welcome back everyone!! i can’t believe friday has snuck up on me so quickly — i barely remembered i needed to write up an oh so pinteresting post late last night…. my mind is elsewhere.
elsewhere being potty training.
**cue crickets**
as many times as i’ve talked about amelia & potty training, i must admit:: i’m the one most terrified to actually make the whole thing come to pass. it’s time-consuming, messy & will surely bring on a migraine from asking her to try try try to pee pee on the potty so many times every day. caleb & i also disagree on where to keep the potty. he wants it in the bathroom, which is logical — but we keep the bathroom door shut. i want the potty in a more accessible area so that amelia can get to it lickety-split if need be, but a potty in the main room {which coincidentally connects to the kitchen} just seems….. yucky. so there’s that….
day before yesterday, amelia asked to go to the potty twice. which doesn’t happen — ever. she got burned out from sitting on the potty over the last few months to read books, have her hair combed or just hang out. now it’s just another boring piece of pink furniture. so when she asked to go more than once, i pulled the potty into the living room & stripped her naked. she got to chug tea & crystal light to her heart’s content. she peed once in the potty by chance of sitting watching a movie & then made lots of puddles the rest of the afternoon.
i quickly gave up. as i processed the day at the end of the night, i decided to give it a go. i re-read an eBook from a friend outlining a 3-day potty training “boot camp.” i made a shopping list for treats & big girl panties {**sniffle**} and got to it. yesterday, amelia & i stopped by target & picked up some kitty & monkey big girl panties, a few special toys for –ahem– big potties, and lots of m&m’s and skittles for pee pees.
she was naked all afternoon until nap time with nothing happening. she didn’t want to drink & she didn’t want to sit. i was frustrated already…. after nap, she got to be naked again, practice wearing her panties {she’s not a fan} & she drank a lot. but didn’t pee for TWO HOURS…. she picked her little pink potty chair up & carried it to her room & peed right next to it. so that’s progress right?!
today we will start again. i’m going to just go all in. panties all day {i can’t quite wrap my head around nap & night time panties, though….} but not pressure her. the potty will be ever present, easily accessible & lots of whatever drink she asks for. while we may not make it in three days, i’m hoping a couple of weeks from now she’ll be pottying with the best of them.
so today, i thought it appropriate to share a few pinterest links that have some great advice for potty training a toddler….
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i am not above bribery — & potty treats have already made it into the house. my jar totally doesn’t look this cute, but i think once amelia realizes what’s inside, she’s not going to care *wink* this blog has some great tips & tricks for potty training. the particular training post tells you straight up that there were lots of accidents…. lots of days. i like that kind of honesty.
trust me on this — you want some time to read up on this blog. i pinned the whole potty training category because every post was good. each one was written to cover a certain element of training — poop training {who knew it was harder than pee training!?}, keeping your kiddo’s attention when boredom strikes, how to overcome regression {which happens to be a major concern for me due to our upcoming move}. each post is short & sweet — but full of good info!
had i known that potty training was right around the corner for us, i would have made sure to have this DVD on hand. amelia is in mega-super-uncontrollable love with elmo & this probably would have been our ticket to the fast lane. i mean, if elmo’s going potty, what kid wouldn’t want to do the same?! it’s only $10 — has anyone tried this DVD first hand? i’d love some feedback!
this blog post is SO good — it talks about potty training in a SINGLE DAY {this mom is a hero because that’s insane!!} & has some really great ideas. i think for amelia’s age, we will probably pass on the calling chart since she only ever wants to call mimi & pawpaw or elmo {we have a FaceTime app for elmo…. i told you, her obsession is bad}. but there was a fascinating idea for using a baby doll as an example & i’m going to try it out tomorrow to see if that may help her understand the potty better.
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what are your tried & true pieces of advice for potty training? what helped you push through? i’m not necessarily looking for a quick fix on this whole pottying business — i want it to work efficiently & stick around for the long run. share your thoughts & information in the comments below!!
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I did the 3-day potty training after a few of the girls in my mom group had success. We did the treat jar of m&ms in the bathroom, a few toys, and stayed home 3 straight days. Luckily we had recently replaced the carpet in the family room with tile because there was quite a bit of cleaning. But on day 4 we went to the mall and grocery in underpants and no accidents. In the 9 months since we have only had a handful of accidents.
good to know!! so far we’ve had one accident today
& the only thing the baby doll example did was make amelia want to stuff all her toys & dolls INTO the potty. not quite what i had imagined….
That Elmo DVD saved our lives!! It was played round the click and Layla loved it! The songs will get stuck in your head and annoy you to death, but it helps for sure!
ahhh! i wish we had it!
i think there is a potty section for the FaceTime app with elmo so i may purchase that. i think we need a little elmo inspiration here today.
Even though its kinda gross, we started with the potty chair in the main room with our daughter. I didnt want to do it, but it made it easier for quick access. Our daughter would NEVER go when we had her try, so we had to have it visible for her. After she got the hang of it a bit, we moved it into the bathroom.
that’s what i’m thinking!! at least get her to actually PEE on the seat & then we can work our way to the bathroom when she understands the feeling.
Uggh. Potty training is so stressful for me. I dont know how to get my daughter to pee on her potty. She sits on it and plays with is but then walks away and pees on the carpet
exactly!!! it’s so frustrating — we actually gave up. i’ll talk more about it in a post tomorrow. it just wasn’t time for us i guess
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