The Potty Post

I should probably wait a few more days before writing about this because it really seems like potty training Margot was too easy.  I learned my lesson the first time around and decided to not even think about potty training until she was 3 years old.  We did give it a try over spring break, just because I was off for the week and we had really been talking up the idea of no more diapers.  On Monday of spring break, I said, "Heeyyy, Margot!  Wanna wear these beautiful, brand new, big girl panties?!"  She took one look at them and said, "No."  I said...."Okay."  I was kind of glad she wasn't interested because I really wasn't looking forward to cleaning up pee all over the house.

Between April and June we tried again on a Saturday.  She wore her cute little undies for a couple hours and then announced, "I went pee pee!!!"  I cleaned up the mess and decided to forget it and try again later.  I always offered the panties first thing in the morning and she always said no.

Once school was out, I decided it was time to kick the potty training into high gear.  We posted a sticker chart on the wall, we agreed to give her M&Ms each time she went, and we bought other toys as prizes for 1 day on the potty, 2 days on the potty and 1 week on the potty.  Let me show you how well that went after one week:

She was extra un-interested.  I still wasn't pushing, just gently reminding her of all the wonders that would come her way if she maybe just tried to go on the potty for a tiny bit.  Mind you, before we started the week of training, she had sat on the potty countless times, but never saw any action.  That week, she wouldn't even sit.  It was a total power issue.  Control.  I think she even mentioned, "You're not in charge of MY BODY!"  Which is true.  So I backed off.  We left the sticker chart up, but I decided not to mention it any more.  I even considered emailing her preschool director to ask if maybe she could start a little late because she might not be potty trained by August.  Ha!

Then she turned 3.  The day after her birthday she and Sylvia were playing outside in the baby pool/sprinkler and they wanted to put on their bathing suits.  Margot LOVES her bathing suit!  I told her I wasn't putting her in a swim diaper because she's too big for those, so she could either pee in her bathing suit or pee on the potty.  She chose the potty!  Many times.  I could see that she finally knew how to stop the business from happening and how to wait until she got to the bathroom!  I parked a tiny potty outside in the front yard (yes, I did!) and she used it for exactly one day.  I hate tiny potties.  After that first day, it was big potty in the big bathroom all the way!  I was shocked at how easy it was.  There was no training involved, although I may have shrieked and clapped and put a sticker on her chart the first few times.

On the second day, she had one accident while she was eating lunch.  On the third day she had a tiny, half-accident before she was able to stop herself and get to the potty.  Since then there have been maybe two more tiny half-accidents, but that's been it!  Grammy took her shopping for brand new underwear, she got to pick any dessert she wanted on Friday night (she chose sprinkles), and we converted her bed into a toddler bed so she could start using the potty at night.

This week has been our week of night time potty training and it's going just as well, to my surprise!  We're using pull-ups for naps and night time, so if she goes in her sleep we don't have to worry about it, but so far she's gone to the potty in the middle of the night each night.  The first night, she called out for me to come help her and I was super proud of her.  On the second night I told her, "You can call out for Mommy and I'll come help you...ORRRR.....you could go to the potty by yourself, if you want!"  At 1:30am I heard her little feet hit the floor, I heard them pitter-patter to the bathroom, there was a minute of silence, then I heard the water run, then I heard her pitter-patter back to her room!!!  SUCCESS!!!  My baby is so independent!  I couldn't be happier for her.  What a kid.

Honestly, the only challenge has been getting Margot to stay in her bed at the beginning of the night.  She's always had a hard time falling asleep and now she can get out of bed and wander around!  Just now she came into the kitchen while I was typing and said, "Mommy, I'm really, really...disappointed."  Ha!  What is she talking about?!  I've put her back in bed three times tonight, which seems to be our nightly average, so I'm hoping she's done.  I'm just glad we're making this transition during the summer when I have all the time in the world to deal with it!  She'll figure it out.

So....lesson learned: don't sweat potty training until your kid is at least 3 years old.  Let them run the show.  Eventually they'll figure it out!  Our experience with Sylvia was completely different because I was a crazy nut job who thought potty training was something I had to accomplish.  We're still dealing with the aftermath of that mess, poor girl!  I'm interested to see how it works with Albert when he's old enough.  I can't even imagine teaching a boy how to aim!  I'm excited to try the "hit the sponge in the water" trick.  Let's hope he's as easy to train as Margot was!

Let's also hope I'm not jumping the gun and calling the job done too early.  She may be back in diapers tomorrow for all I know!