Sorry to those who may not have kids and feel uncomfortable discussing pee. It's just the reality of having a toddler. I'll be back blogging about normal things in a few days. :) THANK YOU to those who emailed, messaged, and left comments for me. The overwhelming bond and opinions are so helpful. Please continue to comment on the blog, so other readers can benefit from your wisdom!
So, Day 2 was much better! I have to admit that I was exhausted after Day 1 and I was dragging my body in the morning. Little K came into our room at 7am and usually, she would have to drag me out of bed asking for 'jelly stix' (her morning toast sandwiches). This morning though, she said, "jelly stix", and I kept my eyes closed. Then, she said, "potty", and I immediately shot up and ran her to the potty. Nothing happened though. Now, she knows what to say to get me out of bed.
We went to play downstairs, but I was more prepared that day. I didn't have any scheduled work or calls. I was there to solely be Mommy Potty. It helped because I was more in tune with when she would have to go. I kept asking her the first hour, but she kept saying "no". Then, after her breakfast, she asked for the potty. I ran her over and YES YES YES! She went potty IN the potty! We danced, I cheered, and she was proud. I gave her a chocolate covered pretzel. I never gave her that before, so it was a BIG treat. By the way, the whole "go nuts when your kid goes potty" thing is up to interpretation. I am a hyper spaz to begin with, so my "going nuts" actually made Kayla look at me weird. She was over it after a while. I realized a truly genuine strong hug and a "Mommy is SOOO proud of you" actually communicated it better to her. Again, every child is different, so just figure out how your child receives the applause.
The whole day was overall much better than Day 1, but there were still accidents. Little K is still figuring out her timing of when she has to go. She was say "potty", sit on the chair, and then nothing would happen. 30 seconds after getting up, she would go. As the day progressed, she got better at the timing.
Here are my lessons from Day 2:
- If you started Day 1, you have to keep going! You already spent a full day trying it out, so stay committed. Even my hubby was telling me that I'm trying too hard. The way I approach things is that if I commit to one method, might as well stick it out for a full try. I'm glad I'm giving it a full try.
- Build upon the previous day. Stick to the same reward patterns. Ours was getting a small treat like an M&M or pretzel and then putting the star sticker on the reward chart. I tried giving her just stickers to avoid the sugar, but she didn't consider stickers a treat. Figure out what works for your child!
- Talk to other moms/dads who went through it. I kept feeling discouraged that Day 2 was still tough. I had false expectations based on what I read about the 3-day potty training. Was I doing something wrong? Is Little K ready? Then, later that day, I talked to 2 of my mom friends with older kids. One said how she believes that the kids will get it in their own timing. She was so supportive and helped me feel better about not pushing anything that isn't time yet. The other mom, who gave me the 3-day advice, told me how HARD potty training is! She struggled, too. I thought this whole time she and the other 3-day PT moms had such a breeze training. Knowing that they struggled was comforting in a sense.
Final thoughts on potty training for Day 3...next.