On December 12th I declared we were going all in starting Friday December 14th; here's how it went...
Cold Turkey... Day ONE.
I started Friday much like I began the other "no diaper days" running around behind a naked toddler asking her if she needed to go potty, then cleaning up the mess. This "no plan" "go with the flow"approach was not working for either of us. Lula wasn't getting it and I was just getting frustrated so I started researching ideas for an actual gameplan. Unfortunately all I could find were tips on how to start the process, like: looking for signs of readiness, leading by example, buying a small potty seat, getting them familiar with the idea of using the potty, buying big girl underwear... check, check, check, check, and check. Nothing useful.
Lula is very familiar with the idea. She knows all about the potty and will sometimes actually take her diaper off and sit on the potty and go poo, then two hours later she will poo in the closet. As far as pee goes, if she has on clothes she just pees in her pants and all over the floor. I was confused, she gets it but at the same time she doesn't. The disconnect seems to be getting her to recognize the need to go and then HOLD it until she gets to the potty. I found no solutions to this specific problem. One thing i did find people talking about was how often you put them on the potty, which made me realize, you just have to keep putting her on the potty all day at regular intervals. The only problem is that I always get busy or distracted and forget to take time out to put her on the potty. So I decided to create alarms that go off EVERY 30 MINUTES! It seemed ridiculous at first, but surprisingly it was great for Lula AND for me!
So for the rest of the day on Friday and subsequent days thereafter my phone sounded the alarm! Robots on the hour and Ducks quacking on the half hour (I finally found a use for the weird ring tones Apple provides). It was great having a third party / outsider give us the signal to go potty. When she heard the ducks quacking she knew it was time to sit on the potty. It reminded both of us about the need to go and at the same time I think she felt a little empowered by doing it without me telling her to.
Present Day:
The alarms lasted for about a week. No matter where we were if the robots talked or the ducks quacked we would do our best to get to a potty seat, or AT LEAST hit the "snooze" so we were reminded 10 minutes later to try. I still hate public bathrooms so if we are in a store, I try to make it to the parking lot where Lula will usually feel more comfortable sitting on her own little traveling potty seat. I just make sure to have sanitizing wipes and doggie bags in case she actually goes #2. If it's pee, I just dump it in the grass and move on.
I don't think she completely gets it yet, but the alarms helped immensely. I need to start implementing them again, but I think I will only do it every hour (as suggested by my ever so smart husband). She seems to be holding it longer and longer. We have had our share of accidents, but I think they are mostly my fault. When I don't have the alarm, I forget to get her on the potty regularly, then when she is sitting in the back of the grocery cart while we fill up our 5 gallon jug of water... she pees on the floor at Publix. Can't really blame her! Every time she has an accident I say to myself, I KNEW I should have made her try before coming in the store instead of saying we will do it after. But then there are those moments when you smile and say, "bravo! bravo!" Moments when she does it all by herself, like the other day at the zoo...
Many people may find this embarrassing, I find it hilarious and honestly I couldn't have been more proud of her when she did it. Lula and her cousin Emma were playing on the playground, completely distracted and the perfect scenario for an accident when she ran over to the side and started pulling down her pants. In a panic I hurried over to her and said, "what is happening? what do you need? what are you doing?" She replies, "I need to go poopy." Oh! Ooookay. Well, this is happening! I didn't want to discourage her so, I decided to let her go for it. My sister n law was there to witness the entire event. We were both laughing, but trying to keep a straight face because Lula was totally just doing what she thought she should do (and I agree with her), we both told her "Good job Lula Mae!" and then looked at each other and smiled! When she finished, Lula pulled her pants up and went back to playing. Done and done. Thankfully she went in the bushes and I used an empty chip bag to scoop it up (after having a dog for 9 years, I've definitely gotten over the disgust of picking up poop, it's not my favorite activity, but at least I don't gag anymore). The surprising thing is... no one even noticed!
Like I said, we still are not completely potty trained, and last week we had a really big setback. I'll spare you the details, but it involved the need to wear diapers for about 4 days because of uncontrollable BMs. Poor little thing.
stay tuned...
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