Potty Training Again...

So here we go...I had 4 days last weeks of what I would call Intensive Potty Training. How is it going? Honestly....I'm not sure.

I am at the point in my pregnancy (23 weeks) where I feel great and have tons of energy. I figured this would be the best time to attempt potty training again if I want it to happen before the baby comes. I've done tons of reading on what to do, but honestly I still don't feel like I have any idea what I'm doing haha.

On Tuesday morning, Avery showed interest on going on the potty after breakfast. I decided to capitalize on the moment and go for it. After going on and off the potty for about 2 hours, she finally peed on the potty! I was giving her salty foods to make her thirsty, and she was drinking lots of water and some juice. We spent lots of time reading potty books and big sister books, and a few about hippos (because she wanted to.)

After she went, I gave her some chocolate chips, lots of praise, and thought she'd be good for at least 20 minutes or so. However, I was wrong. I guess after holding it that long and drinking lots of liquids she still had to go. She had about 6 accidents in the next hour. It was like every time I got done cleaning one up, she'd go again. I kept thinking that was it, so I wasn't making her go back on the potty (my fault.) This was my learning curve. However, I didn't put her back in diapers. Since this was kind of spur of the moment, I put her in some bloomers/diaper covers that sometimes go under dresses, and then some bathing suit bottoms haha. The good thing about all the accidents was that she didn't like having them, and was very upset every time. I read that it's a good sign if they are visibly upset about having accidents as opposed to not caring.

During her nap and bedtime, I am still going to use diapers and/or pull-ups. After her nap we tried again, but I was out of options as far as underwear, so I just had her in a little dress with nothing underneath. She went one more time on the potty, and had a few more accidents. Travis came home around 7, and we decided that was enough for the day, and I put a pull-up on her and we went for ice cream, and stopped at Walmart to get her some real underwear.

On Wednesday (Day 2) I woke up ready to go! I had her big girl undies ready, and I was pumped! I put her in some new underwear, and by lunch we had gone through about 6-7 pairs, and she had only gone twice on the potty. After her nap, she had a few more accidents, and didn't go on the potty at all. I was discouraged, but ready to try again the next day.

Thursday was pretty tough. She went through another 6-7 pairs by about 11:30, and I was ready to give up. Every time I put her on the potty nothing would happen, and as soon as she'd get off, she have an accident. She also spilled her apple juice on the carpet...since I hadn't cleaned up enough yet. We decided to go outside, and I took her potty with me. While we were out there, she asked to go on it, and then actually went! Finally some progress. She went a total of 3 times on the potty Thursday, but I discovered that I had better luck with her in a dress with no bottoms. It was like she thought the underwear was the same as a diaper, and she could pee in it, but with nothing, she didn't want to have an accident.

On Friday, she went about 7 times on the potty and only a few accidents! We were making real progress, but unfortunately, I didn't time this very well. We decided to "take a break" Saturday and Sunday because Travis was working a big professional golf tournament, and I wanted to take Avery to it on Saturday. The only bathroom option was a porta-potty, and I'm not ready for Avery to go in there yet. Then we had an outdoor wedding reception Saturday night, with the same thing (porta-potty only.)

On Sunday, Travis and I went to the golf tournament, while Travis's mom watched Avery, and so we lost another day. This week, I was going to try again, but I'm dog-sitting my sister's dog, and I think it would just be a lot of extra work having the potty out and trying to teach Olga (the dog) to stay away. For this week,  I am just going to keep her in pull-ups, ask her if she wants to sit on the potty occasionally, and definitely take her of she wants to go. Then we will start more intense potty training again next week! Hopefully she won't lose everything she's learned, but honestly, I can only stop life for a few days before we both get a little crazy and frustrated haha. More to come on this topic soon!