Potty Training: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

So, I've hesitated putting this out there into the world for fear of jinxing anything, but now I feel comfortable saying...

LEILA IS POTTY TRAINED! WAHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!



Seriously, potty training was NOT fun. In fact, this has been my least favorite thing about being a parent so far. Give me sleepless nights and snotty noses over teaching a little person how to use the toilet any day.

In honor of this momentous occasion (I am down to ONE in diapers now - YESSSSS!) I thought I'd share our experience with potty training and the lessons I've learned. Feel free to stop reading now if ya don't wanna read about pee and poo. :-)

We started off on our potty adventure way back in July, shortly after Leila turned 2 (you may remember this post). I knew she was still really young, so we didn't go all out on the potty training; we introduced her to the idea of it. This resulted in random pee-pees in the potty (and a follow-up M&M) and maybe one or two miraculous poos over the following months. So, why didn't I just take the dang diapers away and go all out?

1. I was pregnant & lazy & didn't want to clean up pee and poo everywhere. 
2. With both the hubby & I working full time and Leila in daycare a good chunk of the week, it was hard to dedicate several days off in a row to potty training.

So, I had the best of intentions of hitting it hard once Landon was born. I figured that I would be home with both kiddos for 12 weeks and surely I could get Leila potty trained. HA! Sure, we worked on it here and there, keeping her in undies at home during the day, but the distraction of a newborn was too hard on me and especially on her. So, we ended up going back and forth between undies and diapers a lot. Besides, wouldn't you want your diaper changed too if your new little brother was getting his changed?

LESSON LEARNED #1: Don't try to potty train immediately following a big life change (like the birth of a new baby brother). It isn't easy for anyone involved.

LESSON LEARNED #2: Do NOT bounce around between diapers and underwear. If you decide to put your kid in undies, stick with it.

During my maternity leave Leila pretty much just refused to use the potty at home, unless it was completely her idea (which always happened when we were about to turn out the light for bedtime... the perfect distraction technique). At the same time, her daycare started working with her on it, too. So, we had her in Pull-Ups 24/7 because they are obviously easier to pull up and down. But, they are still DIAPERS. Just pretty, expensive ones.

LESSON LEARNED #3: Skip the Pull-Ups. Once a kiddo learns they can still pee and poo in Pull-Ups and it feels the same as a diaper, they aren't gonna get anywhere with potty training.

So, for the last few months we had her in Pull-Ups and I just felt like we were getting nowhere FAST. I'd ask if she needed to go potty and she'd say "No" and then 2 minutes later her Pull-Up would be soaked. It was SO frustrating. And bribery wasn't working anymore either. I kept looking online for advice and it seemed like everyone always said, "your child will potty train when THEY are ready." But ya know what? At this point I knew she was ready, she was just choosing to go in her Pull-Up because she could. It was the easy thing to do.

LESSON LEARNED #4: Yes, your child will potty train when they are ready, but it DOES take parental direction to get it done. Don't be afraid to take control.

A little over a week ago, I couldn't take it any more. I knew she was fully capable of controling her bladder and bowels, so I told Andy we were getting Leila potty trained over the weekend. He had Thurs/Fri off and then I had Sat/Sun off. She would be home for 4 days straight. We took the Pull-Ups away (with the exception of night and naptime) and told her she had no other choice but to use the toilet.

By Sunday she was staying dry ALL day. :-)

Sure, she had a lot of accidents at first, but caught on real quick that we were serious about this. Our biggest obstacle? Poop. Leila flat out told me that she was scared to poo on the toilet. So, for a couple extra days I would let her put a Pull-Up on to poo. (Weird, huh?) But, she finally decided she was ready to try to go on the toilet and she did.

I am SO proud of her. And I seriously feel like potty training this child has been the biggest accomplishment of my life. Ahhhhhhhhhhh, it really is the little things in life, isn't it? :-)

So, knowing what I know now, here's how I'm going to tackle potty training the next time around:

• Wait until Landon is 2.5 years old (unless he is showing serious signs that he wants to potty train before then). With Leila, I saw a HUGE difference in her maturity level and language skills from 2 to 2.5, making it much easier to explain potty training to her. And she could communicate better with me.
• Go from diapers to underwear and skip the Pull-Ups (except for maybe nap/nighttime). Our biggest mistake was bouncing back and forth between the two. I think it was just super confusing for Leila.
• Devote a 3-4 day period to staying home and working on potty training. If we have to go somewhere, the kid stays in underwear. If an accident happens, we deal with it.
• Positive reinforcement DOES work, so I will definitely use it again (we just let potty training drag out too long with Leila and the treat lost its appeal to her). Good ole M&Ms can work miracles, though.

And finally, some words of encouragement for those of you who may be in the throngs of potty training.... HANG IN THERE. This too shall pass. And they can't keep pooping and peeing their pants forever. :-)