Potty Training In a Week

Remember this little thing...

{Little Miss, age 26 months}

 

And this big thing...

Well after two weeks of big girl panties, I think it's safe to say I have a potty-trained two year old.  It's one of my greatest accomplishments in life.  Aside from potty training this one...

 {Little Man, age 20 months}

And this one too...

{Steven Torres, age 385 months or 32 years, 1 month}

Maybe I didn't potty train him, but I certainly trained him to put the stinkin' lid down!  That's an accomplishment in itself.  The big question is what do I do with the rest of my year???  I mean, I've already accomplished my New Year's Resolution.  I set the bar pretty high, didn't I?

For those of you wondering how we did the whole 'potty training' thing, I'll include the details.  If you are not a parent of a child in diapers, just stop reading now.  There is no one in their right mind who should ever be interested in the bathroom habits of others unless you are teaching one to quit peein' and pooin' in their diaper.

Little Miss really didn't show any signs of readiness, other than telling me, "I poopy, Mama."  Of course, she'd tell me AFTER she'd done the deed.  Poop just grosses me out.  Like totally.

I have a friend, Natasha, who potty-trained both of her children by 18 months.  I went with her plan.  It goes a little something like this...HIT IT!  Sorry, I had to throw that in ;)

Day 1: 

As soon as your child wakes up, put them on the potty and get rid of that diaper.  Straight to undies/panties.  Set a timer for every 20 minutes and increase the amount of liquids your child drinks throughout the day.  When the timer goes off, go potty.  I had M&M's ready.  In fact Little Man was M&M manager.  If Little Miss went, he'd run and get one for her.  He'd also tell her what color it was.  Consequently, she learned the colors associated with M&M's and how to potty.  My heart is full! 

IF Little Miss did not go, I'd set the timer in 5 minute intervals until she went.  Do this for the entire day.  It's is exhausting.  It is a pain in the booty, BUT you will be glad you did it.

Day 2:

Day 2 is almost identical to Day 1 with the exception that you will increase the time between potties.  We did 30 minutes and it seemed to work well.

Day 3:

Little Miss didn't have any accidents on Day 1 or 2, so I stopped setting the timer.  Instead I would periodically ask if she needed to go.  She had a few accidents on this day, but she would come and tell me as soon as it happened.  Good sign!

Day 4-7:

Same as Day 3, but we asked less frequently if she needed to go.  By the end of the week, she was able to hold it for longer intervals and was telling us when she needed to go.  Success!!!

I won't say this works 100% of the time, but the people I know who have used this method have also been successful.  If you're looking to get rid of diapers, give this a try.  It may just be the trick!

Happy Potty Training!!!