Twenty One Days

I think the saying goes , it takes twenty one days to build a habit and only three days to break it. Well, I'm hoping things are smooth sailing from here on out. Last Saturday Addison woke up from nap dry and I thought it was a perfect opportunity to sit her on the potty. She has shown some interest in the past and it just kind fizzled. I didn't want to be overly pushy and make her do it for fear of total rejection of the potty. Recently she had been telling me, "Change me Mommy I peed or pooed". I thought if she was telling me then she was becoming more aware of it and maybe now was a good time to try. So as I said previously, I put her on the potty Saturday after nap. I called in Kevin to help cheer Addison on. What do you know, she peed. We were both surprised and pleased at how fast she was able to do it. Sunday we tried again and she resisted. I really don't want to force the issue so I would ask her periodically throughout the day if she needed to go. Of course her answer was "NO". Monday came and we tried all morning with no success. I told her that Mommy was done with diapers that they were for babies and she was a big girl now. Finally she peed on the potty two times on Monday. Tuesday brought more of the same. Kevin asked me that night if I thought that maybe she just wasn't ready and I was pushing her too hard. Well, I went to bed feeling awful, like a horrible pushy mom. Exactly what I didn't want. Was I trying too hard to make her go? Was I asking something of her that she couldn't do? I read in my Super Nanny book, which by the way is a really fantastic book, about potty training. (I love Jo Jo's methods. She is my absolute Favorite) It explained that consistency is key(duh I knew that from potty training at preschool). I kept getting so caught up in how it was so easy teaching other people's kids but not my own.

Jason, Kevin's cousin, told me that Kayla (his 2 year old daughter) saw a playhouse in a magazine and she wanted it. Jason explained that in order for her to get it she had to sleep every night in her big girl bed. This totally worked for Kayla! She was motivated by the playhouse to sleep in her bed. This is what I love about having family with children the same age. Seems like we are always experiencing things with our kids about the same time. I love being able to have people to ask questions to and get ideas from. Thanks for sharing your great idea Jason and Danielle!

I thought Addison needed something to motive her. This kid loves to slide. So the obvious choice was to tell her if she went on the potty 100 times she could get a slide for the backyard.I know 100 times is a lot but if I set the bar too low then she would get her slide in no time and would care less to continue on the potty. She liked the idea but, I thought something to help her visualize might help keep her motivated. I found a picture in a book of a little girl going down the slide. I cut out the picture and placed a picture of Addison face over the little girls body and placed it on the wall right next to her potty . That way we could say look that is Addison going down her slide, that she got for going on the potty. Well, I didn't stop there. I got a days of the week chart and each day we place stickers on whatever day it is. So on Monday we put two stickers on the chart because that is how many times she went potty. I also implemented the skittle reward for potty success. She gets to choose a skittle every time she goes on the potty.

Wednesday came around and she woke up wet, so I had a feeling it was going to be a long and painful day of potty training. I was wrong!!! She peed 8 times on the potty and even pooped once! I was tickled. My most favorite part is she is actually telling me when she has to go, which really takes a lot of the guess work out of things. Last night, we went to the park and as a precaution we peed before we left and even took her potty seat and treats in the car to the park. I know sounds a little extreme but I read that kids like familiarity and I wasn't going to have her sit on the potty at the park, gross! We played for about an hour and a half and she was kinda doing the potty dance, grabbing her self , crossing her legs, and she blurted out "Daddy I got to pee". She didn't want to go because she was having so much fun sliding but we didn't want to have an accident. So we told her if she peed on the potty we would bring her back to slide a few more times. We were kind of far from the car but we all dashed across the parking lot to the car, pulled down her britches, and she peed right there on the potty sitting in the car seat. I couldn't believe it!

This morning she woke up dry and immediately peed on the potty. We went on a nature hike at EP park and she stayed dry the whole time and came home and peed on the potty. I think that it might just be setting in. My goal is to keep potty time fun, motivating, and to remember she is two. I know that just because she had a good couple of days doesn't mean she is fully trained or that there won't be set backs but, I just have to remain supportive and have faith that she will get it even if it takes twenty one days (or longer).