What a difference a few days can make in potty training a two year old. Obviously I was frustrated the first two days. Fighting a little one who didn't even want to sit on her potty is now(5 days in) jumping for joy when she goes! I know it's not over from here. I'm sure it will take a few weeks to really get it down and feel comfortable with trusting her that she will go on her own, but for now I am basking in the joy of Remee's happiness when she goes in the potty! Here's what worked for us.
-Day 1-
Remee was naked from the waste down...for two reasons. One, she's a tiny little girl and no one carries 18 month size training pants. So, I had to order them online. That took a few days to get here so I chose to just keep her undie-less. Second, I read about keeping the toddler without pants on so they understand the feeling of pee pee running down their legs. It's not a good feeling so they learn to hold it over time. I set the timer every 15 minutes at first and loaded her up with her favorite juices. Most of the time I would sit her down on the potty and she would just sit there for 5-10 minutes while I read her books and sang songs. Nothing happened. I let her get up from the potty and reset the timer for 5 more minutes. Sometimes she would pee before the 5 minutes were over, and if that happened I would say to her,"Oh no, run to the potty...we go pee pee in the potty". She would run over there and by the time she was there she had emptied her bladder all over the carpet. (See why I was so frustrated?) Other times she would continue to hold it and the 5 minutes would be up. I would say, "It's potty time!" She'd sit back on the potty, reluctantly, and I'd make her sit for a few more minutes. I would continue this until she went...either on the floor or in the potty and then reset the timer for 15 more minutes. If she did go in the potty I would give her a treat and make a big celebration out of the pee pee and then set the timer for 20 minutes. So on and so forth. This was my whole first day. Cleaning up the carpet and setting the timer. Night time and nap time I put her in her diaper still.
-Day 2-
The beginning of the day was rough. I was on the verge of giving up. It was as if everything I had worked on the day before had been forgotten. I continued to set the timer, but for every 30 minutes or so because I found that she was doing a little better holding it. When the timer would go off she would tell me it's potty time. Other times she would dribble and then say,"Pee pee in the potty mama". I would tell her to go sit on the potty. If she got any pee pee in the potty she got a treat and a big celebration dance from me! We had a lot of accidents! I didn't quite feel like she was emptying herself all the way! I still felt like she wasn't getting it. And I think she was really getting bored of being in the same room as me the whole day. Poor thing. Night time and nap time I still put her in a diaper.
-Day 3-
This was our breakthrough day. When she woke up she didn't want to sit on the potty at all. She threw a huge fit and refused, so I took her diaper off and let her roam around for a bit. I kept asking her if she needed to go potty and she would say no, of course! I gave her some juice to get things going and soon she started dribbling and would run over to the potty by herself, only getting a few drops in the potty. She would get a treat and a celebration from me! After nap time was when things changed. I got her up and put her on the potty, nothing happened. So I let her go play. Soon she would come to me and say,"Pee pee in the potty". We would rush over to the potty and she would go...and I mean all the way. Empty bladder. She got so excited and so did I. She got a treat and a happy dance from me! Her most favorite thing was pouring out her pee in the big toilet and then flushing it to say goodbye. She liked washing her hands too. The rest of the day went just like that. She would play in the same room I was in so I could keep an eye on her and then she would come to me to go potty. Nap time and night time she was in a diaper.
-Day 4-
Easy peasy. She woke up, sat on the potty, went pee. Treat and celebration. She even went poop in the potty. That took some work. I kept smelling her. I asked her if she needed to go poo poo and she's say no. Then, she gave me the face. The face that says...mom, I have been holding this poop for way to long and it's just going to come right out of me this second. I put her on the potty, she was reluctant, and then sang her some songs and sure enough distracting her was what she needed. The whole day not an accident. In fact I was upstairs making dinner and she was downstairs in the play room and I would hear her yell for me. I went down there and she'd say,"I went pee pee in the potty mama." All by herself!!!!!! This happened a few times while I was making dinner. Nap and night time she's still in a diaper.
Today has gone just as good. She goes by herself, or tells me when she needs to go. I have put her in undies today. She can't pull them all the way down by herself, so I help with that, but she's doing amazing. We are still working on the pooping thing. I think it scares her or something. Not sure but it will come. I feel like I have climbed Mt. Everest or something. Those first two days were pure hell and now I think...it's all worth it. If you are trying this too, don't give up. They will get it sooner or later. I know every kid is different, but you know your kid better than anybody, therefore, do what works for them. I think I will wait to take her diaper off during sleep time once I find that she's holding her pee during the day for longer than 30-40 minutes. She still takes a 3 hour nap and I just don't think she can hold her pee for that long.
I hope this helps someone out there feeling just as discouraged as I did. Now, once baby number 2 comes, I'll only have one kid in diapers. That saves me lot of money!!!! Good luck, and sorry this was so freaking long!!!
