(DISCLOSURE: the words "pee" and "poo" are used several times in the post below. So if that bothers you...then don't read it.)
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Yes, I said it...potty trained! Can you believe it? I hardly can.
A week ago she was in diapers...now she is diaper free (minus sleeping hours.) I am so proud of her!
I've been wanting to test the waters with the whole potty thing--just to see what would happen. I didn't particularly think Vienna was "ready" to potty train--but I wanted to try it just because she's so receptive right now and she's smart enough to do it. Even though she isn't saying sentences yet, she can say a few words and can communicate (quite insistently) what she wants with signs and actions, and she definitely understands what we tell her to do. For the last couple months I've noticed that she's been dryer throughout the day when I change her diaper and has even woken up from naps without wetting her diaper at all. That was probably the only "sign" she showed to potty train. I know she's young and I know some parents would frown on me for even trying so young and without her being "ready," but oh well. I know my kid and I just felt like it was time to try.
So I did and didn't really expect much to come of it. I bought some training underwear and put her in those for a couple days. She was interested in sitting on the potty when I told her to, but it was completely hit or miss if anything actually made it in it. After a couple of days of setting timers and changing countless pairs of pants I knew this method wasn't going to work for her--I was wasting my time. But I wasn't quite ready to drop it yet so I did some reading online and came across the 3 Day Potty Training Method. It made a lot of sense to me and I liked the whole cold turkey approach, but I was leery of its actual success, especially with a child so young.
But I figured, heck, why not? Just try it, it won't hurt anything--and if it doesn't work we'll just go back to diapers and try the whole potty thing again in a couple months. So I did, and I'm totally sold on it.
You can always google it for more details and info...but here's the rundown of the method:
You let your kids run around naked for 3 days!
Well, bottomless, at least.
Okay. So there's more to it than that, but not much. :)
-Day 1: Get up with your child the minute she wakes and let her go bare-bottomed the entire day. Feed her lots of salty snacks and water and watch her for signs that she is going pee/poop. When she starts to go whisk her to the nearest potty, don't scold her for peeing on the floor (if anything use a disappointed voice and say "Pee goes in the potty.") If she gets a hit in the potty, even if it's just a drop, celebrate with a potty dance. Put a diaper on at nap time but go to them the minute they wake up and take their diaper off.
-Day 2: Repeat day 1. Except, go out (for a walk, to the park, etc.) for 1 hr in the afternoon directly after she gets a hit in the potty. This helps them learn to pee on command. Put only a pair of loose fitting pants on her--no undies, no diapers--and bring a portable potty.
Day 3: Repeat day 1, but go out for 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the afternoon--directly after she pees in the potty.
After the 10-12th hit in the potty the child starts to catch on and supposedly by the end of day 3 something just clicks and they get it. The whole bare-bottomed method is a good way to draw attention to what they're actually doing. Having them wear a pair of pullups, trainers or panties still makes them feel like they're wearing a diaper and will keep them thinking they can just pee in it.
Method sounds easy enough, right?
Ha. Ha.
It was hard. And exhausting. But when is potty training ever easy?
The whole no-pants thing made sense to me, even though it made me cringe. And I liked the cold-turkey approach of taking diapers away. I also liked that this method encourages the child to feel control over their own body, which, after all, is what we're trying to teach them. I also read that it was better to potty train a child younger rather than older as they're more sensitive to the control of holding their pee, as opposed to when they're older that sensitivity is kind of already trained to just go whenever. So...after doing some reading, and skipping the "preparation month prior to the 3-day-training-weekend" I jumped in headfirst the next day.
I closed all the doors to the rooms with carpet (to make cleanup a little easier on myself) and put a potty chair in the living room where we'd spend most of our time. I didn't want to buy multiple potty's because that's just really expensive, so I kind of scooted the one around if we switched rooms.
And then, I watched for Vienna to pee or poop.
Sounds like fun, huh? So. Much. Fun. Waiting for a kid to pee all day long is like a full time job that consists of watching paint dry. Okay--it's a little more fun than that :) after all, we got some good quality playing time in together. But it was a bit more tiring than I anticipated, but it was the first day and I was optimistic. I whisked Vienna to the potty whenever she started to go, which was a lot, and had a stack of towels and disinfectant cleaner that dwindled very rapidly. I didn't expect much, and much didn't happen. Vienna would hardly sit long enough on the potty for me to do a potty dance when she got a drop or two in...but she did like it. The only "real" potty that ever made it in was when she pooped...it's easy to tell just before she goes so I never really had to clean up that stinky mess.
The second day I woke up fairly optimistic again, and got excited when Vienna peed on the floor that morning (I had my back turned on her) and found her trying to sit on the potty...even though the pee puddle was a few feet away. But unfortunately that didn't turn into much. Day 2 was a repeat of day 1--except that I noticed Vienna had favorite spots to pee in. And I came to believe that she knew she was going to pee just before she did...she'd give me a certain look just before she'd pee.
But by the end of day 2 I was ready to give up, I was tired from basically 13 hours of wiping pee up off the floor and off my child. I thought there was no way this was going to work, she was too young...but I didn't want to give up before the 3 days were over so I talked with Andy that night about it and I read some more articles on potty training to give me a little boost to make it through the next day.
Day 3 we woke up and I immediately thought the day was hopeless...(probably because she woke up stinkin' early and I was so burnt out...) But then she took a morning nap that day and woke up with a completely dry diaper. Maybe it was the dry diaper, or maybe it was the fact that I got a nap in too, but I decided I needed to give my all into the last day--even if it turned into nothing. The rest of the day she never initiated to sit on the potty, but I did notice something interesting...she seemed to be holding her pee a bit. For instance, when she'd start to pee and I'd whisk her off to the potty...she'd hold it and then finish peeing in the potty. Day 3 was the first day that I had a substantial amount of pee in the actual potty seat over and over. And when she took a nap that afternoon, she woke up dry again.
