I haven't quite figured out if it's normal to feel emotional when potty training your one-and-only child, or if it's these darned post-hysterectomy hormones that are messing with my feelings. But today felt bittersweet. Bitter because my sweet Emma took yet another big step towards preschoolerdom and away from babyhood. And sweet because the end of buying diapers is approaching.
The pediatrician gave us the go-ahead to start potty training when Emma was 18 months old, because her verbal skills were advanced and she seemed to be pretty aware of things in general. I didn't quite feel she was ready at that point, but started the conversation with Emma. This is why she happily shouts "Yay mommy!!" every time a toilet flushes. I figured she needed to know that going to the potty is a good thing. As time went on, I realized that the only way she was going to start using the potty was for her to become uncomfortable doing it any other way. You see, she couldn't care less if her diaper is wet or poopy. It doesn't bother her one bit. That's probably my fault- we invested in high-quality diapers that keep her bum dry even when they've soaked up a grapefruit-sized amount of urine. But I have no explanation as to why she's not bothered by a poopy diaper... that kid. We've found some "stealth poops" far too often, where she poops and carries on like nothing happened. If we miss the squatting and grunting, she runs around in a poopy diaper for God knows how long. Especially if it's not a stinky one... so we expect to change a wet diaper, and surprise! There's poop. And Emma is all like whatevs.
We've been having her sit on the potty before her bath at night, and starting a few days before my surgery, she began peeing in the potty about 50% of the time. She never asks to use the potty, but will sometimes sit on it if we ask her to. The first time she peed, she was home with Daddy while I went to pack up my office for the move to a new building. According to Daddy, the baby was a little unnerved by peeing in the potty and wasn't quite sure it was ok. Daddy got way excited and celebrated her accomplishment with her. The next time she did it, she was a little less bothered, and after that, she was just fine. She connected it with the "yay mommy!" celebration and finally started getting excited for herself when she would pee in the potty. But yet, she still wouldn't seek out the potty. I mean, why would she take time out of watching "Elmo's World" for the eleven thousandth time to pee in the potty when she can just pee in her diaper any time she wants? Doesn't sound like a half-bad gig.
After doing some (ok, a LOT) of reading, I decided that the boot-camp style of potty training would be best for all of us. My plan: to just put her in panties and see what happens. With the expectation of lots of accidents, and the hope that she'd hate having pee run down her leg so she would finally have a reason to use the potty. As of right now, we're not going to be using Pull-Ups. Shoot, Pull-Ups are so close to diapers, that we might as well just use up the rest of the diapers we have for naps and bed time. We stocked up on Gerber training pants, some Bubble Guppies panties, and some vinyl covers. Of course it's nearly impossible to find anything in her size- she's so tiny, and most stores only carry 2T or bigger. I had to order her 18mo size training pants and some size small vinyl covers online, and bought her 2T Bubble Guppies panties that are obviously too big. So far, the Gerber training pants have been AWESOME. They fit more like boy shorts and the extra padding in the crotch means a little less pee to clean out of the carpet. The only thing left to purchase are some piddle pads for the car seats.
Since this is my last week before I return to work after my surgery, I decided to give potty training a try. I mentally prepared myself as much as possible. Remember: I'm a total rookie at this.
Other potty training prep:
Took the baby to Target in the morning and bought her a special Elmo (of course) potty book.
Told the baby a million times that today is "potty day" and that she wasn't going to wear diapers because she was going to pee in the potty.
Laid down a bunch of old towels in the play room to hopefully reduce the amount of urine that would soak into the carpet during accidents.
Placed the Spot Shot in a strategic location.
Put a roll of paper towels next to said Spot Shot bottle.
