Potty Training Update

Well, little Miss Jayla finished out the potty training last week like a champ! I am so glad she got it figured out and we are done! :) I think I last updated on the morning of Day 4. I forgot to mention in that post that on the afternoon of Day 3 we had ventured out of the house a few times (for about an hour each), but she didn’t have to go while we were out. I did continue to keep her in underwear when we went out, and just brought a change of clothes with me in case. Day 4 we went to Target in the afternoon and after we had been there about 5 minutes she told me she had to go. This was going to be the big ‘test’ because I really wanted to see how she would react to going in a public bathroom, without the potty seat insert. I’ve had a few people email me about this too….how to handle the public bathroom scenario…..so here is what I’ve done……When I put her on the pot I showed her how to steady herself by putting her hands on either side of the lid.....I know that this is super gross as far as germs go, but I really don't see any other way around it. At least with Jayla she does not like it when I hold her up there. She would rather do it herself. At first I could tell that she was scared she would fall in but once she was holding herself up with her hands on her own she wasn't as scared. With everything else I just acted like it was all completely normal and did and said the same things that we did at home. And she went right away. I also made sure to pack her reward with me, so she got a sticker right after she went, just like she did at home. And we just washed her hands really good afterwards. This was a huge, huge success for us, because the next day (Day 5) we were heading to a tournament in Kansas, so I really wanted her to experience the public restroom thing before the trip, since she was going to be going in unfamiliar bathrooms all weekend long.

So, Day 5 we were off to Kansas for a tournament. She hadn’t pooped for 2 days (since Day 3 when she hid from me and did the duty in her pants). So, I figured it was coming. And it was. That afternoon when we were at the gym she kept telling me that she had to go. We went to the bathroom 3 times during one game and no poop. Then as we were sitting in the stands, I noticed her getting ready to poop in her pants, so I quickly scooped her up and headed to the bathroom for poop try #4. But, this time I made her sit there on the potty since I knew for sure that she had to go. We sat in the bathroom for 10 minutes straight ‘arguing’. Finally she gave in. And she pooped in the potty. And I did a major, major, potty dance, and felt like running out to the people sitting in the stands and yelling at the top of my lungs that my daughter just pooped in the potty. But instead I just smiled big and texted the grandma’s! Then, I quickly raced out to the car and got her a sucker (since I didn’t have any popsicles) and she loved it! Since then, we’ve had no more issues with the pooping thing. It just took her one time to overcome that fear, and now she actually thinks it’s kind of funny to see it in there after she is done.

So, our potty training adventure is accomplished! Whew! She was a stubborn one, but we got ‘er done! The excitement of the rewards has also worn off, as they did with JJ. She just goes now, and doesn’t expect any reward afterwards. She actually gets really excited about the hand washing part because she loves water, so once her hands are washed I think that is her signal that the bathroom trip is over and it’s on to the next thing.

Feel free to email me if you want any more insights on our potty training adventure. I probably won’t be posting about it anymore. Yippppeeeeee! And Yipppoooooo!