Potty Party

Well, this week we are potty training Caroline. She has been showing signs of readiness for awhile, wanting to sit on the potty and not wanting to wear diapers. I have kind of been putting it off and dreading it. She will not be 2 for another month so she is kind of young but I know that kids this age can be capable. I am mainly giving it a shot now so that I will not wonder if I have missed my window. One of Caroline's best friends, Elizabeth is also ready to potty train so Sara and I decided to have a Potty Party for the girls and do it together. We were hoping that peer pressure and competition would work to our advantage. Plus, it is just more fun for the moms to do such a task with a friend.

We started the morning with Sonic apple juice slushes and a potty training movie.
Next, they got a present - new big girl panties.
Poor Caroline had a mix of Katherine's hand me downs and one new package of Hello Kitty panties that she picked out at Target.
Both girls chose and put on their big girl underwear. The funny thing is that without realizing it, they chose the same pair.
Our strategy was to get them to drink as much as possible and every 10 minutes the timer went off for potty time. We did not need the timer because anytime one would get on their potty, the other would follow.
Caroline was pretty successful all morning. We even went outside to play for awhile, making sure to take the potties with us.
For lunch we included jello. I think it may have been the first time either girl has tried it. We were doing everything possible to get fluids into them.
Of course every time they sat on the potty or went, they got a sticker on their chart.
Caroline had one accident while at Sara's house and it was right after she had already gone. We came home after lunch to nap. She woke up wet and then was really out of sorts for awhile and refused to get on the potty at all. She had napped on Katherine's bed and when she woke up she was confused. I felt bad because I left Sam with her on his own for the night and she had not had any practice with #2 yet. She did a great job though and there were no problems.

Today was Day 2 of potty training. I had a Bible Study and she was in childcare. She refused a pull up and wanted to wear panties. She actually kept them dry while in childcare. But she was not accident free today.

At the end of day 2 I am not sure if we will be successful this round or not. I am not giving up yet though. She seems to know what to do and she is successful if I initiate and make her sit on the potty frequently enough. She is not good at initiating a trip to the potty when she needs to go yet.

One factor that is so different this time around is that Katherine is around. She can be quite a distraction. She also is wanting to get a raisin, gummy bear or M&M every time she sits on the potty too. It can be frustrating.

Potty Training 101 from Shannon

We are still dealing with potty training which is so frustrating. We started early because Katherine was appearing to be so ready. She does fine most of the time but lately is being just plain rebellious. Still, it is better than diapers most of the time.

I have many friends who are also in the potty training stage so I thought I would pass on this great post from Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer (the ultimate mommy blogger!). Check it out if you are anywhere near the potty training stage.

Proud

Here is Katherine, holding up her completed "potty chart". She is wearing her prize - a Hello Kitty necklace and bracelet. We are still not 100% but she is doing much better.

she gets it

"Mommy, I need to change my panties. I was too busy to go on the potty."

Katherine said this to me this morning. Apparently she was too busy watching Veggie Tales while mommy was too busy getting ready to leave the house. So, she obviously understands everything she needs to understand to be fully potty trained. She just sometimes makes a choice to have an "accident".

Potty "retraining"

Katherine has had a little regression in the potty training area. She was never 100% accident free but pretty close. Since Caroline arrived she has been having many more accidents. I think it is partially due to my divided attention so I forget to remind her to go. I think she is also at an age where she does not want to stop what she is doing and take a break. It has been very frustrating for me and I desperately am wanting to have her retrained soon.

At the beginning of this week I decided to use TV watching as a motivator. If she stayed dry all morning we would watch one show before nap and if she stayed dry all afternoon she would get to watch another one before dinner. I think that the concept of delayed gratification was a little difficult for her. Every time she was dry she wanted to watch TV and she got so upset when i would not let her. She had accidents 3 of the 4 time periods we tried this even though she had more successes during that time frame so I decided I needed to switch things up. It was a little too "all or nothing" for her and she was not seeing any rewards for her successes. It was also punishing me as I was not able to have any down time during the times she usually watches some TV.
Yesterday we started our new incentive program. I have a nifty dry erase board with a grid on it. Every time she successfully is dry and goes to the potty she gets to fill in a square. Every time she has an accident I erase a square. When she fills up a column she gets to choose an item from the basket of new toys and books.
Yesterday she only had one accident but she was still able to earn a prize. She chose watercolors. I think she has used them at school but we had never used any at home. She had fun and ended up with a pretty wet piece of paper with a little color. She also decided to see if it worked with finger painting.
Today she decided to get a foam puzzle. I was much more impressed with this puzzle after we played with it than when I bought it. each puzzle piece has a square piece with a shape. The set has three triangles, circles, squares and parallelograms. One is divided in thirds, one divided in halves and the other is whole. So, what Katherine thinks is a fun colorful puzzle is actually teacher her about fractions.
Both the puzzle and watercolors are from Target's dollar spot. Currently there are a lot of art and educational things located there with Back to School.

