Week 3: Decided to not force it

We are still casually using the potty. About once or twice per day, usually with at least 1 success. I'm going to keep this up just so she knows it's there. But I decided not to try too hard and let her go at her own pace.

Note: I did try undies 1 day, only b/c I bought some and they were so cute I couldn't resist putting them on. They are the thick gerber training undies. It took her all of like 20 minutes to pee in them so obviously not ready for those.

Week 2: Last part of the week

We were really busy. I mostly tried after naps because that is when I get the best results. Even if she played in her crib awhile, she still will hold it. So she regularly goes at least 1 or 2 times per day.

We are out running errands when she isn't napping, so I really don't have many opportunities to try the potty. And I'm certainly not gungho enough to bring it to a public restroom.

And she did pee on the carpet once when I was letting her crawl around before bath. I had just given her the opportunity to use the potty too. So maybe this means she doesn't mentally make the connection? Or have the control? Or doesn't care?

I think at this point I have these options:
A) keep with what I'm doing and settle for 1 or 2 times per day. At least this keeps her familiar with the potty without inconveniencing me. However when she is older & I try for reals, will this make her think that it is "optional" and she can go sometimes in the potty and sometimes in her diaper? Not sure.
B) stay at home for a day or 2 and try every hour. Straight to undies cold turkey. I've heard that works. But looking at my calendar I don't see it happening in the near future.

I will have to think about this.

Week 2: Lemonade Snow

Yesterday AV didn't go potty at all--which was mainly my fault. Since it was a SNOW DAY (um, yeah everything closes down here when it snows. My meeting was cancelled, Jake's office was closed, friends came over and we attempted to ride a surfboard down the backyard) I only tried twice and she didn't go.

So today, I wondered if yesterday's failure would throw her off. But she went potty after her nap, yay! After naps seem to be the most consistent time of day when she has tons of pee and I can catch her before she wets the diaper.

Day 6: In which mom fails to follow through

Man, I don't know how people potty train with more than 1 child. So far this has been pretty easy but it just takes so much forethought and thinking ahead. I should set a timer for myself or something.

I can't imagine how some mom's do it with younger babies also needing attention, or if the child you are trying to potty train is stubborn. I've heard some moms have sat there for up to 20-30 minutes waiting for the little person to pee. My hats off to them, I couldn't be that patient.

Today I blatantly ignored AV's best cue ever. She sat there and pointed to her bum and whined. This was a first, but neglectful mom was busy getting ready for a meeting so I had to ignore her. I felt bad and hope she will continue to show me cues like that--however after my shameful display we'll see.

That being said, she did pee once today (out of the 3 attempts we made). She does best right after a nap and I know she has to go. On and off in about 2 minutes or less. As for the other times throughout the day, it's a guessing game on my part.

As for poo, she tried tried tried to do it on the potty! I give her an A for effort. But, we have started introducing whole milk (since she is almost 1) and that seems to have done some funky stuff with her bowel movements. So, she is a bit "stopped up" and couldn't quite do the job. I'll have to give her some apple juice or prunes tomorrow to help her out.

Day 5: Sundays are always long days

We were busy and off schedule today because of church. I think the whole congregation watched AV taking care of bizness since she was standing on the pew facing everyone (we sat up front...not smart) when all the sudden she starts grunting and huffing&puffing and turning red with the big glassy staring eyes. I'd like to think I could've raced her to the potty and she would've pood in there. Oh well, at least we were sitting by friends who thought it was funny.

Anyways, we weren't home much today but we did try 4 times. She went pee (think Niagra Falls) after her nap and even knew to clap when she did! So cute. There was one more of those half-fakers where she was wet but I didn't really hear/see anything drop into the potty. And the other 2 times she just played (but I knew she didn't need to go anyways b/c her diaper was full instead of dry).

So yeah. We'll see how it goes this week now that we'll be back into the swing of things. I'm getting better and guessing when she'll go and when she just sits. And she is much more comfortable and less tense on the potty.

And here are picts of happy faces (as opposed to the tortured face from the last photo when I took the toliet paper away from her).
If she goes in the potty, this^^ is her reward (throwing a few squares of toilet paper inside. but then she reaches her hand down there and tries to retrieve them, so you gotta be quick on the reflexes!).

Day 4: Busy Weekend Ahead...Time?

We were really busy with Saturday activities today. When I started this whole thing, I promised myself I wouldn't let it get stressful or take over my life. So I just went with the flow today, which meant we weren't around a potty very much.

Out of 4 attempts, she peed twice--yay!

The other 2 attempts were mostly formalities. I didn't think she needed to go but I wanted to try before naps just in case.

Thoughts: Potty time is becoming play time, so it took her longer (about 5-7 min) to go pee today. I felt like she just wanted to enjoy the one-on-one mommy time. I hope it doesn't turn into a game where she takes long on purpose just so she can get tons of attention. We'll see.

