Potty Training - Week 1

This is going to super boring, so I'm warning you now.  There are no pictures...just me wanting to remember how potty training started and how it is going.  The words pee-pee and poo-poo are going to be used a million times, and it's long...you may want to skip this now! 

I have been debating FOREVER on when to start potty training.  I am definitely in the camp of "don't start till your child is ready", but for Brynn that seemed pretty early.  Our pediatrician said to NOT even think about starting until they are two, so when Brynn started showing interest three months (or more) earlier than that, we decided to buy a little potty and let her "be interested" but never took the plunge with like "okay, we are trying to ONLY go in the potty."  She went in her diaper all the time, and when she felt like sitting on the potty (three or four times a day) we would go in there with her and encourage her to pee or poo-poo, which she did really well.

Fast forward to her two-year well visit, and I asked our doctor about potty training.  He kept saying "don't start until they are ready" and I kept saying "I think she is ready, but HOW DO YOU KNOW???"  HA!  For awhile I kept wondering like "am I doing her a dis-service by not letting her try to start?"  He said, oh you will know...she will want to sit on the potty, she will go pee in the potty, etc."  I thought "okay, we've been doing that for awhile, let's just take the plunge.  If it goes terribly, we can always wait another couple of months and try again." 

SO...last Thursday we decided to try it.  We bought a package of princess panties and a bag of pink princess pull-ups.  I initially thought we wouldn't try to use the pull-ups much, because I thought she would THINK they were diapers and she would think she should potty in them, but that wasn't the case.  So...if we are home she usually wears panties, but if we go out I feel a lot better with her in pull-ups.  I also am not even worrying about naps or night.  I always put her in a diaper for those.  The first couple of days I used a pull-up for nap and then realized...why waste a pull-up when I KNOW she will probably pee in it.  (Those things aren't cheap!) 

Thursday (day 1) we went to the gym, to the grocery store, and she even went to Nonna's for half the day while I subbed and she had NO ACCIDENTS!  Then we went to Pam and Rick's to visit with Ryan's brother Kyle (who was home for Easter) and we were telling them how she hadn't had any accidents, etc. and five minutes later she was being silly with Kyle and he comes out and says "uh, sorry guys, first accident!  HAHA!  She wasn't wearing a pull-up, which was when I quickly decided if we weren't at our house, she was wearing a pull-up! 

The first six days, she's had one accident each day, and every single time except once it has been after 6:30...go figure.  I'd think "oh my gosh, she hasn't had an accident today, and 20 minutes later we'd forget to have her go to the potty and she'd have one.  Oh well...I'm thinking that isn't too bad.

On Tuesday (so day five??) she had been at home all day, so she was wearing princess panties.  We decided to run to Lowe's after supper and didn't change her into a pull-up.  When we got there we had her go potty at Lowe's, which she did fine.  (But of course she only lets Mommy take her...I REALLY wish she would let Daddy take her a few times.)  Then we were looking at the section with the sinks, bathtubs, toilets, etc.  Brynn points at the potty and says "potty, poo poo!"  We were like "yep, you go poo poo and pee pee in those!"  I can't remember if she said poo poo anymore, but we were like "what does that mean?  Does she need to go poo poo?"  We decided she was just talking about the potty, but five minutes later we realized we were WRONG...and she had poo poo'ed in her panties IN LOWE'S.  Ryan had to run out to get her backpack with new pull-ups, I had to take her in the bathroom, take her shoes and pants off, take off a poopy pair of panties (gross)...clean them off in the sink (to which my friend Jennilee said "why didn't you just throw them away!"  I never even thought of that!  But since those panties were like $10 for a little pack, I didn't want to pitch them!  HA!  Luckily, it wasn't a ton of poop and it hadn't gone through to her pants, but it was still NOT FUN! 

Another note - I'm not a germaphobe by any means, but potty training your child in public places might make me one.  The little "feminine products trash can" is ALWAYS perfectly in her reach when she's sitting on the toilet and she thinks it's the most fun toy...GROSS!  I also hate having to kneel on the floor in public restrooms...oh well...all in the name of helping my child become more independent I guess.  =)

Yesterday, Thursday, one week after we started...Brynn had her very first accident-free day.  Considering we went to the gym, the library, Panera, and outside for a walk, I was pretty surprised.  I think the main thing that's helping is that we remind her to go every 45 minutes or so.  I feel like I'm always looking at my watch and trying to remember the last time she went.  Several times she has just run into our bathroom, pulled down her pants, and gone in her little potty, but most of the time she goes when we say "ooo...let's go potty!"  And I almost always go on the big potty while she goes on hers.  I seriously felt like I've lived on the toilet for the last week!  HA!

All in all, it hasn't been nearly as bad as I thought (I'm thinking that if I type that, the next week is going to be terrible!  HA!)  There have been a few times when she hasn't wanted me to wipe her or she doesn't want to sit, and I'm starting to realize that sometimes she just knows she doesn't have to go, and I shouldn't force her to sit.  But other than those few times, it has been pretty smooth.

OH, POTTY TRAINING...WHAT A BLAST...