We have a Potty Princess!
There are a thousand things I need to be doing right now - but one of those things is writing this post. I need to write this post (1) because I'm so incredibly proud of my daughter (2) so I can remember how this all went down.
My Annie is a tender heart. Her feelings get hurt easily, she's concerned about the tiniest of things...and heavens forbid if she actually gets hurt. But Annie also has a strong will. She wants what she wants when she wants it (wait, that may be all toddlers) - and when she has set her mind to something, it's hard to break her course.
We have tried a few times to potty train Annie. The kid knows when she poops and pees - and when your child can come to you and ask for a diaper: well - its time. This is the first time I've ever had to potty train a child - and Ive read and read techniques and talked to other moms about things that work and things that dont. We put together a plan that seemed easy & made sense. To everyone except Annie, of course. No matter what we did or tried - nothing worked. We did the 3-day method, we did the naked method, stickers, candy, treats, special privileges, everything....and no matter what - the kid would not use her potty to save my life. One thing I heard from many moms though was, "She will do it when she is ready." To be honest, that's the piece of advice that i hated the most. Leaving that up to your toddler just seemed a little crazy for me. Of course she wouldnt want to decide to pee in the potty when she could just go as she pleases in her diaper. But time and time again there were moms who told me, "when it's time, you'll know and it won't even be a fight."
And I humbly bow to you mom's who said that.....because you were right. I didnt want to believe you, but you were right. (imagine that..a mother who's right!?)
On Wednesday night Steven had a conversation with Annie - and I dont know if it was the incentive or if it just clicked in her head (or maybe both). But I was in the bathroom doing my business and Annie comes running to me, "I need to pee pee mama." I looked at Steven very confused because I wasnt sure what was happening. I asked her, "you want to take your diaper off and sit on your potty?" (just to be clear that we were on the same page). "UH HUH" she says... and she does it. She pees!!! Steven says to me, "you're going to kill me when you find out what i told her to make her do that." And so within seconds Annie said, "GONNA GO FISHING AND RIDE ON A BOAT?!"
>>> long story short: Steven has been DYING to get a nice fishing boat<<<<
And so the next day Annie pee pees on the potty all day long - no accidents, nothing. She even went down for her nap in panties and woke up completely dry. Now, we are not ones to lie to our children to manipulate them, so I told Steven he better figure out something FAST to do to reinforce what he told her... so: he takes her, in her panties, with her potty in tow, to the sporting good store near our house and buys her a fishing pole (that's a tad too big for her...so we'll have to get her a smaller one) and takes her to the lake a few blocks away to fish. She LOVED it.... though, she liked throwing rocks in the Lake more.
Friday she woke up with a dry diaper and used the potty (#1 and #2) all day. When she needed to go she would just tell us - and she would go. Saturday, she started to become hesitant and we had to heavily persuade her to go. We pulled out all the stops and it was quite the fight to get her to go - but... she did... and we decided that day that we needed to remove diapers from her life completely b/c she was waiting to get that bedtime diaper before she did her dirty business. So, we did. She went to bed without a diaper and.....woke up DRY!!! I could not believe it.
Sunday I went to Walmart and Face timed her (she wasnt ready to be in public yet) and let her pick out a new potty (the ones we have are too shallow and so her stinky touches her bottom...or the splash guards aren't high enough and she pees all over the floor). I also got her favorite candy for moments when I need to seriously persuade her. She did really good yesterday and although I had to give her half a pack of sour gummy worms, she didnt have a single accident and woke up from her nap - and the night...completely dry.
So then today it must have re-clicked in her head....because every time she has needed to potty today, she just tells me " I NEED TO PEE PEE!!!" or my favorite line, "UH OH! MY PEE PEE! ITS COMING!" and she goes. We were able to go to Target and Wal-Mart today....with zero accidents. By the end of the night she would just go over to her potty when she needed to go, pull her own pants down, and go..... (she still needs help wiping). Her favorite part is being able to dump the pee pee in the big potty and flush it. But she's doing it - all on her own - without having to be reminded or asked....and I am blown away. We have had 5 full days of zero peeing in the pants....and it has required very little effort on our parts (minus a day or so of heavy persuasion).
Im so proud of that girl, and very very grateful that she flipped the switch! Now we only have one kid in diapers. Having a potty trained child does bring a new dynamic to things - especially being out and about, but its one that I think i can get on board with :) The true test though will be tomorrow...when we head out on a long road trip :/
she even got a special package in the mail from her 2 favorite boy-friends!
