Potty Training Success!

What a girl! Miss Ella is practically a pro on the potty chair after just 2 days of training! Not exactly what I expected. One day in, I would have told you I was ready to quit and try it the regular way. I'm so glad I didn't. The girl has got it down.

So here's how it happened. Months ago, my neighbor gave me the book Toilet Training in Less Than a Day after having success trying the method for both her son and daughter. I was a bit doubtful, but looked into it anyway. I randomly heard from a few moms that it had worked for their kids, too, although none of them were close friends of mine. Therefore, I didn't really have anyone to ask when it came to the actual details of the whole process. Judging by the list of readiness signs in the book, I thought Ella was nearing the point of starting a couple weeks ago. I read the book, bought some training pants and big girl princess underwear, and was determined to get started on Monday morning. (Last Monday, August 1)

The whole idea of this crazy method is to teach the child what it feels like when they need to go to the bathroom and then how to do just that. Well, that takes a whole lot of undivided attention. I put together a big basket of treats and stickers along with sweet and salty snacks to make her thirsty and want to drink a ton. Idea: lots of water = lots of wetting = lots of teaching opportunities. We sat in the basement bathroom ALL DAY on Monday and Tuesday. Every 5 minutes I asked her if she was dry. When she was, she got a reward. (M&Ms quickly rose to the top as the fave.) Every 15 minutes she sat on the potty chair for 5-10 minutes.

Let me tell you, as the parent in this situation, I wanted to bang my head against the wall. I felt like we were making zero progress. She had so many accidents on Tuesday morning that I nearly threw in the towel. However, something must have sunk in because as soon as she woke up on Wednesday (day 3 of training) it was like she was a pro. I was so proud of her, I got teary. Never did I think I would cry at the sight of my little girl proudly emptying her bladder on her own little chair. The joys of parenting!

Ella has done amazingly well since Wednesday morning. She was completely dry for a day and a half. I don't blame her for the accident in the middle of her cousin's birthday party on Thursday. That's too much excitement to remember to tell Mama she needed to go. She stays dry through her naps but sleeps in a diaper at night. We'll continue that until she gets a little more control. (It talks about the science of a growing little body in the book and why different abilities happen at different times. So helpful.)

I know a lot of you have little ones that are nearing the training stage. I definitely recommend this method if you're able to put the time in. Like I said above, it's pretty time consuming. It is recommended to carve out 3-5 days of being at home so they get the hang of things. We ventured out for a short time on Wednesday and did more on Thursday and Friday. She's even used to using a regular toilet now, so she does well anywhere we've been in the last couple days. I'm so glad we were able to squeeze training in in before classes start again in September. After that, free time will be rare again.

Yay, Miss Ella! I'm so proud of you!