Potty Training Begins...Sort Of

Well, it is an inevitable thing that has to happen in every one's life...potty training. I won't lie. I've been dreading it on one hand, while thinking of all the money we'll save on diapers.

The fact of the matter is, starting at the beginning of August, Sophia will start a new daycare. It's called The All Star Academy. It's actually listed as an accredited school. The owner and childcare provider, Ms. Melanie works with our current childcare provider, Ms. Brenda. Basically, Brenda takes them from 6 weeks-2 years or so. Melanie takes them from 2-5 (or whenever they start kinder.).

At our meeting in Jan. with Ms. Melanie, she let us know that she doesn't do diapers. That all of her kids are potty trained. She said she'd work with us as far as potty training goes, but that when she starts her Pre-K program, she will begin the process or already be trained on the potty.

So I figured for my sanity and Sophia's, not to have too many changes at once, that we should have her trained by the beginning of August. But you can't rush these things so I've heard.

I've been reading up on it, looking for signs of readiness, and asking anyone who will give advice on it. The book I read says to start it when you'll have a lot of time at home with the child that's not interrupted with errands, outings, major life changes etc.

Since Ms. Brenda is off this week, I thought, "What a perfect time". Plus, Sophia is starting to show signs of readiness. Her diapers are mostly dry after naps. She's been curious about the toilet for a while now and wants to sit on it. She's actually gone on it a few times. She's starting to tell me now when she's going pee-pee or poo-poo in her diaper, after the fact of course. And sometimes, her diapers are dry in the morning when she wakes up.

So let the process begin!

Step One:

We went to buy her big girl underwear together. She picked all of it out.

She was so excited about her huge pile of underwear.

In fact, she couldn't wait to put it on.

She even wanted us to wear some.

(side note: From all the people I've asked and the book I read, using pull-ups isn't recommended. All the people I talked to, said to go straight to the big girl panties).

Step Two

This sounds silly, but the book I read said to use a potty training doll so you can demonstrate the whole process to your child. Check out Chloe's big girl panties!

Step Three:

All of the people I talked to and the book I read said to have some kind of treat for staying dry/going potty. The book actually said, you're giving the treat for staying dry, not going on the toilet.

When we demo'd the process for about a day using Chloe (we took her potty at least once an hour, if not more), Chloe got a treat and Sophia got a treat. Of course Sophia got to actually eat Chloe's treat.

Need I say, Sophia was totally jazzed about the whole treat process.

Step 4:

Get a big girl potty. This one plays music when you go. This also helps the parent know when they went, because as soon as they do, it starts playing. Plus, the lid comes off and can be used to fit in our full size toilet so she won't fall in. It also converts to a stepping stool.

Step 5

Put the child in the panties and start taking them to the toilet.

Here's Sophia in her big girl panties!

Our first actual day of Sophia going potty started today (Wed).

And it was going great. She actually went on the toilet twice.

Then she had a pee-pee accident. No big deal. I made her help clean it up. We changed her panties. And of course it was devastating for her when she didn't get a treat (she calls it a prize). But she didn't stay dry, so no treat for you!

Then came the squirts. I was afraid of this. Yesterday, she had a really runny poo-poo. But I thought it might have been something she ate.

So I decided that it might be a good idea to discontinue her potty training until we figure out her diarrhea issue. Yep, as soon as I decided to put a diaper on her, two seconds later, diarrhea everywhere. Good thing I listened to my instincts. The diaper caught most of it.

The good news is, we already have a doctor appointment scheduled for tomorrow for her 2 year check up. It's a little late because she had strep when it was normally scheduled.

So my money is on another ear infection? Anyone want to wager? Or just guess.