Potty Training

Call me crazy, but 2 weeks before moving into a new house I decided to potty train Pumpkin. She in 2.5 yrs and for the past year or so has been mildly interested in the potty, but usually her response to "Would you like to use the potty like a big girl?" was a very confident "No thank you." About a month ago when we were up visiting family I attempted potty training, but it was a huge failure. She was just so scared to go to the potty.

Is there anything cuter?

This past week though I had a resurge of motivation: she is to big for her swim diaper, and this little LOVES to swim, so potty training was necessary so we can keep swimming / splashing all summer. Instead of just starting again, this time I read an e-manual on the 3-day potty training method. I followed THIS method fairly close. I decided to start on a Friday, since she goes to Mother's Day Out on Thursdays so she could get a whole week in before she was away from me for long periods.

The first day was rough. We had 10 wet accidents (4 of which in her bed) and ran lots of laundry. My little Bug's biggest problem was not bladder control, or knowing when she had to go (only 2 or 3 of her accidents were really big, most she was able to stop herself), her biggest issue was an uncontrollable fear of actually going to the bathroom in the potty.

After 10 accidents and waking up soaked, I was finally able to catch her in time to go in the potty, from that point on (with 2 nap exceptions) my little rockstar has been AWESOME. It took her a little bit to feel comfortable, but so far so good and now instead of crying when she has to go, she cheers (which is darling). She is also motivated by her "cupcakes", tho she's started to forget to ask for them, and I'm not reminding her.

Some things that really helped us (but I'm sure the Bub will be completely different and I'll need a new mode of attack lol):
  (1) Potty treats.
  (2) And juice boxes. Lots. Of. Juice. Boxes.
  (3) Getting 2 mini potty's (one for each floor). I swore I wouldn't let her use them and she could just use the big potty, but for her, the smaller potty was much less scary and manageable. Another bonus is she does not need help getting on it, so until she gets a little taller, mini potty it is.
  (4) Potty training baby doll at the same time. Pumpkin is such a little momma and for her, being able to talk through it with her doll was SO helpful.
  (5) Staying positive and not being passive aggressive (which is hard for me). This could have really backfired especially with all her initial accidents so I'm glad I was able to keep *mostly positive.

   (6) Remaining consistent and letting her make mistakes so she could learn how to do it. 

While I'm sure we will have accidents, and she may revert a little during the move, I am just so proud of my big *baby girl, because no matter how old she is, she will always be my baby.