The Potty Diaries

Alternative title: How I potty trained my 2.5 year old in three days!!

Alternative alternative title: #22 - Potty Train Lily

Before I decided to officially tackle this whole potty training endeavor we did a trial run to see if she was "ready". In the name of full disclosure I do not count those first potty attempts towards my her three day victory over diapers. 

After a few practice days I went out to the store on Thursday afternoon and picked up two packages of big girl undies at Target. I chose My Little Ponies and Cinderella (because they were both on clearance). Lily seemed really excited to wear every.single.pair. In hindsight I should have just bought two packages of the ponies on account of the fact that she wore all of them first and then resisted the princess undies. Live and learn. 

On Thursday night Matt and I agreed that as of Friday morning she would be diaper free during the day! Unfortunately for Lily she woke up looking like this on Friday morning...and no I'm not talking about her hair.  

Covered in a red rash from head to toe. 

Obviously Matt was worried so he called the pediatrician before I had even gotten up for the day. They squeezed her in at 11am. Ugh. We had only been at the whole "diaper free" thing for a few hours and I just didn't dare take her out to the doctor's office (and I suspected the pharmacy) in her undies. A few weeks ago I bought some Pamper's Easy-Ups which are diapers, but as the name would imply they slip on and off. I have no idea what the difference between these and Pull-ups is. Lily calls them her girl diapers because they have Dora on the front.  In any case, Lily wore a girl diaper while we were out. Turns out the rash was the result of amoxicillin she had been taking for an ear infection. Unfortunately she is clearly highly allergic which begs the question, what else is she allergic to? I am deathly allergic to codeine, something I really hoped not to pass on to the tots. Only time will tell. 

Back to the potty. 

Getting a little annoyed with the paparazzi

After her appointment we went to the pharmacy and stopped off at the playground for a few minutes to reward excellent behavior at the doctors office. (Some of you may remember Lily's aversion to the doctor) As soon as we walked in the house she said, "want to sit on the potty?!". Turns out she had kept her diaper dry for over two hours. I was so proud and I just knew she had this.  She wanted to eat lunch on the potty like a weirdo, who I am to say no?  

On Saturday we went to the zoo with Rory, Erica, and Eamon. Lily wore a girl diaper which she did not keep dry, but we were out for almost 4 hours. I was hoping that she would tell me she needed to use the potty but the association between diapers and just "letting it go" is a strong one. 

Sunday we didn't leave the house and she wore undies all day, including nap time. 

I read several strategies for so called "one day" potty training. To be honest Lily just didn't need all of the fan fair. The strategy suggests getting a dolly that wets to demonstrate how to use the potty...yeah we skipped that. We also skipped the call chart and the running back and forth from the potty ten times. Over the three day weekend she had TWO accidents and both were my fault. I got distracted and by extension so did Lily.  

As I mentioned the other day I made a basket of treats to reward her for peeing on the potty. As of this morning the basket is almost empty and Lily seems to understand that when the treats are gone, they are gone. I will let you know if I end up regretting the basket, as of now the answer is no. 

Stickers from the treat basket, the only time all day she didn't choose chocolate! 

Our next big hurdle is of course pooping. Yesterday she crept off to the playroom while I was nursing Ben and filled her undies with a horrible toddler nightmare. It really was an epic mess and there was gagging. She was instantly remorseful but I could tell she did it on purpose. We washed up, flushed, washed up some more, tossed the undies in the trash, admired the zoo toy, and talked about hitting the potty next time. We'll see. For now she is still going to wear girl diapers to bed at night, if need be I suspect she will do her business then. Luckily for me her daddy gets her up in the morning. 

I am not exactly looking forward to the first time she needs to use a public bathroom so for now wherever we go, the potty goes too. 

There you have it. Just like most a life's big transitions thus far Lily simply shrugs her shoulders and says "whateves mom."  

Micheal Phelps is proud of you coo coo girl! (Mommy and Daddy are pretty darn proud too!)