Potty Training Update

6 weeks ago I posted here about potty training Gia. We did the 3 day method and had very very quick success. But, I was scared about the next steps. Here's what I said then:

"I wasn't really sure what to do after Day 3 was over. How was I supposed to get her into underwear? The method says bare bottomed for 3 months and only loose clothes when we go out. (The theory is that underwear feel too much like diapers, thus causing them to have more accidents.) I wasn't sure that was realistic for us though. Would she have accidents? What would I do when we went out for long periods of time?"

The day I wrote that post we had a few of my favorite girlfriends over--with their husbands and their kids, who are all Gia's age. I didn't know what to put Gia in that day. I knew I should keep her bare bottomed as long as possible while we were at home, but I didn't want her running around half naked with guests. So, we settled on a dress with no underwear on. There were a few 'Britney Spears flashing the papparazzi' moments that day, but my friends had a good laugh about it.

The next day we went to a baptism over an hour away and I broke down and put a pull up on Gia. The long car ride and the excitement and a bunch of other kids around for her to play with was just going to be too much. I encouraged Gia to tell us if she had to go potty. And while we were at the baptism we tried sitting on the potty, but she didn't go. She did use her diaper though.

So the next day we were back to bare-bottomed at home but with a more realistic plan to our day. (This was day 6 of training.)  I'd get everything all ready and then right after Gia went on the potty, we'd literally run out of the house and do whatever errands we needed to do. We did this the next 3 or 4 days and Gia did not have an accident. I was always prepared with underwear and new pants in my bag, but we never needed them. 

And after that we were "over the hump" so to speak. We kept up with the same schedule for another week or so--as soon as Gia went on the potty we'd leave the house. Eventually Gia learned to pee on command and now we can tell her to go potty before we go out, rather than waiting till she has to go. She doesn't always want to go, but that's a different story.

All of this is not to say that we didn't have our fair share of accidents. Bowel movements were an issue for a little bit. No matter what we did, Gia kept pooping in her underwear. We watched her like a hawk and she'd still find two seconds to sneak off and go and then tell us about it. We'd clean her up and calmly remind her that poopy went in the potty and she'd repeat it. I know she understood because the peeing was not an issue. But, it kept happening.

So, for a little while, we went back to the bare bottom method in the mornings, until she pooped on the potty. Then her clothes went back on and all was well. We had a few days of success with this method and Gia was SO proud of herself. And that helped us turn the corner. She learned the feeling of having to do that kind of bodily function, and now she's got it. She'll run to us and say "I have to do pee pee" or "I have to do poo poo".

Being in new situations is still a little tricky. She's not too fond of public bathrooms and I can't blame her. They're dirty and I'm constantly telling at her "don't touch ANYTHING". The toilets are huge and they flush on their own which scares her.  It's tough to get her to pee while we're out, even when she tells me she has to go. But thanks to a few pieces of candy, we're getting over that too. And, when we're at someone's house, she's often having too much fun to stop and use the potty. On New Year's Eve we were at a friend's house and she peed and pooped on their floor. I don't think mortified is a strong enough word for how I was feeling. But, since then we've gone to other friends' houses and she's peed on their potty. So, we'll get over that too.

Potty training is a work in progress. At this point, 6 weeks out, I'd say Gia is 95% trained. Every day we encounter new situations and the more success Gia has with each new moment, the more she truly understands being trained.  The 3 day method was a great way to jump start the process and I encourage you all to try it. The best part about it for us is that it gave Gia bunch of successes and that set her up for these next few months of trial and a few errors.

 And here's some cuteness because it's Flashback Friday. This was taken nearly 2 years ago at Gia's 6 month old photoshoot. It's one of my most favorite pictures of her, like, ever.

Potty Training: Part 1

Although I'm not in a rush to potty train Gia, I've been looking forward to the moment when my diaper changing days were over. Last week Gia developed horrible diaper rash on her bum. It was red, scaly, itchy and was definitely bothering her. She's very aware of the bathroom and of her bodily functions so I thought I'd try the Three Day Potty Training Method. ** 

So, let me tell you what we did and how we did it.

1. We've been talking to Gia about it potty traning for a while now. We have a potty book that she loves. She knows that pee pee and poopy go in the potty and not on the floor.

2.  About a week ahead before we were going to start, I told Gia we'd be taking off her diapers for good. Every day I reminded her that her diapers were soon going in the garbage and that she was going to wear big girl underpants and go on the potty.

3. On the morning of our first day, I took all the diapers out of our diaper caddy and Gia said good bye to them.  I asked her to throw them away (she loves to throw things in the gaaaa-bage). She was a little sad to see them go, so I had to throw them out for her, but she did give the stack of diapers a farewell kiss.

4. Gia went pantless all day. No diaper, no undies--totally bare-bottomed. We also kept the potty near us, in the playroom. (We have the potty seen below. It's by Fisher Price and it sings songs when the child pees in it. The music function has been awesome because it let's us know if Gia went or not.)

5. We loaded her up with water, seltzer and whatever else she wanted to drink.

6. We had her sit on the potty at regular intervals (every 20 minutes or so). I used the timer on the microwave to make sure I didn't get distracted and forget to put her on the potty.

7. About 1 hour and 20 min after her first drink, she sat on the potty and woulnd't get up. I think she had to go but wasn't sure how to do it yet. So, I sat with her and read books until she peed in the potty. It took about 10 minutes.

8. After that 1st success, we started a potty reward ritual. We cheered, gave hugs and kisses and had Gia help us dump and flush the pee. We also gave her 1 candy corn as a reward. (My kid is really motivated by candy, k?) She was so proud of herself and loved saying bye bye as she flushed her pee away.

The rest of the day went really well. Gia caught on really quickly.  About 35 minutes after her first success, we were upstairs in my bedroom and Gia was standing with her legs open rather wide. I noticed one drop of pee dripped out. She said "Uh oh! No pee pee on the floor!" I grabbed her and we ran downstairs to the potty and she promptly peed again.

And after that, it all clicked. She understood the sensation of having to go and she hightailed it to the potty every time (pun intended).

Days 2 and 3 were more of the same. Bare-bottomed at home, with quick trips out. She did great. On day 2 she even pooped on the potty, which was a huge accomplishment and earned her 2 candies.

I wasn't really sure what to do after Day 3 was over. How was I supposed to get her into underwear? The method says bare bottomed for 3 months and only loose clothes when we go out. (The theory is that underwear feel too much like diapers, thus causing them to have more accidents.) I wasn't sure that was realistic for us though. Would she have accidents? What would I do when we went out for long periods of time?

For the answers to all these questions, stay tuned for Part 2!

You can read Part 2 HERE

** It's worth mebtioing that this method won't work unless both the parents and the child are ready. We've tried potty training before (right after Gia turned 2) and it didn't go so well. Also, like the article says, if you know your child is ready, it's important to have a 'no turning back' attitude. Yes, potty training is messy and no, it's not easy. But if you stick with it, it will work.