The past two weeks have been full of ups and downs, but today is turning into a pretty good day - so far. As I mentioned, we have been potty training Avery for almost 2 weeks now, and it's taken a lot more patience than I thought I had. I wanted to document what I did, not only to help other parents who may be having trouble, but also to remember what I went through in the future.
There are a lot of challenging stages in raising a baby/toddler/child/teen, but so far for me, this has been one of the more challenging aspects. I previously made some unsuccessful attempts at potty training, and this time I decided I would just be patient and stick with it and see how it goes - no turning back!
I feel like I've learned a lot in the last 12 days, and what has worked for me is just getting to know my daughter and realizing that every child is different. I am one to try to read about everything, including parenting techniques, and attempt to do things "by the book." However, that doesn't always work for Avery haha. It's frustrating in this day and age seeing all these people that potty train their kids "in just 3 days" via Pinterest and other blogs, and it's hard not to compare. However, even though we aren't quite there, we've made huge progress and I'm glad we are doing this now. I feel like more progress will be made in the next few weeks, and even if there is a regression when the baby comes, I feel like we'll still kind of be in the 'training stage' and it won't be so traumatic (hopefully?!)
So what have we done? Well, I started putting her in regular underwear during all waking hours at home. I am using a little potty for now in our bathroom of the main floor. We have a potty chart with stickers, a toy box, and the toy box also includes lollipops and ringpops for her to choose when she stays dry by peeing on the potty. The first few days I tried to put her on there at regular intervals - maybe every half hour or so. I quickly learned that Avery will NOT pee on command, and it was better for her to figure out when she needed to go, and to let me know. Being 35-36 weeks pregnant, I didn't want to just have her sit on the potty all day, because I also didn't want to sit in the bathroom all day (I need to sit with pillows and back support haha.) I did read that it may take 4-10 minutes of sitting for her to actually go, but if she sat down and didn't go with 4-5 minutes, I took her off and said we'd try again in a few minutes. It took several days of many accidents, and just a few successes, but she finally started letting me know. It was frustrating going through so many pairs of underwear, but I just rinsed and washed them every day, and learned to deal with it.
After a few days - around day 4 and 5, I felt like it was getting a little easier because even though she was still having accidents, they tended to be all in the bathroom. She was starting to figure out when she needed to go, but either not making it, or not letting it all out when she did, so she'd just pee a little on the potty, and then stand up and pee all over the floor. This was also frustrating because she was starting to understand the urge, but it was taking her some time to figure out how to control it. We then went through several days of her telling me that she had to pee, only to go in and have nothing happen. This would happen anywhere between 4-10 times before she'd actually go. However, she started actually going on the potty more regularly, so it was time consuming, but progress!
In the meantime, I am still putting her in a diaper at naptime (which is sometimes just room time when she stays awake the entire time) and bedtime. For the first week, she would only poop in her diaper, so we weren't having any accidents, but she didn't want to go on the potty. I was ok with this because she became the most regular she has been since December!! That was a success in my book, but I wanted to work on getting her to go on the potty. I bought her an awesome book - Even Princesses Poop - and started reading it to her a lot! She actually made the connection herself that Anna and Elsa (Frozen) are princesses and they must poop on the potty. Last Thursday I caught her pooping, and made her sit on the potty through lots of tears, but she did it and I gave her TONS of praise (and a lollipop of course.) She has now gone a few times. We aren't there yet, but making progress.
On Monday and Tuesday I was still feeling very frustrated that she wasn't totally getting it, and I was wondering if I would just be cleaning accidents for the next few months, but on Wednesday, I think something really clicked!! She let me know she had to pee right after breakfast on Wednesday, Thursday, and today. She went relatively quickly each time on the potty, and I am now starting to get to know her "patterns." It's easier because she's able to fully empty her bladder when she goes, whereas I don't think she was comfortable doing that in the first week. She can hold it much longer than I can right now (being very pregnant) and she normally only goes about 2-3 times before her naptime.
Since Wednesday, she has let me know every time she has to pee, and we have only had one pee accident, and that was because I was cleaning Ranger outside after we had gone for a walk, and Avery was helping and distracted. It had been the first time going for a walk in her underwear, and I think it will just take some time for her to get back to her normal routine without diapers. We're still working on number 2, but I feel like we're getting there.
Now, I would not say that Avery is totally potty trained yet - we still have a long road ahead. I just ordered a potty seat and stool that will come tomorrow to put on a regular toilet. She has not been comfortable with that yet, but I'm hopeful that will help. Once we do that, hopefully I can take her more places and she'll be ok to pee in public. I think that will be a learning curve too. We did go to Target last night right after she peed at home, and I knew we'd have a good chance of no incidents if we didn't stay too long. I did bring her potty with me in the back of the car, along with 2 outfit changes - for an hour away from home - but she did fine and had no problems! It would be nice if she would be able to go on command so that she could go at home before we go somewhere - without me having to wait for her to let me know - but I think that will just take time. Also I'm working with her through the "process" which right now is me helping her with everything except actually peeing. She still needs help with her clothes and wiping. She is able to wash and dry her hands by herself, so thats's a plus.
Overall, I'm very proud of both her and me for getting through the last few weeks together. I know it was stressful on her and I both, but I think even with the long road ahead, we've pushed through the toughest part and made it to the other side!!
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