Hopefully this new reward system will motivate Katherine to retrain herself. So far it is working. When she fills up the entire chart she will get her grand prize of a new Hermie DVD that I got on clearance.

Target

People keep commenting on how much I am doing with the girls. Really I am just choosing stuff that is easy. I may get out a lot but typically I am going places where I will have help. I go to friends houses or meet friends at locations where Katherine will be occupied.

I knew that the ultimate challenge would be taking both kids to the grocery store or Target. Yesterday I decided to go for it and I headed to Target. Katherine sat in the back of the basket and Caroline's car seat was in the front. First stop was the dollar spot where I let Katherine choose a treat that we would keep if she cooperated. I actually spent about $15 at the dollar spot because they had a lot of great educational and art supplies for "Back to School". I was crossing stuff off the list and things were going well. Caroline was asleep and Katherine was behaving. Then I smelled it. There was a dirty diaper smell. Katherine confessed, she had gone #2. So, I had to leave all of my merchandise outside the bathroom and take both girls in to take care of it. I don't think she has ever had such a disastrous accident, let alone in public. I used all of my wipes and she had to continue the shopping trip in panties with no pants. Luckily she was wearing her cover and I had another one because later in the trip she did it again. In her defense, I think she had a little bit of a stomach bug. The rest of our outing was fine. Really both girls were very well behaved. We just had bad timing on a sick tummy.

Because of the sick tummy, I put Katherine in one of our few remaining diapers for her nap. I just was not in the mood to handle more disgusting accidents. That was a huge mistake. She has been asking to wear a diaper ever since. Potty training has regressed a bit anyway, I do not want to use diapers and continue in the wrong direction.

Adventures in Potty Training

Yes, potty training is an adventure sure. I know it has been a hot topic of my blog lately but as any mother of a potty training toddler can tell you, it becomes quite consuming for awhile.

I am sure that we will have accidents from time to time for years to come (so I have heard), but I am happy to say that I feel like we are in a really good place. We are 2 weeks with no diapers or pull ups at all (even nap and night) and Sunday we had zero accidents during the day and that included 2 hours in the church nursery. Katherine is very good about being honest as to if her underwear is wet or dry and she is good about going into the bathroom when she needs to go. In fact, Saturday Sam walked in on her after she had completed the entire process by herself and she was dumping the contents of her toddler toilet into the big toilet. I do not usually try to get her to do this but she watches me do it and knew it was the next step.

There are a few funny things that Katherine does. One is that even when her underwear is dry, she wants to change them almost every time she goes. She requests Elmo or Zoe or flower. I try my best to convince her to wear the same ones. I kind of wish we had only white underwear now. The other funny thing has occurred because she is getting better at dressing herself. She will sometimes go into her room and take off her pants, go to her drawer, grab another pair and come out in a very random outfit. Today she had her shorts on backwards. She wants to do it "by myself" but she has chosen some very interesting outfits.
Katherine wearing 2 pairs of underwear, leggings, a denim skirt and jeans along with a bib.
A pair of panties on top of her jammies and with her white dress shoes.
The top from her jammies with her sailboat pants.
The top from her jammies with her hot pink tiger pants - worn to school and all day.
Why get fully dressed at all - wearing shorts and having taken off the shirt, just in time to catch some of mommy's smoothie on her chest.


It has been a two weeks of ups and downs since we quit using diapers. I do not claim to be an expert but if any of you who are going to be participating in this adventure have any questions, I am more than willing to share what worked for us, what didn't and what supplies we used. We especially are happy with our "plastic" pants that we use at night, nap and Mother's Day Out.

2 steps forward, 3 steps back

This is a sticker that they put on the kids at church when they are potty training so that the workers remember. This week Katherine has ventured out of the house and has gone to church, Bible study, and Wednesday night church. All of these things were at the most 2 hours so I was not too nervous because I figured at most she would have one accident.

Today was our first day to go to Mothers Day Out in panties so I was a bit nervous. That is 5 hours and includes lunch (and fluids) and a nap. I also knew that the workers really prefer for the kids to be in pull-ups. We are not doing diapers or pull-ups at night or naps or at all. We have training underwear and waterproof covers. I was anxious when I picked up Katherine but as soon as I got there Miss Kristen told me that she acted like she had been potty trained for a long time. She did not have a single accident and went both #1 and #2. I was so proud and so was Katherine she called daddy on the phone and said, "Fafrine peepee on potty, poopoo on potty, no accidents!"

