I'm going to be real with you guys for a sec...potty training is the WORST. People, myself included, are very quick to share their successes with potty training but not the accidents, setbacks, and failures. It has been a battle, mostly for me, and we are just now beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
I put off potty training Marley until she was almost 3.5 because I was terrified. I had no idea where to even start, and had NO desire to clean up bodily fluids. Marley is a very smart girl, but she also had no desire to potty train and could care less if her diaper was wet or poopy.
About a year ago I decided it was time to start because Marley would be doing preschool in the fall. (Even though being potty trained wasn't a requirement for her school.) That summer was already on the rocks because Jason was living in Logan (about 2 hours away) Monday-Friday doing an internship. I was fried, Kenzie was getting molars, and I had no help. A recipe for disaster.
That first day of potty training I did what most people suggest, and I let Marley run around with no diaper/pants/underwear on, so she could start to figure things out. We hit the ground running, and I was not prepared physically, emotionally, or mentally:
-I wasn't ready to be on my kid like glue, asking every 5 minutes if she needed to go potty, while still trying to get things done around the house.
-I wasn't prepared with cleaning supplies for the MANY accidents that would happen on the floor, couch, etc.
-I had no clue that my laundry would double or even triple during potty training.
-I didn't know that finding pee spots on our thick, dark carpet would need to be done by hand (EEEW!) because it blended in too well.
-I hated being confined to the house, when trips out and about were how I stayed (semi) sane.
-I didn't realize that all the reward ideas, bribes, and sticker charts from pinterest wouldn't work on my child. She was not motivated by bribes, and needed to see a reward (cooler than stickers) right away.
Any transition with a kid is rough. And this was no exception, but after a few days (and purchasing some lysol) we made progress. Marley was starting to get it, but there was one problem. I was terrified to take her out of the house without a pull up on. (This was mostly because she would NOT poop on the potty, and I was terrified of a poop accident in public.) And once she had a pull up on, her potty brain shut off and she treated it like a diaper.
So after maybe a month of making good progress, we fell back into wearing pull ups that were basically used as diapers. I made excuses: we were busy with school, dance class, family trips, so potty training was put on the back burner.
Fast forward to this summer. Once Marley finished school, and our schedule was wide open, I decided potty training NEEDED to happen. It was getting ridiculous to have a 4 year old still in diapers.
This time things went much better, for everyone involved, because I had the idea to let Marley pick out her own potty at the store. Before we were using a chair for the big toilet because I didn't want to worry about transitioning her later on, or create a fear of big toilets.
Marley chose a Paw Patrol potty, and she was SO excited to use it. I can count on one hand the amount of accidents we had during this second go of potty training.
Every kid is different, but here are the things that worked for us:
This time things went much better, for everyone involved, because I had the idea to let Marley pick out her own potty at the store. Before we were using a chair for the big toilet because I didn't want to worry about transitioning her later on, or create a fear of big toilets.
Marley chose a Paw Patrol potty, and she was SO excited to use it. I can count on one hand the amount of accidents we had during this second go of potty training.
Every kid is different, but here are the things that worked for us:
-I had her wear leggings to catch more pee if she did have an accident. It meant more laundry, but less floor scrubbing.
-I had a stash of rags, Lysol, and extra clothes ready to go. I also kept a plastic bag hanging on the bathroom door to collect all wet clothes. Our washer is in the basement, so at the end of the day I took the clothes down all at once instead of going up and down the stairs. And this also helped me not run around like a chicken with my head cut off when she had an accident.
-I told Marley that if she pooped on her precious Moana panties, then they were going in the garbage. She got over her fear of pooping in the potty real quick.
-We kept a stack of books by the little potty to help distract her in the beginning when she needed to poop. She would sometime sit for 20+ minutes, but now she has figured her body out a little bit more and it doesn't take that long.
-We did a candy jar of treats for every time she peed, and after her first time pooping in the potty, we made a huge deal about it. We went straight to the "toy store" (dollar tree) and she got to pick out whatever she wanted. We did this a few times, then changed it to bigger treats like gummy worms or a tube of M&M's.
-Once we got in a groove, Marley was in panties right away once she woke up, and we kept them on all day...no exceptions! If I wanted to go out shopping, I either made sure Jason was with me or only planned super quick trips. It helped me overcome my personal fears, and we have been able to gradually stay out longer.
Right now we are working on making Marley use the big potty without any help from stools or potty chairs so she will be fully independent when school starts up again. She is doing an amazing job!
I know I could have saved myself a ton of money on diapers by starting this process sooner, but I'm so happy with the way things have turned out for better or worse. Marley and I have both learned a lot and I will have more confidence and knowledge to use when the time comes for Kenzie.
Good luck on your own potty training journey!