Day 3: I'll keep trying even though she's out of sorts

Early this morning AV woke up screaming (at 6am). Weird. She has always been a fabulous sleeper. I left her there for a few minutes hoping she would fall asleep, but then the crying turned pitiful. I actually had to go in there and hold/comfort her, then she fell asleep. That's the first time I've done that since she was a newborn. I hope she isn't coming down with something...

I won't lie, the first thing I thought when I heard her crying was: Omg, I totally screwed up her mind with this potty training stuff and now she won't sleep! I've heard kids are restless when they hit developmental milestones. Guess we'll see.

Attempt 1: I didn't think she needed to go b/c she didn't drink much this morning, but I tried anyways. I let her sit for about 3 min (that's my limit so far) and I was sad she didn't pee. But when I took her off the potty I noticed she was wet...so I guess she went a few sprinkles & I just didn't notice?

Attempt 2, 30 minutes later: Dry diaper. Nothing.

Attempt 3: After running errands for 1 hour, she still had a dry diaper from this morning so I rushed her to the potty. After a minute, she went a teeny teeny sprinkle. I almost called it quits after that, but let her sit for a few more minutes then....PEE! Shaa-wing! I'm glad I let her sit those extra minutes. Total time was approximately 4-5 minutes.

Attempt 4, after nap: I couldn't get to her in time, she went in her diaper

Attempt 5,6: nothing, dry diaper

Attempt 7: Pee! It took about 3 minutes

Attempt 8,9: Dry diaper still. Let her sit for a few minutes. Nothing.

Attempt 10: Caught her pooing, ran to the pottie, finished. She kept pushing me away like she didn't want me in there. Not sure if that counts as a success since she only half pood, but whatev.

Summary: I had a few success today, only used 2 diapers (re-used the diapers if she was dry), and she is more relaxed on the pottie. If I hadn't been successful, I would probably be feeling down and not try as hard tomorrow. But since I know she can do it, I'll stick with it for another day. However, the whole undressing thing is getting old!

Day 2: will the novelty wear off?

I wanted to try in the morning, but Jake handles the morning routine since I'm at the gym.

I tried before her morning nap. Nothing. Darn.

When I heard she was awake from her nap, I immediately went and got her (usually I let her play for a few minutes) and set her on the toilet.

She was clingy and wanted to get off but I was prepared with a book for distraction. It worked and...

PEE! Lots of praise and kisses.

What I'm thinking: Seriously? Wow, that was easy. But it is still annoying to undress her and undo the diaper. I put her in an easier outfit since I knew we'd be home all morning. A shirt and leggings--no pants to fiddle with.

Attempt 2: False alarm. Annoying to go through the motions and not have a success.

Attempt 3: She came over to me after lunch. It took me a couple seconds to realize she was pooping so I SPRINTED to the bathroom. Is it worth it to stick her on the toliet mid-poop? We'll see. YES, so worth it since she finished pooing in the toliet! Booo-yaaa.

Note to self: need a better wiping method--things are a bit cramped and she's still a bit scared and rigid on the potty so I can't really wipe very well. Suggestions anyone? Also, I need to buy some flushable wipes.

She went down for her afternoon nap with a dry diaper.

Attempt 4: After her nap I rushed to the potty. I could tell the diaper wasn't wet so I thought for sure I'd have another success. BUT I had to discipline Cricket b/c the toilet paper roll went down the stairs unrolling all the way down and she chased it so there was tp everywhere and this took about 2 minutes. By the time I got back to AV, she had already gone in her diaper, still laying on the bathroom floor waiting for me. I still put her on the potty but she'd already gone at that point so = failure.

Attempt 5: After running errands (I thought for sure she would go in her diaper while we were out, but she held it for 2 hrs) I ran into the house. Sat on the potty for about 2 min, not interested. Ran the bath water and she was standing against the bathtub without a diaper on and peed on the floor. Nice.

Attempt 6: Last attempt before bed. Dry diaper since previous attempt so again I thought she might need to go. But she didn't. So put her to bed in the same dry diaper.

My thoughts: now that I think about it, these last 2 failed attempts are still minor successes because she held it in at least until we made it to the bathroom area. I still don't know if this is on purpose or just coincidental timing. I wonder. It sort of fascinates me to think that she could really be forming conclusions in her head that "pee equals bathroom". But I also do think at this age she might not have total control of her bladder. Might be interesting to read about if they have done studies and know when children have bladder control. But that's too much work so I probably won't :)

Summary: 2 successes in the toilet, and 2 semi-success where we at least made it to the bathroom, and I count dry diapers as a step in the right direction. I don't feel like I expended too much extra work or that it was extremely inconvenient. The most annoying part is messing with the diapers and laying her down to re-assemble the wardrobe afterward. All in all, it was pretty laid back.

Day 1: Buy a potty and try it out

I bought this potty. I sat there and stared at all the selections and remembered why I hate babies-r-us. So many options! How will I know what to choose? This one says doctor recommended, but this one says parent recommended...oh me oh my, what to do?!?