Said a prayer
Crossed my fingers
Promised myself I wouldn't start drinking until after the baby went to bed
So once we got home from Target, I asked her which panties she wanted to wear. Cupcakes? Nooo. Owls? Noooooo. Pink? No. Bubble Guppies?????? Nah. Alright then fine... cupcakes it is. I sat her on the potty and....... toots. No pee. The cupcake panties went on and I braced myself for what was to come. She sat on my lap at one point so I could read her a book and I held my breath and thought omg pleeeaaaaasssseeee don't pee on me, kid. And she didn't pee on me. Crisis averted.
On my third attempt of putting her on the potty, she peed. It surprised her, but I immediately starting praising her. She has a habit of sitting for a few moments, and then standing up and sticking her face down near the potty (we're using a Baby Bjorn potty chair at home) to see if anything is in there. So once some pee landed in the potty, she stood up to look at it. I sat her back down, and she finished emptying her (tiny) bladder. Score!! I acted like a serious idiot and praised the heck out of her. She was genuinely excited... either that, or she was incredibly entertained at how much of a fool I was being. Regardless, it was a small victory. I kept sitting her on the potty every 20-30 minutes. About an hour after the first pee, she did it again. In the potty. More idiotic dancing and celebrating ensued. Then she ate lunch, and the diaper went back on for nap time.
Ugh, I know. Most of the "potty training boot camp" style methods tell you to stop using diapers and never look back but... I couldn't bring myself to put her to bed in panties. Even with a vinyl cover, I wasn't so sure she'd stay dry. And omg she's a nightmarish tornado of hyperactivity and not-listening-to-mommy-ness when she hasn't had a good nap, so I'll be darned if she's going to take a short nap because she woke up wet. SO. On went the diaper. She stirred a lot during her nap, so I kept thinking she was done sleeping, but she actually slept for almost 3 hours. I had to go in and wake her up, which is very unusual, especially since she slept until almost 8am today. I did the creepy mom thing and watched her sleep for a few minutes before waking her up. And her diaper was DRY! So once she shook off the remaining sleepiness, I took her into the bathroom and she peed on the potty again. Again! We were on a roll. About 30 minutes later, she had her one-and-only accident for the day. She was sitting on the floor playing, and peed a little in her panties. It wasn't even enough to get on the carpet. She actually said "oh noooo poop!" so I freaked out and thought she was pooping in her panties. Nope. "Just pee-pees." I reminded her that pee goes in the potty and not in her panties and switched her to her owl panties just to mix things up a bit.
So the final tally was: 6 pees in the potty. 1 pee in her panties. Her only poo of the day happened before we went to Target, so it landed in her diaper. I am NOT looking forward to tomorrow's morning poo, which will most certainly land in her panties. I think it's going to take a little while before she willingly poops in the potty, because she's gotten it in her head that poop is gross and bad. I imagine she may even be a poo-withholder. So fingers crossed.
And our success didn't stop there. She actually chowed down on a hot dog in a bun tonight. I know most toddlers eat hot dogs, but she's never really gotten into it. And we all know how much of a picky eater she has been... She ate about half of her hot dog tonight, with some sweet corn on the side. Woo! She was also so well behaved all day. I mean, she's a really good kid almost every day but come on, she's two. She has tantrums and is really freaking stubborn sometimes. But today, she was exceptionally good and only had two tantrums when it was lunch time and she was hungry. She was a perfect angel in Target. It was one of those rare awesome days when things go really well. Doesn't happen often with a toddler.
She's certainly not a baby anymore. And while I miss holding her in my arms and giving her a bottle, rocking her to sleep, and hearing all of the sweet little baby noises she used to make, I'm also going to enjoy not changing diapers. And I'm definitely loving her saying "I love you mommy" and doing things like helping with chores, being incredibly adorable in the way only a toddler can be, and having conversations with me. That's what videos are for- any time I need my baby fix, I can just watch old videos of her gurgling and going cross-eyed while I'm thinking awwwww, she was so cute. But I'm so glad I'm not drenched in spitup today. Maybe my feelings will change tomorrow when I'm scrubbing poo out of some toddler panties.
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