How I Potty Trained My Independent Toddler

First off, Hey! It has been a while since my last post due to being super pregnant and super tired! But that's another blog!

I'm just going to get right into it, I decided Lennox was ready to be potty trained when she started to hold her pee in all day until she couldn't any longer and would let it all out at once and soak through her diaper. I was worried about her getting an infection and not going to lie, was pretty amazed at how long such a little thing could hold it in for!

My mom had bought Lennox a potty back in the spring time for Easter. It is the summer infant miniature toilet one. So I pulled that out and all her books that had something to do with using the potty. Then we said goodbye to diapers. I feel like this was the only thing I did correct in the begging! Since we are having another baby I told Lennox she was a big girl and that the baby was going to need her diapers, this made her proud to give her little sister something. Then it was straight to panties, except for nap and bedtime.

Here comes all of the mistakes I made. Note: every child is different and just because an article or some book says this will work, doesn't mean it will for your little one. I read so many articles and thought I was ready for this, not Lennox, Me! After reading what felt like hundreds of articles I started to ask Len every 25 mins if she needed to potty, each time she would say no. Lots of accidents happened. I remember the one day she drank so much water that I knew she had to go. We sat for three hours, on and off the potty. She was miserable and so was I. Each time I thought she was going to pee I would put her on the potty and she would just scream and kick and cry! After three hours she did go pee, on the floor. I cried, in the bathroom so she wouldn't see it. I was just so frustrated, and hormonal, I was questioning everything. Her readiness and mine.

Just when I was about to give up a friend of mine sent me an ebook about 3 day potty training. Knowing Lennox I wasn't to worried about the three days part, but the book did speak to me and told me everything I was doing wrong. Yes, spotting the signs of your child needing to pee and forcing them to sit on the potty may work for you, just not for us.

One major thing I did that was wrong was try and do this when Mitch was working, she was much more at ease when we were all home together. I picked a weekend where Mitch would be home for at least three days and him and I got on the same page with how we were going to handle things. We realized Lennox is extremely independent and likes to do things on her time. Also we found that she wasn't a huge fan of the little potty my mom had bought her so we took her to walmart where she picked a unicorn one and was much more excited to use it. Letting them pick out there own panties is fun too, we also played a game with her called keeping our panties dry! Then we thought lets just leave her alone. And by golly she started using that potty like an old pro! She still to this day wont let us in the bathroom with her. She goes in closes the door and comes out with a smile on her face and says " I peed or I pooped"!

Incentive is another thing that got her to start going. If you say you don't bribe your child I'm just going to go ahead and call you a liar! I had an old container and filled it with small toys and some candy from the dollar store and called it her treasure chest. Each time she used the potty she would get to pick something out. This was a big help and she felt so special for getting to pick a prize! We also made a potty chart, a separate one for pee and poop. Each time she went she would get a sticker. It didn't take her long to fill the chart and get to go for a special treat of ice cream! Now that her treasure chest is empty she gets one skittle.

I am hesitant to say that she is fully trained, but I will say it has been days without an accident and she has even been waking up with a dry pull up from bed and nap time! We even drove an hour the other day and she made us pull over to use the potty in our hatchback!

This may be a long post but trust me it was a much longer process. Three weeks to be exact! It was probably one of the most frustrating times in my life (and hers) but we got through it. I just needed to learn to trust her and for me to let go. What ever works for you child is the best method. This is what worked for us. Good Luck!

Here is a list of products that we used:

1. Summer Infant Potty $40

2. Fisher Price Unicorn Potty $15

3. Ikea Potty for car $4

4. Container for Treasure Chest $2

5. Small prizes for Treasure Chest $15- $20

6. Skittles $4

7. Stickers $2

8. Lots of panties $10 for pack of 6 at Walmart (I would recommend about 20 pairs, no joke!)

9. Pampers Pull Ups $30

10. Homemade potty chart, Priceless :)