Potty Training

I realized I never shared our little potty training journey & a few of you have asked for it. I didn't read an potty training books (so unlike me) but I did read a few Pinterest articles ;) & decided to create my own little potty training course.

Kess is highly motivated by candy. Some parents don't want to give their kids a candy incentive, which is totally fine. It worked for us. I recommend finding something that excites or motivates them. For Kess, we decided on a candy that she doesn't get on a regular basis. We are candy freaks over here. It's so bad. I bought a little bag of Sixlets in bulk at Winco. We got the pearlized rainbow ones, but found that she kept picking out the pink ones, so I bought a bag of pink ones. Another thing she loves is stickers. I found some princess stickers at the dollar store. I decided to use these to track her potty progress. She loved it.

Here's a little break down of what we did.

Bought big girl panties. She loves princesses and Minnie Mouse - so we bought those. I made a big deal out of them & she loved them.

The day before I decide to start potty training I told Kess that we would no longer wear diapers. Big girl panties only. No more diapers. I did grab a package of Pull-Ups for nap time, bedtime & long trips out of the house.

We taught her what to say when she needed to go potty. "Momma I need to go potty!!" We quizzed her quite a bit on that. She picked up on it quickly. Now she just says, "Mom, I go pee?!" ...We've had a few moments when she just says..."Mom I go pee." Yep, that means I'm looking around my house for a pee spot! Hahaha

The day of potty training We ditched the diapers. Panties only. We had about a zillion accidents. Potty training was a little rough because Kess is super independent. So when I asked "Do you need to go potty" every 10 minutes she started to get real annoyed.

Nothing is more discouraging than asking your toddler if they need to go potty, them saying "no" & then having an accident 1 minute later. This happened a lot, but it's to be expected. It just is. No way around it.

Stay positive. This was hard for me after day 3... more accidents than successes was wearing on me. I told myself that I would never get mad at her for an accident. I usually put on a sad face & said, "Oh no! Minnie got wet. Minnie doesn't like that. We gotta keep her dry." She picked up on my frown & would frown, too. After a frustrating afternoon I told her that if she got her panties wet then she was a BIG trouble. I totally regretted it & didn't say it again. Staying positive will keep you sane. I swear.

When Kess went poo or pee in the potty I gave her 2 potty candies, we did high fives, cheers & made big deal out of it. Then she got to put a sticker on the chart. After 6 stickers she got a prize. I bought some cheap things at Wal-Mart. We never did a sticker, candy or prize without reaching her potty goals. I was a stickler on that & it paid off.

If Kess ever fought going potty or didn't even want to try I would tell her that she could have a "potty candy" for trying. I would give her 1 potty candy for trying. She slowly started getting the hang of it, but I was still feeling discouraged. I felt like she wasn't picking up on it fast enough. One thing I tried to remember is that it takes a bit for your child to pick up on their body cues. I don't really think there is a way to teach is quicker - it just comes in time. They are still little and still learning so much.

After 4 days of potty training I went out of town (I swear I didn't plan that - we just decided to go for it on the potty training front and Matt was on board for when I was gone.) Matt took over & I think it helped a ton! I was getting frustrated and he was fresh into the training so he was patient. There were a few accidents while I was way, but nothing that wasn't to be expected. On day 7 of potty training Kess told us that she needed to go potty. We ran her to the bathroom & she totally went! I cried. I wish I was joking, but I'm not! I was so proud of her. After about 1 more week we felt like she was fully potty trained. We have the occasional accident here & there, but that's usually when I've had her out and about running errands too long. She refuses to go potty in public (that's my girl) so we keep our errands short & make her go potty before we leave the house. We do Pull-Ups at bed time and about 95% of the time she stays dry. I don't make a big deal if she goes potty in the night in her Pull-Up because she sleeps all night & that's a long time to not go potty. Heck, right now I go like 4+ times a night. Pregnancy Probs.

Matt sent me a text with this picture saying, 

"In case you're wondering what 

happens when you leave a 

2 year old on the potty too long." Hilarious.

Once Kess finished her first chart. 6 rows of 6. I made a bigger chart. 3-4 rows of 9. That way she didn't get a prize until her 9th potty, sainted of every 6th potty. We eventually told her that we were almost done with prizes. We had a Princess Anna doll as her final prize. Once she got that we told her no more stickers. She would ask for one after she went potty & we just told her "Remember? No more stickers, but you can have a potty candy." She caught on & we eventually stopped giving her candy, too. If she asked for it she got it, if we didn't we just went on with our day. No more candy.

I'm really proud of how our potty training journey played out. Don't get me wrong, she still has the occasional accident. She will be playing & forgets to come get me, or sometimes it's my fault & I forget to check on her. All in all I'm pretty dang impressed with how she did. It wasn't a 3 day potty training deal, but I'm a little skeptical on how those work anyways. I've heard of some regression after doing a 3 day potty training program. We had zero regressions & she stays dry during naps and bed time the majority of the time.

PS - We use this little Munchkin Potty Seat for Kess. Super easy to switch from toilet to toilet & even easy to travel with!

If you have any questions - please feel free to ask. I'm no expert, but this worked for us. I hope it works for you!