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Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Adventures of Potty Training - Potty Training Prep (Post 1)

Here it is, folks.  A real life, vulnerable, honest, and accurate picture of our adventures during potty training.  I am sure that some of you will disagree with things that I've done, thought, felt or experienced along the way.  Everyone has their opinion and you are all certainly entitled to it, however, I desperately wanted to hear/read something like this before embarking on our adventures and I just didn't find it. So...here it is...the good, bad and the poopy!

The Pre-Potty Training Days

Stella will be 21 months in about 6 days.  I'm sure many of you are thinking that she is too young to be potty training but she was showing signs of readiness so we opted to train young rather than miss a window. What were the "signs of readiness" that I saw?

Stella's signs of potty readiness:
  • She would race to the potty and sit on her potty while mommy went potty.
  • She would occasionally (hit and miss) tell me when she was going potty or poop.
  • She would stay dry for hours at a time.
  • She would grunt, push, and sometimes cover her eyes or hide to poop.
  • She could verbally express when she went potty or poop.
I am sure there are others that I just can't think of right now.  However, with all of those signs, there were things that all of the books say she should be doing but wasn't.  She never attempted to take off her diaper or ask to be changed and she never seemed uncomfortable once she had gone in her diaper.  Not having those items checked off did worry me and lingered as a warning in the back of my mind that she wasn't ready and I was pushing her too fast.

I'm going to get vulnerable and honest here so please be nice.  I am a competitive person by nature so even though I was seeing the signs of readiness, I was worried that I was pushing her too fast, too soon and that she wasn't really ready.  I was worried that I was interpreting things as signs of readiness because I wanted her to be potty trained and not because she was actually ready.  I basically was worried about pushing my agenda on her instead of embarking upon it as a team, as it should be.  I'm sharing these pre-potty training feelings with you because they were an integral part of the emotions I experienced during our first days of potty training and they were something that I never read from other moms, so I simply felt isolated.  Don't get me wrong...I'm no tiger-mom; But I do have a competitive side to me and I am trying very hard to not push that on Stella in an unproductive or unhealthy way so it always sits in the back of my head as a concern as I parent her.

With all of that in mind, we prepared for the big potty day.  I had read several books, blogs, parenting posts and opted for a method that I thought fit our family best.  We opted to try the Toilet Training in One Day method.  I spoke to my husband about it and watched some YouTube videos of other parents' accounts with it.  I bought all of the supplies needed for our big potty day, per the suggestions of the blogs and book.  If I am being honest, choosing this method sort of gave me an out.  I figured I could try anything with 100% commitment for 1 day.  Plus, I figured that if she wasn't showing progress after that first day we could disregard the whole thing without scarring her or making potty training a negative thing.

What did I buy to prepare?
  • Spot Shot carpet cleaner (since we would mainly be in a carpeted area of the house)
  • Cheap clean up towels x12
  • Salty snacks like Pirates Booty
  • Potty Treats (M&Ms was our treat of choice)
  • Juice
  • Potty Patty training underwear
  • Potty chair
  • Potty seat for the big toilet
My husband and I prepped for the big day but if I had to do it again, I would definitely loop him in on the process a bit more and get his buy in.  You will understand why as I progress into our experience during the first day.

I went to bed anxious that night.  We were about to embark on a new phase of our lives and I wasn't sure which direction it was going to go.  I was unsure and nervous.  I had doubts any of it would work and I feared failure. However, I was also optimistic and excited.  Just like the rest of Stella's life, we were about to experience a new phase.  One which indicated that my little girl was no longer a baby but growing into a full fledged big girl!

My next post will be about the first few days of our potty training adventure...

Stay tuned!

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