My Annie is a tender heart. Her feelings get hurt easily, she's concerned about the tiniest of things...and heavens forbid if she actually gets hurt. But Annie also has a strong will. She wants what she wants when she wants it (wait, that may be all toddlers) - and when she has set her mind to something, it's hard to break her course.
We have tried a few times to potty train Annie. The kid knows when she poops and pees - and when your child can come to you and ask for a diaper: well - its time. This is the first time I've ever had to potty train a child - and Ive read and read techniques and talked to other moms about things that work and things that dont. We put together a plan that seemed easy & made sense. To everyone except Annie, of course. No matter what we did or tried - nothing worked. We did the 3-day method, we did the naked method, stickers, candy, treats, special privileges, everything....and no matter what - the kid would not use her potty to save my life. One thing I heard from many moms though was, "She will do it when she is ready." To be honest, that's the piece of advice that i hated the most. Leaving that up to your toddler just seemed a little crazy for me. Of course she wouldnt want to decide to pee in the potty when she could just go as she pleases in her diaper. But time and time again there were moms who told me, "when it's time, you'll know and it won't even be a fight."
And I humbly bow to you mom's who said that.....because you were right. I didnt want to believe you, but you were right. (imagine that..a mother who's right!?)
On Wednesday night Steven had a conversation with Annie - and I dont know if it was the incentive or if it just clicked in her head (or maybe both). But I was in the bathroom doing my business and Annie comes running to me, "I need to pee pee mama." I looked at Steven very confused because I wasnt sure what was happening. I asked her, "you want to take your diaper off and sit on your potty?" (just to be clear that we were on the same page). "UH HUH" she says... and she does it. She pees!!! Steven says to me, "you're going to kill me when you find out what i told her to make her do that." And so within seconds Annie said, "GONNA GO FISHING AND RIDE ON A BOAT?!"
>>> long story short: Steven has been DYING to get a nice fishing boat<<<<
And so the next day Annie pee pees on the potty all day long - no accidents, nothing. She even went down for her nap in panties and woke up completely dry. Now, we are not ones to lie to our children to manipulate them, so I told Steven he better figure out something FAST to do to reinforce what he told her... so: he takes her, in her panties, with her potty in tow, to the sporting good store near our house and buys her a fishing pole (that's a tad too big for her...so we'll have to get her a smaller one) and takes her to the lake a few blocks away to fish. She LOVED it.... though, she liked throwing rocks in the Lake more.
Friday she woke up with a dry diaper and used the potty (#1 and #2) all day. When she needed to go she would just tell us - and she would go. Saturday, she started to become hesitant and we had to heavily persuade her to go. We pulled out all the stops and it was quite the fight to get her to go - but... she did... and we decided that day that we needed to remove diapers from her life completely b/c she was waiting to get that bedtime diaper before she did her dirty business. So, we did. She went to bed without a diaper and.....woke up DRY!!! I could not believe it.
Sunday I went to Walmart and Face timed her (she wasnt ready to be in public yet) and let her pick out a new potty (the ones we have are too shallow and so her stinky touches her bottom...or the splash guards aren't high enough and she pees all over the floor). I also got her favorite candy for moments when I need to seriously persuade her. She did really good yesterday and although I had to give her half a pack of sour gummy worms, she didnt have a single accident and woke up from her nap - and the night...completely dry.
So then today it must have re-clicked in her head....because every time she has needed to potty today, she just tells me " I NEED TO PEE PEE!!!" or my favorite line, "UH OH! MY PEE PEE! ITS COMING!" and she goes. We were able to go to Target and Wal-Mart today....with zero accidents. By the end of the night she would just go over to her potty when she needed to go, pull her own pants down, and go..... (she still needs help wiping). Her favorite part is being able to dump the pee pee in the big potty and flush it. But she's doing it - all on her own - without having to be reminded or asked....and I am blown away. We have had 5 full days of zero peeing in the pants....and it has required very little effort on our parts (minus a day or so of heavy persuasion).
Im so proud of that girl, and very very grateful that she flipped the switch! Now we only have one kid in diapers. Having a potty trained child does bring a new dynamic to things - especially being out and about, but its one that I think i can get on board with :) The true test though will be tomorrow...when we head out on a long road trip :/
she even got a special package in the mail from her 2 favorite boy-friends!
And for the record: her daddy isn't getting a boat anytime soon - but he is going to take her with Pops and Uncle Poo Poo in their little boat when we get to Arkansas in a few days :)
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