Starting 3 day PT tomorrow... freakin' nervous!!!

HawaiiBrideGrm

So, I've read the book up through Day 1... and deep down, I'm still not sure DD is *ready*. She has gone on the potty 4 times and pooped once, all on her own merit (we didn't coax her to use it). She does not wake up dry (has once but I think it may have been a fluke). Talks about the potty books all the time and sits herself on the potty to read them. Hates diapers and diaper changes. She does like to watch us pee on the potty and loves to flush (TMI, I know LOL!). Anyhow, WDYT? Should I proceed or wait until she shows more signs? I've got DH on-board for this weekend and we have no plans (other than her swimming lessons tomorrow). TIA;)

mrs.aaguilar

It doesn't hurt to try. I hope she does well. GL and keep us posted.

bridesrighthand

She sounds very ready to me! Good luck!

j_hope

I would give it a shot.  You can always pull back if you realize that it's not working.  That's what I did back when DD was a little over 2.  She wasn't quite there yet after a 4 day weekend in April.  Now, she's much more aware of how to hold it...and wakes up dry most of the time.  We are working on the 3 day method next week..when I will be able to stay home 3 or 4 days in a row.  Good luck!

HawaiiBrideGrm

Thanks! Good luck to you, too!

I think I'll go full-throttle after we get home from swimming lessons at 11am today, and if she's hating it, I'll stop. Guess that's just what you have to do!?

JulieandBen

It sounds like your daughter is showing the emotional signs of being ready. Does she hold her pee at all during the day? Say 2-3hrs between wet diapers?

The point of this program is to teach your daughter the body mechanics of learning to actually make her body go to the bathroom. It teaches the mind/body part of it.

My advice to you is to read through the entire book. Read through it again first thing in the morning before you start the program and again at the end of the night after you've put your daughter to bed to regroup. After day one read through day 2 again and so forth.

There is a good chance your daughter is going to hate it at times. If you do the program then do the program. You are going to question yourself. You are also going to want to stop. This is neither in the best interest for you or for your daughter. PTing is hard (unless you wait until she is old enough that she basically trains herself). Looking back it was only a few days of our lives and we got through it.

Stock up on some prizes for the big achievements, stickers, favorite drinks, activities for you to do together since you will be glued to your daughter's side for the three days, and any other tools you plan on using.

Throw the diapers and all diaper accessories in the trash. Well have your daughter do it. They really are a crutch that you need to get as far away from you as possible. Make it a party to throw everything in the trash.

I suggest giving it the three full days for it to work. If you want to give up then then give up. Just like the book says, it can take the full three days for it to 'click' with them. You'll never know success from the program if you give up if she's having accidents the first day. Or second day. Or third day. She will not learn if she doesn't have accidents. Consider every and all accident a learning opportunity.

We weren't sure it clicked with our son until he woke up on the fourth day. That's when we learned it really had finally clicked with our son.

 One thing that was hard for me was watching Jack clearly have to pee or poop yet refusing to run to the potty even after I'd try the 'Hurry. You have to go to the toilet.' If you just try to relax and hover near them for when the accident comes, it will be much easier for you. I had a hard time with this.

Also look for signs your child is hiding to poop or pee. Jack would go into his playroom each time he was going to poop. He even told my husband one day to go away. My husband didn't get the meaning behind it and just thought it was cute. Of course he had his only accident without us there that time. Silly husband.

Work the program word for word. It works.
 

email me at julierharrell@gmail.com if you have any questions or get frustrated. Which you will get frustrated.

My husband just chimed in when he saw what I was typing. He says if you are not ready to commit to the three days or think you might quit then don't bother doing it. You need to give it 100% for it to work.

(This is from the man who didn't think we should do the program. He thought we should just wait until Jack basically trained himself when he was 'ready'. Now he tells everyone who has kids about this program.)

GOOD LUCK!!

 

HawaiiBrideGrm

JULIE! Thanks for the wonderful info! I'm going to reply within your quote in ALL CAPS...

JulieandBen:

It sounds like your daughter is showing the emotional signs of being ready. Does she hold her pee at all during the day? Say 2-3hrs between wet diapers?

YES! SHE DOES GO 2-3 HRS SOMETIMES WITHOUT WETTING HER DIAPER. (SOOOO GLAD TO HEAR THAT THIS IS A SIGN!)

The point of this program is to teach your daughter the body mechanics of learning to actually make her body go to the bathroom. It teaches the mind/body part of it.

My advice to you is to read through the entire book. Read through it again first thing in the morning before you start the program and again at the end of the night after you've put your daughter to bed to regroup. After day one read through day 2 again and so forth.

YEAH, I JUST RE-READ UP THROUGH DAY 1 AGAIN RIGHT NOW (DD IS SITTING NEXT TO ME WATCHING THE ELMO POTTY DVD--NOT SURE IF SHE "GETS" ANY OF IT, BUT IT'S WORTH A SHOT AND SHE LIKES THE VIDEO).

There is a good chance your daughter is going to hate it at times. If you do the program then do the program. You are going to question yourself. You are also going to want to stop. This is neither in the best interest for you or for your daughter. PTing is hard (unless you wait until she is old enough that she basically trains herself). Looking back it was only a few days of our lives and we got through it.

WOW, THIS PARAGRAPH ABOVE IS SOOO TRUE! IT'S ONLY 1:40PM AND I'VE ALREADY THOUGHT TO MYSELF, "I THINK IT'S WAAAY TOO EARLY TO DO THIS", AS IF SHE'S SUPPOSED TO "GET IT" IMMEDIATELY! DUH! LOL!

Stock up on some prizes for the big achievements, stickers, favorite drinks, activities for you to do together since you will be glued to your daughter's side for the three days, and any other tools you plan on using.

