Adventures in Potty Training

Oh. My. Goodness. The last 4 days have been a blur of all things potty-related, thrown in with a healthy amount of cabin fever, physical exhaustion and mental stress. I'm going to break the post down like a weekend recap and give some details (not too many gory ones) about our potty training process!

Friday (Day 1):
We did the 3-day potty training "boot camp", and I followed the structure almost to the letter. I got up early in the morning to shower and get ready and mentally devote myself to Cara 24/7 for the next few days. So after we ate breakfast, we "threw away" the diapers and said bye bye to them. We put on panties and talked about what a big girl Cara was now.

I had prepared our bonus room and adjoining bathroom the night before with towels, toys, potty tools and activities. In hindsight, I should have invested in a tarp; I was doing enough laundry with accidents that extra towels took up more space. Live and learn.

So immediately Cara had an accident. She looked down and said, "Oh dear." Haha. Per the book, I picked her up, carried her (tee-teeing all the way) to the potty and sat her on it. I tossed the dirty panties in the washing machine across the hall (so helpful!) and we kept at it. I gave her drink after drink and pouch after pouch to keep it all flowing. She thought she was in heaven with milk, water, apple & grape juice galore! We hardly ever drink juice at home, and she gets 1/2 a cup at daycare, so this was a big treat.

The rest of the day was back and forth from potty to office room and back again. Accident after accident, a couple of successes thrown in there. Chance came home for lunch around 11:30, but it was so early that the afternoon was looooooonnnngggg... We were stuck in this one room all day, and I started to go stir crazy. I did the M&M reward every time she went and had a big cup of them visible on a high shelf. Cara would point and fuss often because she wanted one, but I think it was a good motivator for her. Every 90 seconds, I would say, "Cara, are your panties dry? Good job! Tell Mommy when you have to go potty. Say 'need potty'." Literally. Every. 90. Seconds. But I think that's what makes the process work. Giving them the language, repeating it ad infinitum, drilling it into their brains and letting them feel why accidents are no good.

I underestimated the physical pain of potty training. I was constantly up and down off the floor, picking her up, putting her on the potty, helping her pull panties up and down, etc. My muscles were aching by 6:00. I felt more exhausted than I had in a long, long time, and after she went to bed (in pull-ups--that was the one rule I broke), I just laid on the couch and could hardly move. I had to muster the strength to drive to get my reward for surviving--a yummy sno cone!

It was a messy, kind of disheartening day that was taxing in so many ways. Overall, Cara had 6 successes, 6 accidents, and more than 30 additional sits on the potty. Hard work! I had been told that Day 2 was worse because kids often forget all they learn, and Chance had to work Saturday morning, so I had to "gut up" like my Dad says and get my mental game ready.

Saturday (Day 2):
Chance went to work, so we were up and at it again. Panties, breakfast, playing in the office. First thing, Cara told me she had to potty and then went, and then later she did it again. Silly, naive me--I started to think she was so awesome, and Day 2 wouldn't be as hard as everyone chalked it up to be. But pride cometh before a fall. And then she didn't have another successful potty trip until about 6:30 that night. So ya, that was fun.

Chance worked Saturday morning, and when she went down for a nap, I took one too, and blissfully, he took over for part of the afternoon shift so I could keep napping. That really is what helped me make it through. It was so helpful to "tag team" when we needed to, and give each other the ability to leave the house, even to get Sonic or dinner, or to be with her together--one person cleaning a mess and the other with her. :) I got to leave for a bit and I ran to the dollar store to get a grab bag of $1 gifts for Cara for things like staying dry all day, waking up from a nap dry, doing "business", no accidents at school, etc. I got lots of princess puzzles and colors, a Doc McStuffins tambourine (what was I thinking?), a pail and shovel and random toys. I think these are good incentives!

We tried to watch Little Mermaid because she loves Ariel and was wearing Ariel panties, but she only wanted the parts where she was on screen. When she wasn't, Cara would point and yell "Ariel! Ariel! Ariel!" Ha. We made it through about 25 minutes.

Po was so happy with all the laundry we were doing over the weekend. He'll never pass up a chance to cuddle inside a pile of warm laundry!

Saturday evening, we were DONE being in the office, so we made a pallet and ventured into the living room. We put on Frozen, and even though we had to take some breaks between scenes to either potty or give her an activity to entertain her, she made it through the whole thing! I think kids like Frozen because there is almost always music playing, either in song or in the background. The soundtrack has more than 50 tracks. So the music catches her attention and keeps her interest. She also learned to say "Olaf. Silly snowman." Ha! My favorite was when she would dance to either "Love Is An Open Door" or "Let It Go". I'm in some of these videos, and I'm not looking my finest, so please don't judge. I'd had a toddler peeing on me for 36 hours. :)

At the end of the evening, Cara had 3 successes on the potty, and so we ended the night with some uplifted spirits. I wasn't quite as exhausted as the night before (thanks to my nap and my leaving the house for a little while), and I was hopeful that Day 3 would be easier.

Sunday (Day 3):
I got to go to Sunday School for a little bit, and Chance kept Cara. She had a success and an accident, so I was a little discouraged again. After her nap, she woke up dry in her pull-up, and then she had successful trips for the rest of the day! I was so excited and hopeful!

Chance was the greatest help this day. He kept her having fun, gave her lots of love and was my big helper all day. It seemed like Cara was really starting to "click" with the concepts and was sometimes asking us. My one worry was that she wasn't asking 100% of the time, and we were asking her (not by the rules, but I was just paranoid about more accidents) sometimes. It was working, but I started to worry that she wouldn't ask when she went to school this week. But the difference from Friday to Sunday was amazing!

Monday (Day 4):
Today was a pretty good day! The cabin fever was STRONG with us, because for the most part, I hadn't been out of the house except for an hour or two here and there. Cara hadn't left the house at all. We watched a lot of Mickey Mouse, Sofia, Elmo, Frozen and some Doc McStuffins. She was ACCIDENT-FREE all day, so no accidents since the morning of Day 3!!!!!! At one point when Chance came home for lunch, I looked at him and said, "I can't believe this worked..." It seems so crazy that it happened so fast. I know she will have accidents in the future, will have problems adjusting to daycare and how to tell them before she has an accident, will need pull-ups for nap and nighttime for quite a while, but she has 90% of the basics down after just a long weekend. Wow.

We ventured out for a 15-minute trip back and forth to Sonic in the afternoon, gave her a bath, played with cousins and waited for Daddy to get home. It was a really long day, but it ended well. I didn't pour liquids down her throat like in other days, so she only went 2-3 times, and I could see more of what a normal day might look like.

She is ready to go to daycare for a bit the next few days and hopefully can acclimate there too. Her new backpack is ready to go--no more diaper bag!!!

This weekend was one of the longest, most trying, most exhausting and stressful weekends I've had in a while. But it was also really rewarding and full of pride. Cara really seemed proud of herself and thought it was cool when we would praise and reward her. I told Chance that it was a lot like being in the newborn trenches again. Figuring things out, not leaving the house, sleepless times, stress, messes, etc. It was a HARD few days, but it was worth it because of what we accomplished.

I highly recommend the 3-day method because it was quick and dirty (haha, literally), but it really did work. The book said 22 months is an ideal age, and that's exactly what Cara is. I knew she was ready when she showed a constant interest, was able to communicate clearly with us about many different wants and needs, and could understand what we wanted from her. I'm glad we carved out the time to do this, and I'm anxious to see how well she takes to it going forward!

Thanks for following us on this journey. :)