#1 was allergic to the pull ups we were using at nap time, and had a HORRIBLE reaction! We had to switch brands, but until her diaper area cleared up we had to put a halt to the potty. There is no way to keep on cream and keep it clean while naked or in undies.
• Consistency! No matter what you do, stay consistent. Communicate the plan to your toddler, your spouse, grandparents, sitters etc. Don’t deviate! I feel like BK#1 is getting it, but has accidents when we wait too long, or go somewhere etc.

We are still working hard at it, but hope that this plan will lead to success. Don’t lose faith! You have a smart and adorable toddler and they won’t be going to college in their diaper.

~Amanda