Then we came home and it was a disaster. I have no idea what happened. She had three full blown accidents where she just stood there and watched as pee went down her leg and onto the couch (twice) or the floor of the bathroom (6 inches from her toilet). I was so frustrated but I think I did a good job of remaining positive and loving even though inside I was furious. We are washing our couch cover for the second or third time in less than 2 weeks.

Wooohoooo!

This morning Katherine woke up totally dry! Huge accomplishment for a potty training toddler who is not wearing pull ups at night or nap or anytime at all. We are so proud. We are not accident free yet but we are progressing very well.

Much improved day

Today was a complete 180 from yesterday. Thank goodness. I was really nervous because we left the house at 9 and returned at 3. Yikes, how do I do that while potty training? (For those of you not interested in the details of my day, stop reading now. For those of you in the potty training world, rejoice with me!) And, I promise my next post tomorrow will not be about potty training.

I was determined not to use pull ups and to keep Katherine in "real" underwear all day even though we were going to be on the go. We were successful. We started out at Lynette and Caedmon's house for a short playdate with them and Julie and Dani. Katherine was dry by the time we drove 45 minutes to get to their house and she used Caedmon's toddler potty twice. Then we went to the chiropractor (the reason for our cross town travels for the day). Katherine remained dry and attempted to use the potty once. Then we went to visit Katherine's cousins who also live on that side of town. Shannon bought me a sit and stand stroller at a consignment sale last weekend so I wanted to pick it up. Katherine was still dry when we got there and used their potty once. Our one accident of the day was when the kids were in the backyard playing. Katherine said, "uh-oh poopoo" and I thought "great, I have to change poopy panties." Luckily she had just gone #1 and was about to go #2 so we made it on time! We drove home and she was dry at the end of over an hour in the car. Dry after nap, dry after dinner at the mall and dry when we got home! An excellent day in the potty training realm.

The only change I made was each time she was dry and each time she had a success, we not only put a sticker on the chart but I gave her a cookie. In reality, the cookies were organic animal crackers and in all she ate less than one snack pack. If it motivates her to hold it until she is in the right place then I am all for a little snack motivation.

Redo Part Deaux

Thank you to all my friends who emailed me some encouragement. It was just one of those rotten days. When I got home, I heard a funny noise in the kitchen. Well, there is a leak where the ceiling meets the chimney. Add that to the list of things to do. When Sam got home he said there was water in the garage. It has rained so much today that the sub floor of our house (pier and beam) has up to 3 inches of water in places. Our house is on a hill and the garage is 8 steps below the level of the house so the water is flowing from under our house and into our garage. Urgh when it rains it pours - literally today. (I just saw on the news that a school in our neighborhood reported 7.66 inches of rain today!)

Katherine was a sweetie today. Other than the fact that she had numerous accidents, she really was in a good mood and a joy to be around. I think she is rebelling the idea of panties, but at least she is not doing so in a tantrum, disrespectful way. I think she just would prefer her diaper and is being a little lazy.

The bright spot of the day was that when I woke up from my nap Sam called to tell me that the electricity in his building was out due to the storm and he was coming home early. This was a great day to hear that news and it was so helpful to have him here at 4:15! I am watching Dancing with the Stars right now and plan to go to bed when it is over at 9:30. My back is killing me and I am ready for bed.

I need a redo!

Can today please start over from the beginning? It has been a not so good, horrible, very bad day (I don't remember exactly how Shel Silversteen's poem went).

It started when Katherine woke up at 7 not with her usual "mommy, daddy, up" but with a weird whiny cry that I just knew meant that she was very wet and not happy about it. Sure enough, her training underwear and PJ's were soaked. I was expecting that. By 8:30 we had two more accidents. The first was just wet and the second was both wet and dirty. Luckily both were on the kitchen floor which is so easy to clean. As a bonus, mom's maid was at my house today (since they are remodeling) so not only did it get wiped up but the floor was properly mopped within an hour as well.

Not all of my desire for a redo has to do with potty training though. I had invited friends over for a playgroup Easter Egg Hunt. Only one person was able to come and then they called to cancel today because in a stroke of luck for their family her husband was off today and able to spend time with the family. So, I was now on my own for the morning. I had a midwife appointment scheduled at 2. I had just firmed up my plans to leave Katherine at a friends house when the midwife's office called to see if I could come in at 11:15 or reschedule for another day. I took the 11:15 appointment but that meant Meg could not watch Katherine because she had her own OB appointment this morning. I decided to just take Katherine since she did well last time.