I chose this one. Mostly because it was a 2-in-1. When I got home, I looked up the reviews and was pleased it got 5 stars. Phew, I did something right. Double phew, I won't have to go back to that store and return it.
I let AV sit on it (with her clothes on) just to make sure I knew how the thing worked. She was obsessed with the toilet paper roll & kept digging her fingernails into it.

First Try

After her nap, I immediately took her into the potty and set her on it. She was sort of scared I think because I was trying to undo her pants/diaper all fast and my hands were cold on her bum and let's be honest...I was a little nervous too! Plus I had to lay her on the wood floor (note to self: buy a rug for the bathroom floor) so that probably wasn't comfortable for her.

I set her on the potty. She wanted off. I showed her the toilet paper roll to distract her and....

PEE. Waaahoo! Much praising and kisses followed.

She was still obsessed with the toliet paper roll, which I confiscated and it led to her getting upset. Hence this is the only picture I got from our first experience:
I tried to reward her with a treat (marshmellow) but I don't think she grasps the concept of rewards yet. Praises and kisses are probably enough for her at this age.

I put her on the potty about 2 other times that afternoon--nothing. I missed her 1 poo of the day b/c I couldn't get off the phone. Darn.

Summary of day 1: Wow, it can't be this easy. I'm sure this was a coincidence. The whole undressing process is a little time consuming since I'm still using diapers so have to lay her down. Also, I'm not sure what to do about the wiping aspect either. It is a little awkward since as you can see by the photo, there isn't much room down there.

Miscellaneous thoughts: The seat is definately made for an older child (the package says 2 yrs) but we'll have to make do. You can see her feet don't even hang over the toliet.

Note to self: Keep a book or something in the bathroom to distract her from the toliet paper roll. Get a rug for the bathroom floor.

Pre-potty training: recognizing signals

Stats: 11 months

Here was my thought process: If I can recognize when AV goes to the bathroom, then I'll try and see if I can get her to recognize it too.

For the past 3 weeks, I've been trying to see if I can recognize when AV goes to the bathroom. I finally saw a pattern. She shudders when she pees (mostly right when she wakes up or is eating). She goes off to a corner and grunts when she poos, after which she comes over to me probably so I'll change her. She usually poos once a day, in the afternoon.

This is good. I can recognize it and she has a pattern.

So I started saying "potty?" and pointing to her bum. At first she would clap her hands and think I said "patty" as in patty-cake. Oh well.

This went on for a few weeks. I tried to be consistent. But let's be honest, she is with Jake and the babysitter so it's not like I was doing this 100% of the time. At this point, I wasn't stressing. I tried to change her diaper promptly, and said "potty" a zillion times if I thought she was using the bathroom. I kept wondering if I was saying it too much? Was she making the connection?

I decided to let her sit on the toilet, seat closed. She thought it was funny.

So that day, I went out and bought a toilet ring potty. There is NO WAY I'm getting one of those narsty miniature potties where you have to clean it out. Ewww. Not my thing.

Introduction: I'm not weird or crazy, I swear

I heard about a method/book called "potty training from birth". I haven't read the book nor plan to. I'm not much into reading books about pregnancy or parenting. I think they fill your head with false expectations and then you beat yourself up or worry when things don't pan out just like the book tells you.** (see disclaimer below).

So I was interested in what I heard: other cultures potty train much early than the United States. Here is a NY Times article if anybody wants to learn more. Yes, this article focuses on infants. And no, I would never ever in a million years potty train an infant. No desire. Looks way too time intensive and let's be honest it's a little creepy sounding.

But what about an 11month old in the crawling-early-walking-stage?

Could it simply be social pressures that tell you to wait until your child is 2-3 before attempting to potty train? My mom said all of us kids were potty trained by the time we were 18 months--and most of my peers as well. What ever happened to that? I know, I know...diapers are more absorbent, more comfortable, and cheaper nowadays, pediatricians say you shouldn't push your child, emotional battles, etc.

I wanted to see for myself. Can I potty train Amaryllis while in the crawling stage? If so, how hard will it be? She is at the ripe age of 11 months--a sponge--learning things so quickly, watching everything I do, mimicking, curious, and...

...here is the key: her toddler defiance & independence hasn't quite set in.

So I'm going to try.

Don't judge me--I'm not one of those weird hippie moms. I don't follow every parenting trend nor do I try and be cool by dismissing them all. I'm not a granola tree hugger or a penny pincher. I don't have gobs of free time. No hidden agenda. I swear I'm a normal, every-day suburban gal and I invite you to come with me on a potty-training experiment.

I'm going to keep these blog posts short because h-e-l-l-o. I'm a mom of a toddler, work part time, have a social life and other things to do then sit around and blog about potty training! However I know there are some of you who are interested so I'll give the blog a shot.

But seriously. Don't judge and if this blog abruptly ends and I feel like the whole potty training thing can wait awhile, then don't make me feel like a failure by asking me every time we meet how the potty training is going :)


***Disclaimer: I make an exception for a sleep training book called Healthy Habits, Happy Child which was recommended by a friend. It worked wonders for us and Amaryllis sleeps from 6pm-7:30am! That's 13.5 hours. Don't be jealous.