I BOUGHT 2 TOYS AND 1 BIG TOY... I WAS GOING TO GIVE HER ONE AFTER EACH DAY, AND THE LARGE TOY AT THE END OF THE 3RD DAY. DOES THIS SOUND REASONABLE? SHE WILL GET M&M'S WHEN SHE GOES ON THE POTTY--AND SHE LOVES CHOCOLATE.

Throw the diapers and all diaper accessories in the trash. Well have your daughter do it. They really are a crutch that you need to get as far away from you as possible. Make it a party to throw everything in the trash.

WE DID THIS! AGAIN, NOT SURE SHE REALLY GOT IT. SHE SAID "BYE BYE DIAPERS! I'M A BIG GIRL NOW" OF COURSE ONLY REPEATING AFTER ME. I THINK SHE'S A BIT YOUNG, BUT SHE DOES LOVE TO TRY TO POTTY, SO THAT'S MY RATIONALE. 2 WKS AGO, SHE PEED 3 TIMES ON THE POTTY AND POOPED ONCE, AT HER OWN DISCRETION (WE DIDN'T COAX HER AT ALL). WE WERE THRILLED. BUT THEN IT STOPPED. THATS WHEN WE DECIDED IT WAS "TIME".

I suggest giving it the three full days for it to work. If you want to give up then give up. Just like the book says, it can take the full three days for it to 'click' with them. You'll never know success from the program if you give up if she's having accidents the first day. Or second day. Or third day. She will not learn if she doesn't have accidents. Consider every and all accident a learning opportunity.

VERY GOOD POINT!

We weren't sure it clicked with our son until he woke up on the fourth day. That's when we learned it really had finally clicked with our son.

 One thing that was hard for me was watching Jack clearly have to pee or poop yet refusing to run to the potty even after I'd try the 'Hurry. You have to go to the toilet.' If you just try to relax and hover near them for when the accident comes, it will be much easier for you. I had a hard time with this.

Also look for signs your child is hiding to poop or pee. Jack would go into his playroom each time he was going to poop. He even told my husband one day to go away. My husband didn't get the meaning behind it and just thought it was cute. Of course he had his only accident without us there that time. Silly husband.

Work the program word for word. It works.

I THINK MY ISSUE IS THAT I HAVE READ THE PROGRAM, BUT IT JUST SEEMS SO DARN SIMPLE THAT I FEEL LIKE SOMETHING IS MISSING AND MAKES ME THINK IT WON'T WORK! LOL!

email me at julierharrell@gmail.com if you have any questions or get frustrated. Which you will get frustrated.

My husband just chimed in when he saw what I was typing. He says if you are not ready to commit to the three days or think you might quit then don't bother doing it. You need to give it 100% for it to work.

OH, WE ARE DOING THIS! ALL 3 DAYS! I ONLY WORK 4 DAYS A WEEK SO I HAVE 3 DAYS OFF IN A ROW... WE ARE ON DAY #1 AND I THINK WE'RE RIGHT ON TRACK = NO PEE/POOP IN THE POTTY YET, A FEW ACCIDENTS. I KNOW THIS IS NORMAL, ACCORDING TO THE BOOK!

(This is from the man who didn't think we should do the program. He thought we should just wait until Jack basically trained himself when he was 'ready'. Now he tells everyone who has kids about this program.)

GOOD LUCK!!

THANK YOU!!!!! I MAY JUST EMAIL YOU!!!

marriedchick06

I say give it a try. We did it with DD about a month ago and after a day or so I just had that feeling she wasn't fully ready even though she was showing lots of signs (going potty on the potty at least 2x a day, on her own, wetting at night, taking her diaper off when wet).

Then on Monday we decided to go at it again.  We put big girl undies on her on Monday morning when she woke up. Monday through Thursday she has 1 accident/day. Friday and Saturday she had absolutely no accidents!!   Also if we wanted to go out I put a pull up over her big girl undies and I made our trips less then an hour.

For the first couple days I asked/reminded her to go potty about every 15 minutes. After day two I didn't remind/ask as often, more like every 30-40 minutes, and she would also go more on her own without me telling her. By Friday I only remind her when I haven't seen her go within a reasonable amount of time. She pretty much goes in and goes now on her own when she has too.

HawaiiBrideGrm

marriedchick06:

I say give it a try. We did it with DD about a month ago and after a day or so I just had that feeling she wasn't fully ready even though she was showing lots of signs (going potty on the potty at least 2x a day, on her own, wetting at night, taking her diaper off when wet).

Then on Monday we decided to go at it again.  We put big girl undies on her on Monday morning when she woke up. Monday through Thursday she has 1 accident/day. Friday and Saturday she had absolutely no accidents!!   Also if we wanted to go out I put a pull up over her big girl undies and I made our trips less then an hour.

For the first couple days I asked/reminded her to go potty about every 15 minutes. After day two I didn't remind/ask as often, more like every 30-40 minutes, and she would also go more on her own without me telling her. By Friday I only remind her when I haven't seen her go within a reasonable amount of time. She pretty much goes in and goes now on her own when she has too.

Yeah, I'm honestly not convinced that this program is working for DD who is only 23.5 months old. She is having a bazillion failures and has only had 3 successes in 24 hours. Ugh. Am I giving up too soon? I have no idea. I work Tues-Fri so if this doesn't work by Monday, I am not sure what to do. I have Pull-Ups but the 3 day PT book says not to use them. They say to do underpants from day #1. Again, in my heart, and after seeing what happened to her yesterday (see post above) I'm not sure this is right for her yet. Although she IS going... but I don't know. I keep telling HER that she is big enough and that she can do it! But I"m lying through my teeth.