Disclaimer: The following post contains information about potty training as it pertains to one toddler. Words such as “pee” and “bowel” are used. As well as words like “potty,” “underwear,” and “wet.” It may come across as graphic in nature to some people. Please stop reading now if you have an aversion to potty talk. Thank You. You have been warned.
Bridget has been potty training. . .
I’ve spent far more time in the bathroom that I would like to admit. At times it bordered on 30 minutes per potty session. I am thankful that part is over. She’s gotten to the point that if she says she needs to go, she really does go – previously we would ask if she needed to use the bathroom and we’d end up in there for 15 minutes (or more) with no success, just to have her pee in her underwear 2 minutes later.
She’s tried crying wolf. It drives me insane. “Got to go potty” “Just kidding” – or the times that she needs to use the bathroom just as an excuse to stay up a few minutes longer. She’s even nearly fallen asleep on the toilet once.
Some days she goes through 3 or 4 pairs of underwear, other days she’s dry all day. Once she decided that every time she sat on the potty she needed new underwear, whether or not they were soiled. She wore every pair she owned that day.
But the worst part. . . dry, chapped hands. Now that I wash my hands every time I use the bathroom AND every time she does, my hands have gotten beat up. The cold winter air doesn’t help. And I didn’t even mention all the baths and dishes. I bought some Curel hand lotion the other day. It has helped a lot.
Anyway, here is an attempt at a potty chronology. Some of the dates are approx.:
June 2007 (19 months old)
– We bought a “potty” for Bridget. She was still a bit young to really try, but she was starting to express some interest.
. . . The interest came and went, and the potty got put away for awhile. It came out now and then when she remembered about it. . .
November 2007 (2 years old)
– We bought her first package of underwear and just let her get used to the idea. She would wear it when she asked, but we didn’t push the issue.
. . . Thanksgiving and Christmas meant a lot of traveling. We weren’t terribly rigid about the underwear wearing thing. Though, when she did wear it, we didn’t have too many messes. But we also spent 20-30 minutes in the bathroom (several times a day). Some days I felt like all I did was sit around in the bathroom. Some days it was the truth. . .
December 25, 2007 (2 years, 1 month)
– Santa brought Elmo underwear!
. . . And a few good underwear wearing days transpired. . .
December 27-29, 2007
– We decided to go out of town. And although we took underwear with us, she spent a good portion of the trip in diapers. We got daring and let her ride home from Syracuse to Logan wearing her panties. She did great!
December 30, 2007
– We don’t dare let her loose at church in underwear just yet. Out come the “big kid pants” (pull-ups).
– We tried letting her wear underwear to bed. That was more stressful (for me) then it was worth. I woke her up in the night once to go potty. She woke up in the morning with dry sheets, but slightly wet underwear screaming “I got to go potty, mom.”
December 31, 2007
– I hear that they way to do things is to keep the kid in underwear all day and fill her up with liquids so she’ll know when she needs to go. It went alright. She even napped in underwear. Just one accident later in the day, but it wasn’t very bad. She stayed up until midnight. Pull-up for bedtime.
– She thinks she’s big enough to go potty all by herself. She’s wrong.
January 1, 2008
– Underwear all day long, and zero accidents! New record!
January 2, 2008
– I knew accident free couldn’t last.
– First ‘real’ #2 in the potty.
– Still wants to do it all herself.
– We ran out of M&M’s, so we went to Sam’s Club and let Bridget choose her own potty treat. Her choice: Chocolate covered raisins.
January 3, 2008
– Are we regressing? She went through about 3 pair of underwear, and wanted to wear pull-ups all day.
– She threw a fit at nap time because she needed to use the potty, but even after she went she refused to get off. After unsuccessfully trying to fight with her, I told her she could stay on the potty, but as soon as she got up it was time for a nap. The stubborn kid nearly fell asleep on the toilet. Her head bobbed around, and her eyes drooped and shut a number of times. Yet she insisted “I not tired.” Eventually she gave in. I think she sat there for 45 minutes.
January 4, 2008
– She recognized the need to go potty while she was in the tub. I took her out, she went.
– I cleaned the toilet and added a blue tablet to the tank. Now when she uses the potty she tries to turn the water green.
January 5, 2008
– Day two, accident free! We even ran errands around town, and left her at a neighbors house for several hours. She wore the same pair of underwear from the time she woke up to the time she went down. Yee-haw!
– I think she’s a little bit attached to her bowels. After a #2 she doesn’t want to get off the toilet, and she keeps looking in the toilet bowl to see if they are there.
January 6, 2008
– So far, so good
– I think we’ll try underwear at church today. . . *gulp*
And I’m sure there is more fun to come.