My feelings were mixed. I wanted to be done that night, but I really felt like it deserved one more day. Why go through all this effort just to give up? I kept thinking back to when I took her pacifier away--I had kept telling myself that if I gave up now I'd have to start all the way back at the beginning. I felt like she showed potty progress everyday, even if it was minimal, and I wanted to see if anything more came of it while we had the advantage.
Day 4 (I thought this was suppose to be a 3-day potty training?) we hit a milestone. That morning while I was in the kitchen for a minute, Vienna was in the living room and I noticed that it turned suddenly quiet. I peeked around the corner to see what she was doing and found her getting up from the potty seat--trying to pick up the potty bowel herself. She had put herself on the potty and pooped all by herself!!! I was so proud. And so was she, she carried the little bowl to the big potty and dumped it. I wasn't sure if it was a fluke or if she was actually getting it...but it gave me hope and it also gave me an idea that I never really thought of before (not sure why!) The rest of the morning, whenever she would pee (which was half on the floor/half in potty) I would let her carry the bowl to the big toilet and dump it. She thought that was pretty cool and of course she got to play in the sink afterwards to wash her hands. Our 1 hour outing was a venture to a garage sale that morning and I happened to pick up a potty seat for the toilet for $1. I wanted her to try going on the big potty, just to see her response, and so when she woke up from her nap that afternoon (dry again) I put her on the big toilet repeatedly until she finally peed in it. I think she felt pretty special, especially when I let her "wipe" herself (she throws a piece of toilet paper in the toilet between her legs-lol.) That afternoon I kept watching for her to pee and she just wasn't peeing. I kept putting her on the big potty and she wouldn't go. I never made her stay up there, I didn't want her to become scared of it or become something she didn't like to do, but because I kept putting her on it she ended up going twice. That's when I made the correlation that she was holding her pee for a lot longer than the previous days. She was going at least an hour (usually more) without going at all.
That night, after cleaning up a few messes on the floor, I re-evaluated what happened over the last four days and realized that if I stuck her in diapers I was going to ruin her progress. In my opinion, she was far from being potty trained--but it was a possibility now.
Day 5. We woke up at 5:30 am. Bleh. That's WAY too early. Her nighttime diaper was wet, of course, but that morning it took her two hours to go to the bathroom. But when she did she needed to pooped and started running for the bathroom. She passed the potty chair in the living room on the way, did a double take and couldn't decide which one to go to (as poo was coming from her rear end...sorry to be graphic) so I picked her up and whisked her to big potty--a little poo managed to get on the floor. I kept watching her all morning, thinking she was going to pee--but another two hours went by before she peed again...and only when I stuck her on the potty. She didn't have a single accident all morning, she held her pee and when I put her on the potty she would actually try to go--even if she didn't have to. I wouldn't make her sit there, if she wanted down right away, I just put her down. The whole day went by with only 2 accidents (one after lunch when she got really excited about daddy being home, and the second after supper when we simply weren't paying attention to the clock.) She even managed to stay dry during nap and in her carseat on our outing.
I was so excited. And so impressed with my baby. Was this for real? Did I really just wake up on day 5 and have a potty trained little girl? I couldn't believe it.
I didn't want to claim she was potty trained...but now we're on day 7 and I have absolutely no intentions of putting a diaper back on her...I will say that she is potty trained. This morning she managed to pull me to the bathroom twice in which I put her on the potty and she peed. We are working on the sign language for pee and toilet, and I think it's just a matter of time before she pairs the sign with the feeling and will be able to communicate in a way other than pulling me into the bathroom. As long as I'm diligent in watching the clock and putting her on the potty, I think we're pretty much golden. :)
Today was our first trip away from home since pottying, and I was nervous. I expected to change pee soaked pants every couple hours and had no idea how Vienna would respond to peeing in a public place. She was afraid of the toilet at first, which I figured, and so she had an accident. And then she had another accident in a fitting room...which was my fault because I knew it was about time for her to pee and I didn't make it a point to find a bathroom. We finally had success at a restaurant where she seemed to warm up to a strange toilet and peed, the went again after supper. Hopefully that cured her of peeing on a different toilet than the one at home. She stayed dry on the 1-hr car ride there and back and when we got home she even pooped, which she managed to hold all afternoon!
I'm positive in the days, weeks, and months to come there will be accidents, and they might be more abundant on outings, but I'm just really excited that she seems to have got it!!!
I would totally recommend the 3 Day Method (4 days for me) to anyone. It's a long three days and expect to be exhausted, but if it works the 3 days are a better sacrifice than weeks and months of potty training. If you have more than one child you pretty much need your husband/partner to help. The child has to be watched pretty much constantly, and if you have other children (especially babies that need to feed) you don't want to miss a few pees or poops that don't make it in the potty chair. It's a good idea to have someone there anyway, even if you do just have one child, just because it gets to be exhausting and it can become frustrating. It's really hard not to get frustrated, but it's key not to take your frustration out on the kid. They shouldn't be reprimanded for peeing on the floor because they don't know any better and they're trying to learn whats happening with their body. It's an emotional experience for them (as it is for you)...and they're learning how to control their body.
I would actually say that Vienna and I had a special little bonding experience during these last few days, she's such a delight and I couldn't be more thankful and more in love with her than I am now.
