The Potty Chronicles: The Final Crusade
I did it.
I officially did it.
I have a toddler who wears underwear and uses the toilet to do her business.
*cue applause*
*bows dramatically*
Thank you... I'd like to thank the makers of diapers for being so expensive that you forced my hand. I'd like to thank Nabisco for the proper motivation via mini Oreos for me and my daughter. I'd like to thank Baby Bjorn for making an adorable functional toilet that I never used and Arm & Hammer for making a toilet seat adapter for small butts. I'd also like to thank my parents for buying Princess underwear which is way cooler than wearing diapers, according to a 2 year old.
Thank you to my husband for waiting for when I was ready.
And most of all, thank you to the Good Lord who was merciful on my poor soul and gave us the strength to make it through the trenches.
My tips (because I'm such a professional now):
I officially did it.
I have a toddler who wears underwear and uses the toilet to do her business.
*cue applause*
*bows dramatically*
Thank you... I'd like to thank the makers of diapers for being so expensive that you forced my hand. I'd like to thank Nabisco for the proper motivation via mini Oreos for me and my daughter. I'd like to thank Baby Bjorn for making an adorable functional toilet that I never used and Arm & Hammer for making a toilet seat adapter for small butts. I'd also like to thank my parents for buying Princess underwear which is way cooler than wearing diapers, according to a 2 year old.
Thank you to my husband for waiting for when I was ready.
And most of all, thank you to the Good Lord who was merciful on my poor soul and gave us the strength to make it through the trenches.
My tips (because I'm such a professional now):
- Guess what? You can do it in 3 days if you AND your toddler are ready. Our first attempt ended in meltdowns all around so we gave it a break and tried again later.
- Whatever motivates your kid, do it. If it's candy, toys, or just getting to unroll toilet paper, they totally understand that pee in the toilet gets them what they want. For Allie, it was mini Oreos and getting to finally unroll toilet paper and flush the toilet. It's the little things.
- Don't expect complete success right away. Day 3 brought no accidents but she still wasn't telling me she had to use the toilet. She was just holding it until I asked her, which I guess works but isn't ideal.
- Allie didn't mind sitting on the toilet every 20-30 minutes the first day, but once she figured out that no pee = no treat, she was not having it. The good thing is that we only had a few accidents on the second day and she figured out the sensation of needing to go and then being able to hold it.
- Don't buy Pull-ups. Just rip off the bandaid and go with real underwear. They can tell. You just have to stock up on cleaning supplies.
- Corral your kid. The bedrooms were closed off for those three days because we still have the luxury of concrete throughout the main area of the house and I didn't feel like cleaning pee out of the new area rugs in the bedrooms.
- Have fun with it and give yourself a break. After all, it's not the end of the world. Even if it feels like it...
