Potty Training Part 3

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

God answers prayers! I got up that morning, and as soon as J woke up, I took her straight to the potty! Everyone has to pee first thing in the morning, and her diaper was fairly dry, so I knew she had to go. She went and I went crazy! We called people, we danced, we ate candy before 9 am! We had NO accidents that day. None. At. All. She even eventually pooped, but if I'm being honest, she started to go in her undies, but I ran and got the potty so everything made it in the potty. To me that's still no accidents! For pooping we went crazy and did all that, but she also got bubbles. Call me a lame mom, but I hate playing with bubbles! They're so messy! I've learned to love them since they have become the ultimate reward for going poop in the potty. In the morning on this day, I set the timer for every 30-40 minutes. After her nap (she goes down at 11:30 AM), I decided she really did have the hang of it, so I let her just tell me when she needed to go. 

It took us a week more to feel more confident about leaving the house with just undies on. We had a few times where we'd put her in her undies with a diaper over top. That was great for us! She actually never even had an accident when we did that, but it was some nice assurance for us not having to clean up an accident in public. Now, two weeks later, she will go anywhere! We've never pooped outside of the home, but most adults don't even do that, so I'm not worried or even encouraging her to do that. I give her yogurt everyday to make sure she goes at least once a day. The first week I didn't do that and it made bowel movements harder because then she would be constipated and had to sit on the toilet longer. Yogurt has been the key to bowel movements for us! That, and I stand outside of the bathroom where she can see me with my back turned. This allows her the privacy she wants, while still being able to see me so she doesn't just get off the potty. I found she doesn't like feeling as if she is missing out on any fun. So whether it's going to the bathroom or eating, she likes to see where I am. 

Night Time

We still put her in a diaper during naps and at night. However, this past week we've run into a new dilema. Her diaper is ALWAYS dry when she wakes up (yay!), but now she'll wake up in the night SCREAMING because she needs to go potty. Obviously, that's a good thing that she'll wake up to go and not go in her diaper, but I'm exhausted! Last night she woke up twice, and each time she legitimately needed to go and went back to sleep, but I'm so sick of getting up in the night. 

We do still put her down with milk--I think she may be addicted to it--whoops! K and I thought we could just start giving her less and less to ween her off, but every time I don't give her a full bottle, she wakes up in the middle of the night asking for more. 

Does anyone have any advice on that? Will it just take time for her bladder to be able to hold it? Do your kids still go down with a sippy cup? When did you stop that?

Public

I think I was more paranoid about her going in public than I needed to be. I would bring the potty seat that clips into the toilet in a plastic bag and I was always so worried she wouldn't tell me until it was too late. (She did do that once, but it was the one time we tried to use a pull ups. My opinion is that pull ups feel the same as diapers! She was so much more cautious when we put her in undies and kept her in them!) The best thing for going in public was peer pressure! We were at an outdoor mall and there was a mom and her 5 year old daughter that walked into the bathroom before us. J is at the perfect age where she is loving older kids. I told her, "Look at that little girl! She's going to go potty on the big potty! Don't you want to go on the big potty just like her?" Girlfriend walks into the stall, I hold her on the toilet, and she goes like she's been doing it everyday of her life! We haven't looked back since!