MK's adventure in potty training!

Mk using the potty while watching veggie tales!

A little over two weeks ago, we embarked on a new adventure: potty training MK! She’s been showing signs of being ready for a couple weeks and after reading the chapter on potty training in The Baby Whisperer, I was motivated to start working with MK towards being diaper-free.

For the first week, to gauge MK’s readiness, I would take her to the potty 30 minutes after eating/drinking and before and after naps/bedtime. I took detailed notes about the days, including what she ate/drank and when she had a dry diaper, a successful pee/poo in the potty or a dirty diaper. I learned a lot about MK during that week, including that she could physically hold her pee for 2-3 hours and that she had a very predictable #2 schedule. During that time she got “treats” for going to the potty and we talked a lot about wearing big girl panties and saying “bye bye” to diapers. I knew by the end of that week that she was ready, especially when she told me a couple times when she needed to use the potty before going in her diaper.

So, last Saturday we decided to go cold turkey on diapers and we haven’t looked back (although we’ve been tempted to!). On Friday, MK and I went to Target and she got to pick out two packs of “big girl panties” which she called “big gurl penies”…. Yes her “panties” sounds a lot like a male body part! She was so excited to get to pick them out and talked about her new present the whole way home and to everyone who would listen to her! Saturday morning was filled with lots of accidents and lots of reminders that “we don’t pee pee in our pretty princess big girl panties!” She learned quickly that she did not like to be wet and got very upset at herself when she had an accident.

Despite a terrible stomach bug on Saturday night, we stuck to our plans and kept MK out of diapers. She did progressively better with accidents all week, including two days of no accidents. This past week, she conquered a fear of public restrooms and even traveled in the car to Austin and back with no pee pee accidents (she did have one #2 accident, but something she ate didn’t agree with her so that was understandable… and those panties didn’t make it home to Dallas!). We are still working with her on telling us when she needs to go versus having to be reminded/asked, but so far I am shocked at how well she is going!

Here are some tips I have for anyone who’s going to be embarking on this adventure:

1.       Don’t give up! There were many days that I felt discouraged.  “Was she ever going to get this?” “Was she really ready if she’s not telling me when she needs to go all the time?” I know that for me to give up and put MK back in diapers would be communicating failure to MK. I would be saying to her “you can’t do this.” And I know that she can! J

2.       Pray! I have said more prayers asking for patience and wisdom this past week than I have in a while. Potty training has been by far the most challenging parenting task for my control-freak, perfectionist self.

3.       Accidents don’t mean failure. I was so afraid of accidents, that I found myself hovering over MK asking her all the time if she needed to go… and she was getting annoyed! So, I decided to back off and changed my perspective. An accident was an opportunity for MK to learn how to read her own body and to communicate with me…it wasn’t a failure for her or me! Having accidents didn’t mean that she wasn’t ready or able to potty train, it’s a necessary part of the adventure. I made sure to not shame MK for having an accident, but to remind her that we only go pee/poo on the potty.

4.       Study your child! The Baby Whisperer book really emphasized this point and I couldn’t agree more. Take some time to notice and write down their potty habits before you train. How long can they hold their bladder? How often do they go poo? Are there foods that make them poo more often? Also study what motivates your child. I thought that treats would motivate MK, but it turns out that a simple sticker chart with “special potty treats” (dollar spot toys from Target) when they reach certain milestones (the stars on our chart) was MUCH more motivational for MK.

Our potty rewards sticker chart... she gets more excited about putting a sticker on here than getting a candy treat!

5.       Diapers are WAY more convenient than potty training… It takes a lot of effort, planning and thought to have a child in panties versus a diaper. It’s totally worth it in the end I’m sure, but it’s a monumental change.

I am so thankful that we started potty training now. I’m sure that the older she becomes, the more it would be a battle of the wills and that would make this infinitely harder. The Baby Whisperer Book recommends starting the studying (taking them to the potty often) between 18-24 months to avoid this “battle of the wills.” Obviously this is totally dependent on each child and their personality… some might not be ready to start this until closer to 2.5 or 3. I’m also thankful that we’re doing this far enough away from Khloe’s upcoming arrival. I never had my heart set on getting MK out of diapers before Khloe arrived because I didn’t want to put that pressure on me or MK if we weren’t ready. But, now that we’re working on potty training, I’m glad we’re doing this now. J I’m already starting to pray that she doesn’t regress once she sees her sister wearing diapers…. But we’re doing a lot of talking about how babies wear diapers and big girls wear panties, so hopefully that doesn’t happen.

Any potty training advice from my experienced mommy readers? Would love to know your tips and experience!

The potty-training Vogs!