Potty Watch - 2010

Claire and I began potty training boot camp yesterday. Potty training Easton was a challenge. (See posts from summer 2006 for the play-by-play) Potty training Camille was a breeze. (I looked and can't believe I didn't post one single thing about her potty training. That's how quick and easy it was). I figured Claire would fall right in the middle. She is a *girl* so therefore she is supposed to be *easy*. But she is also head strong, so I expected resistance.

Now...sidebar. I condone all potty training methods. If it works for you and your child can enter Kindergarten without a pull-up - then go for it! I made a funny little comment on facebook about potty training and got ALL kinds of feedback. If Claire had been my first child I probably would have stopped right then and thought I was doing it all wrong. Luckily I had Camille's easy success to give me hope and a system that has proven useful for all 3, so I stayed my course.

So this is what I did. I'm not saying it's right. It's just what works for me.

1. Cold Turkey
I know myself and I know that I like to opt for things that are convenient at that moment instead of what might be convenient in the long run. Like sippy cups. Sippy cups are convenient at the moment because they are easy and no mess. But in the long run it's better to have a child that can drink out of a glass. So I have to give myself a date. On this date we will purge the house of all sippy cups and never go back no matter what. This means that I spend about a week of filling up a glass with only three sips of liquid at a time and said glass will get knocked over at least once per meal. But after a few days...poof!...they get the hang of it and all is well. So we set the date for Monday. NO MORE DIAPERS OR PULL UPS. Big girl panties only.

2. Hydrate
Because we don't use sippy cups, my kids only get something to drink if they are sitting down at the table for a meal or snack.  But during potty-watch, the child can have as much liquid as she desires. In fact I spent most of yesterday and today chasing Claire around the house saying, "Do you want a drink?".

3. Watch carefully
This is the tricky part. All of my kids liked sitting on the potty, but never wanted to go on the potty. So after 17,000 cups of juice I began sitting her on the potty every 15 minutes. Of course nothing happens. Until. You'll see it. A twinge of concern in her face. A bit of uncomfortableness. At this point they will want to get off the potty. All done! Need panties! Go play! But you have to sing, dance, clap, whatever to get them to stay on the potty until that first pee-pee success. I think the first one is the hardest for everyone. After that - the abundance of liquid just ensures that they get LOTS of practice that first day or so of getting it right.

4. Chocolate
M&M's work great. The first pee-pee, I give them a whole slew of chocolate. Gradually we scale back to one M&M per event. And then they just disappear all together.

5. Ask
Once they've gone successfully a few times and you think they've got the hang of "letting it out" on demand, then I quit the frequent visits and just start asking a lot. "Do you have to potty?" "How about now?" "Want to go potty?"

6. Listen
And this is where my potty training technique quits being a technique and just a way of life. I stop asking so much and just let her tell me when she has to go. I keep an eye on the clock and still ask if I feel like it's been a looooong time, but overall, I let her do it.

And this is pretty much exactly how I did it for Camille and Claire. Easton...not so much. It was the same idea, but he had other issues. That child was determined. And had a bladder of steel. He could hold it for days at a time. Crazy.

Of course I talk like Claire is done. She is not. We're only on day 2 but things are looking really good. She had one accident at 9AM yesterday morning (we started at 8:30) but has gone in the potty every other time like a champ. She even stayed dry during nap yesterday (She was wearing a pull-up - taking those away at sleep times is a whole different date for me.)