Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Princess and the Pee

Well, today was the official start of our official potty training and it went surprisingly well. Decided to strip her down stark style (thank you for the tips/inspiration fellow bloggers) and just go for it. Now, I write this in detail not because I expect you to want to read everything about my life... but for any of you who are thinking about doing this terrible task anytime soon and are completely clueless such as I.


Paige got up and first thing we did, off with the diaper. Gave her a big pep talk on how she is a big girl now and no more diapers, etc. Asked her if she needed to go but the answer was no. Went about our daily business - breakfast, dressed(only shirt today - she was bugged and confused but we pushed through) and cleaning/laundry cause that's what we do on Tuesdays. I just kept asking her every now and then if she needed to go and she just said "no... not yet". It had been a while so I decided it was time to sit on the pot even if she didn't think she needed to just so she could get the idea that it was an all day thing. She was a little apprehensive so I decided to show off my skills (yes, I am admitting to the blogging world that I did this, love me anyways please) to give her a little encouragement and sure enough she hopped on right after me and tinkle town was marked! Since it was the first of the day I made sure to teach her the whole process in detail (lifting the lid, how to climb on, going, wiping, flushing, hand washing) so that when she needs to go she doesn't have to depend on me for anything and she can do it all by herself. Nothing worse than having to wipe a kids butt who you don't even know at church. So we had her Peep treat (cause peep and poop get different treats) and she was happy as could be.


I decided to load her up with some water/juice to get things going so she could get some more practice and just kept watching her. Now our house has some tile but mostly carpet. So the rules went: no getting on the couch or beds and if she wanted to sit down to play she had to stick to the designated towels I had strategically placed around the house. It may sound stingy but be my guest if you want to clean up peed on carpet all day - NO THANK YOU!


So about an hour later I'm in my room and she comes running in saying she needed to pee. She hopped on and went perfectly! Huzzah! But I did notice she had a tiny stream mark on the top of her leg so I asked if she had gone and she replied "just a tiny tiny bit but then ran to the potty". Good, I have my proof that her being naked is serving a purpose - she felt the peep going down her leg, stopped it (impressive I thought), and ran to the bathroom to finish up. Got her the peep treat and life was good.


A little later I was putting Calvin down for his nap so I told her to stay on her towel and play. Mid nursing I hear the bathroom door open, toilet lid slam up and just think "oh boy, please please please". I walk out a minute later after putting him in bed and she rounds the corner "POO POO!!" Sure enough, she had done it all by herself! I used a wipe just to make sure her bum was totally clear but she had done a pretty good job herself. And glory be... she finally got her poop treat she's been wanting for weeks now.


Next instance... I'm putting away laundry and I just hear "Mommy where are you?!?!" Run into the bathroom and there's poor Paigey standing in the middle of the most gigantic puddle of pee I've ever seen. So I asked her what happened and she just told me she didn't make it in time. But progress knowing that she was headed for the toilet. We cleaned it up together (which I've read is important so they know it's not all fun and games) and continued.


To make a long story short (too late), we had two more perfectly successful peeps and then off to bed with a diaper on. Sorry, I'm not woman enough to tackle the nightime battle yet. So if you're still reading, there you have it. Potty training day 1. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

13 comments:

The Holyoaks said...

Thanks for the tips! I'm dreading this....

Jewelle said...

Awesome job Amy...and Paige! Potty training is stressful! I don't blame you for tackling the day first and then the nights. It is working out good for us!

m said...

amazing, wonderful and smart! she must get it from the both of you.

Kersten said...

I'm so proud of you. Matt keeps wanting me to start potty training Arley. UGh...I am not looking forward to it. Thanks for the tips.

Lindsay Riggs said...

We've just started the potty training thing with Riley. Day one was pretty good, but day two we had no success. Hopefully today we make more progress. I'm definitely not ready for tackling the bed time potty training. Riley hates the day time part so much!

Clarissa Meegan said...

Sounds like a successful day! I can't believe she is old enough to be potty trained!

Michelle said...

Sounds good to me! She did so well! I'm thinking about starting Abby within the week. We'll see...

Lane family said...

YAY PAIGE! I always think the thought of potty training is WAY worse than actually doing it. I just wish Crew could talk! My kid is potty trained- but not talking yet. weird. Good for you Amy! It will be Calvin's turn before you know it! I LOVE the picture, by the way. Is it really Paige?

Emily Shurtleff said...

That is good to know! I was just thinking how much fun potty training is going to be at my place. Since I have my own daughter, Plus I watch a 13 month old and a 10 month old. So they will all be potty training about the same time. OH JOY!

The Denney's said...

wahoo! We actually just started Potty training Kyla a few days ago and it's been going pretty well. Not to the point where she asks to go everytime she needs too but it's getting really close to that point. I'm planning on trying the wearing panties only the whole day thing and thanks for advice about the towels! That's a great idea! Good luck!

Nammie said...

Great fun Amy . . . so for those of us who have been out of the game for a while, what is a good poop treat these days?

Uncle Norm

marcie said...

I really appreciate all of the gross details, because even though I'm probably a year away, I still worry about it!! I hadn't ever herad lots of these ideas that you had, and they seem to make a lot of sense and work really well.

Now I know who to come to when I've not explained the towel rule properly, haha! But seriously, you're a genius, and so is your towel rule. Good luck with the potty training!

Marci McLain said...

Congrats Paige!! Can I send Sabrina your way? I should start that, but am not quite ready for it!