xp: our pt exp. thus far (long!!!)

j&j1999

I have been mulling over every pt post I could find these past few days and loved reading everyone elses experiences and concerns so I thought I would also add our experiences to the pot...I know there is a pt board and I will xp there as well.

So dd is 25 months old and I am a teacher going back to work in a week, I had set the goal to give it the college try before the end of the summer and well, here we are.  I had to try!

A little backstory: at 23 months I got super geared up and decided to give the 3day method a try,  A family member had had great success and I was inspired.  I had tarps in my living room, panties, the manual on hand and had told everyone we knew we were doing it!  2 days into it, dd was doing well.  She could tell us she had to go but then we would but her on the potty and she would freeze up =(  After sitting for a few minutes we took her off (used a ring on the big toilet) and she would pee...grr!  I was sure she just needed to release on the potty once and would then get it and feel comfortable.  BUT after 2 days I gave up, not b/c she was doing poorly or anything but b/c I hated being stuck in the house (I am an out and about type of girl!) and b/c I had this revelation that getting her in real panties might actually be more work for me (running to the bathroom while out and waiting and waiting and waiting on her to actually go and all)   I also realized that perhaps diapers were worth every penny, just for the convenience factor, lol!  Plus it was a beautiful memorial day weekend and dh was home so I threw in the towel (I am a quitter I know!)

From that point on we kept her in pull ups and changed her in the bathroom, had her sit on potty while changing and low and behold she started going!  YAY!  (for the record pull ups (all dif brands, inc target) all held her pee w/ no leaks, poop too!)  She even, on very rare occasions, would tell us she had to go!

That brings us to two days ago...I was gonna do the 3 day method again (this time w/o telling anyone and w/o the tarps on the floor, lol - I had to let go of my neat freak tendencies for sanity here! Tarps all over the house is an insane way to live!) Well my formerly able to tell me she had to pee dd was wetting herself left and right!  The little girl who 2 months ago was going hrs w/o peeing was going every 30 min!  GRRR!  Time to switch it up, we got out a timer, which I was hesitant to do b/c I really thought she needed to be the one to initiate!  I read a lot of posts and blogs and whatnot and it seems like when a timer is used, they do eventually learn to tell you (w/in days) that they do have to indeed go.  This reassured me and the timer was brought out!  We had only 1 accident yest and even stayed dry for her 3 hr nap!  Took her out to a quick dinner (w/ a pull up on over panty) and she stayed dry AND peed on the potty while out!  She woke up a little wet this morning (11 hrs of sleep) but I think a lot of that had to do w/ the fact that she was still drinking 1 hr before bed.  This morning we had an accident of pee and one of poop (poop is gonna be a whole other issue I am sure!) but the rest of the morning was successful!!!!  

We started the timer at 30 min yest and I am trying to make it to 45 today although we sometimes get there a bit sooner based on her signs or when we ate, etc.  She has a book she reads while in there and the only probs we have encountered is that the timer sometimes scares her (it is a bit loud) or she REALLY will not want to stop playing to go.  We try to side step these issues by asking her how she wants to get to the potty, she can fly, jump, etc. and that usually engages her in the potty and distracts her from what she was doing.

OMG, this is so long....SORRY...just wanted to get it all out there.  Obv each kid is different but this has been our story...GL ladies!

RachaelandCarl

Thanks for sharing! I'm going to try the timer today, that's a good idea.