The nightmare of potty training.

04/27/2017

The nightmare of potty training.

My three year old had been showing signs of being ready to potty train for weeks, maybe even months.

We had decided we would use a potty seat vs a little potty. That was for a couple of reasons:

#1- I thought it would be an easier transition for when we were out, if she was just always used to using a potty seat.

#2- and more the main reason- the idea of having to empty and dump the potty made me gag.

Everyone told me its so much easier to train a girl than a boy. I’m not so sure that’s true. The frustrating part was she knew when she had to go and knew what to do but just refused. I tried starting with a sticker reward program and once she had x number of stickers than she could get a “prize.” This strategy wasn’t overly successful. I think the payout wasn’t quick enough.

It seemed like for months we were trying to give potty training a good try off and on.

Turns out my stubborn little monkey just needed to decide she was ready. She has always been very inquisitive and often joins me when I’m in the washroom. She would get very excited when I would go and clap and tell me I got a candy. She quickly learned that if she did the same she would also get to choose a treat. She started making progress with peeing on the potty but poop was a whole different story. She would ask if it was okay to poop and then poop in her pull up. If I tried to take her to the potty she wouldn’t have success and then would hold it for the rest of the day.

We decided we had to up the treat level. She loves Cadbury eggs so the deal was if she pooped on the potty she could earn an egg. It has worked like magic. She is now in underwear all day long and pull ups just at night. I discovered she was less likely to have an “accident” if she was in underwear and knew she couldn’t get them wet. When she was in pull ups during the day she would say I just peed ha ha ha ha ha. So now she doesn’t have that option and is doing great.

It was a long frustrating few months but pushing her to use the potty just delayed our progress. She had to decide on her own she was ready. We couldn’t even use the you will be a big girl talk with her because she cries and tells us she doesn’t want to grow up, she just wants to be little forever. So we say she is a little girl who does big girl things which she seems to respond well to.

Whatever method you decide to use, use what works for your family and switch up the method as needed for your little one to be successful.