Thursday, July 16, 2009

Potty Training Days

The past week has seemed very long. Longer than a week. Long enough for my baby to grow up and become a girl. Long enough for her to want to be a baby again. And long enough for me to look back and see where my faith, and patience, are lacking.
We've been potty training. I decided it was time because, honestly, I was tired of paying for 2 sets of diapers. Not that I was against them- I usually don't even mind changing them any more. I can change them at home, I can change them on the roam. Change them on the floor, change them in the car. Change them anyway, everywhere, yes I change them, yes I dare!

But, as I was saying, even though I don't mind changing them, paying for them was a pain. I mean, it was seriously cutting into my grocery budget and I finally decided I like to cook & eat more than I like the convenience of diapers on my 2-yr old!
So I read an article about Naked Potty Training and it sounded promising- it said you could potty train your kid in 3 days! Too good to be true, I thought, but it was worth a try! At least it would start us out on the right track, and why not just dive into this thing, bare booty and all?!
Well, I'm a believer! At least it has worked pretty well for us, and while we're definitely not 100% trained, we have a really good start.


I'm going to lay out a few details now, for anyone interested in a first-hand look at how this potty training method worked for us, but if you're not into reading about kiddo potty habits, you can stop reading now and catch us on the next post! :)
And, really, I only go on here b/c a friend of a friend tried this method and blogged about it and I read it before we started. I really appreciated reading about their ups and downs before I tried it out. It's the whole process of moms learning from moms and applying that learning in the best way suitable to their own kids.

So- Day 1 was last Thursday.
Got up, got the kids going and Georgia from then on was in naked training! (naked meaning t-shirt only.) She loved it- what kid doesn't like to be naked? I was a nervous wreck. I told Larry the night before that I'd been dreading this day since she was born. Mostly b/c potty training is not really something you look forward to, but also b/c this means she's fully out of babyhood, moving on to big girl things, and sometimes it's hard for a momma to let go of her baby girl! (I'm starting to understand now, mom! :)
I have to say it went great! I loaded her up with pretzels and cheerios to make her thirsty, and Popsicles and lots of water to drink- which she had no problem with b/c she drinks like a camel anyways. By 10am she was "fully hydrated" and had tt'd 4 times in her potty! I used stickers on a potty chart as her reward, which she thought was great fun. I showed her the first time the routine- wiping, carefully carry the bucket from the little potty to the toilet, dump it in, flush, rinse out the bucket and wash hands, put the bucket back in the little potty, sticker on the chart- and she was ready for independence after that!

She had one accident early in the morning, and after that experience, she seemed to be able to recognize the "need to go" feeling on her own. She'd just stop what she was doing with an uh oh look on her face, and go sit on the potty. We hung out in the kitchen a lot the first 2 days, as I still wasn't convinced on how it was going to go, and it's one of the few rooms in our house that's not carpeted. We played with Play Do ( thanks, Winston!), colored, ate Popsicles and refilled her water- over and over!

And that's pretty much how the rest of our initial training went! She had 4 accidents and 22 successes the first 2 days, according to the potty chart. Which was so great and we were so proud! (And I was still so nervous- see, about my faith?!) But we soon realized ALL was not coming out so easy (pun, intended).
Like a lot of kids, #2 has been harder for Georgia to accomplish on the potty. When she has to go, she still asks for a diaper ("poopoo diaper!") and, without a diaper, will just hold it- for a couple of days. Since that just makes things worse, we'd diaper her for an hour around nap or bed time, and that worked. Until yesterday- she finally poo'd in the potty! Never thought that would be so exciting, but it was! She just finally went back to the little potty and did it on her own, no audience please. And she finally got the cupcake we'd been dangling in front of her for days as a "poo in the potty" incentive! So it was 7 days into training before that happened. I was hoping that'd be the big turn-around, but tonight it was in her panties- at least she was standing next to the potty when it happened!

Like I mentioned, this is just the initial training. Now we had to figure out how to get out of the house! Monday morning was gym class and I put her in a pull up (which we've only used sparingly). She tried to tt twice at gym and once at Wal Mart after, but nothing. But no tt in the pull up, and she went when we got home! Tuesday was Bible study and she wore panties into the nursery. They have an awesome mini-potty there and she had no problem tt-ing. But when the teacher was looking away, she had a poo accident in her panties. But later she did tt at Babies R Us! Wed was not going great- we were home all day and trying to better transition from naked to panties, but still had 2 accidents. I was afraid we were backtracking until the poo in the potty achievement! That made the whole day a success! Thursday was ok- tt'd twice out at lunch with Sandy, but two accidents at home.

So, LONG story summarized- naked was a great way for us to start and gave us a good foundation. But it's an ongoing process- still working on being potty trained away from home and #2 in the potty.
And I'm still working on my patience and definitely growing in my faith. Who knew potty training would use more prayer than toilet paper?!

5 comments:

The Phelps said...

It sounds like she's doing great. I definitely saw first hand at lunch yesterday that she's understanding to tell you when it's time to go. She's really growing up, Kathryn. I can't believe it. Such a sweet little girl. I will have to bring her some of my stickers next time I see her!

Anonymous said...

Good Girl Georgia Kate!!! Grammie is very proud of you but it is hard plus exciting to watch you grow up! You are such a strong and smart baby girl! You're a wonderful big sister to baby Lincoln and the joy of the lives of the many people who love you. I think your mommy has done an amazing job to get this done so soon and well.....Grammie will be glad to have only one diapered baby when you all arrive for Labor Day! Hugs Grammie

Ashley Matteo said...

hey
7 days may have seemed long for you but that actually sounds good, compared to many long drawn out events from others. i really appreciate the details on this post and in previous posts on parenting tips. thanks and good luck getting out and about and staying clean and dry

Michelle and Jeremy said...

thanks for the mommy help...glad you went into details.

M said...

Georgia is getting so big!!! She looks like a little lady now. Hope all is well. I love keeping up with your blog and wonderful fam... How in the world would we ever keep up otherwise? I think you, Ker, and I are in better touch these days on three continents than we have been since AU! :))