This is where it went from a blah day to a horrible day. It was raining pretty hard so we got wet going in. The midwife was running behind. Katherine did OK but was getting pretty restless in the waiting room after being there half an hour. By the time we had been there an hour, she was done with it. She had one accident which luckily did not leak out of her training pants and she was hungry. Finally, the nurse said that there were still two people ahead of me and would I prefer to reschedule. I chose to do that because it would be at least 30 more minutes and Katherine would not have made it. When we left it was pouring even harder and there was a river flowing through the parking lot so I was soaked from the waist down.

We get home and I lost it. I was an emotional wreck and crying. Katherine was so sweet and empathetic. She kept saying, "mommy crying, mommy very sad, I sorry". She gave me hugs and kisses. Her training pants were wet but she did pee in the potty. We ate a good lunch and she went down for a nap. But not without peeing in her panties while 12 inches from her potty.

I think we are in a consciously rebellious phase with the potty training. At the doctor's office she found her changing pad that I was using for her to sit on to protect the couch. She proceeded to pull off her pants so I could put on a diaper (which I did not have). then at home she searched through her dresser for her diapers. Luckily I had put them all away. It is so tempting though. I will not give in! I expected to have accidents. It is a part of the learning process. Today she commented that it was icky. That has to be part of what motivates her to stay dry.

So, from 7am to 1 pm the tally is:
use the bathroom successfully - 2 times
have an accident - 6 times
I can't think of the last time when went to the bathroom 8 times in 6 hours.

PT Day 1 update

Well, today was our first day of panties, no diapers. They are all hidden. There were no protests at all this morning when I told Katherine that there were no more diapers but only panties. I showed her the sticker chart and explained that every time she went on her potty she would put a sticker on the chart and every time I checked and her panties were dry she would get to put a sticker on the chart.

A new sticker because I am dry!

I set a timer for every 30-40 minutes and when the bell went off we would check that her panties were dry and then she would run to the bathroom to put her sticker on the chart. Her first time to use the potty was not until 11:30. I was starting to get worried that we were going to have a HUGE accident. After her first success, we went outside to play. We took her potty out there with us. She immediately sat on it outside and did nothing. 5 minutes later she went to it again but had already pooped in her panties. Bummer! We cleaned up and talked about it. Outside she was more into the potty and she went to it about 5 times just to practice.

We are rarely home for the entire day so that was different for us. I tried to make sure we stayed busy. We watched TV (the mattress pad to protect the furniture). We played with play-doh, played outside and made chocolate chip cookies.

For nap I told her that she was not going to put on a diaper and so she needed to stay dry. I did put a pair of plastic pants on over her panties. She stayed dry! Our time between nap and dinner was not as successful because we took some time to make chocolate chip cookies together and that distracted her. We also had a contractor come over so I was not as attentive. So, she had two accidents. It was not as bad as I thought it would be. I was imagining floods of pee on my furniture or carpet. It was all contained in her panties so there was not really a mess at all.

Overall a pretty good day. The accidents were expected and really they are a part of the process and motivation. She has to know what it feels like to be gross in order to be motivated to stay clean and dry.

Time for a little "PT"

I only wish I were talking about Personal Training but no, it is time for Potty Training. This is the week I have chosen to make the final push for potty training. Katherine has been using her potty for quite sometime now but she has been wearing diapers as well so there is not the need in her mind to be totally potty trained. She has been ready for awhile but we are so busy that I have not set aside the time needed to do it.

This week is spring break for all of our activities so there is no Mother's Day Out, no Bible Study, no MOPS. Therefore, there is NO EXCUSE! We plan to stay home with the exception of my midwife and chiropractor appointment so that we can focus on potty training. Please do not call or email and tempt me to leave the house until at least Thursday. If things are going well at that point, we will think about it. But, do feel free to call or email to say that you want to come play at our house.

Here is my plan. Tonight I took all diapers and pull ups and hid them so that they are not an option for Katherine. I heard that some books suggest that you actually thrown them away, but that seems a bit wasteful to me. Maybe we will throw one away in the morning for the symbolism if that even means anything to a 2 year old. We will be wearing panties and training pants (without plastic covers) all day tomorrow, even for nap. I have my sheet saver ready for nap time so that I do not have to clean a huge mess if she does not wake up dry. I plan to play outside a lot so that messes (if they occur:) will be easier to clean up. I do have some training pants that I bought from a cloth diaper company to use if we need to run errands. They are also required for MDO.

So if any of you experienced potty trained moms (not you the mom being potty trained but your toddler - Ha) have any tips or last minute advice. let me know. Please pray for us.