Freedom From Diapers (For a Few Months, Anyway)

Yes, I'm happy to say that I think Elsa is officially potty trained. She's not yet 100 percent when it comes to naps and overnight, but other than that, we've been dry and accident-free for five whole days now! I was worried about potty training for months, and now that we've got it over with (knock on wood), I'm not sure why I was stressed about it. As usual, Elsa took this massive change to her daily routine completely in stride. And she surprised even me with how quickly she figured out what she needed to do.

I tackled this project by using a book called "Potty Train in Three Days." It's all pretty common-sense stuff—I'm not even sure I really needed the book (although it was definitely good moral support, and it gave us a more concrete plan). Basically, on the morning of Day One, you just throw away the diapers and put underwear on the kid. There are no exceptions to the "no diapers" policy—no Pull-Ups (ever), no diapers at night, etc. Then just you put the kid on the potty every half hour, or however often you need to. Eventually, they get the idea.

So, last Wednesday, we did exactly that: Threw out the diapers, and put Elsa in big-girl underwear. That first day did NOT go well, to say the least. She had several accidents in the morning (all of which were upsetting to her). In the afternoon, she went in the opposite direction—she must have sat on the potty at least 30 times in one 60-minute period. I was ready to pack it in, but the book makes it clear that once you start this process, you're committed. There's no turning back, unless you want to send some seriously mixed messages. So we stuck with it. Thursday wasn't great either, but the routine seemed more ingrained by then, so it wasn't nearly as frustrating.

And then, on Friday: No accidents whatsoever, the entire day! Something just seemed to click for her. I think this book should be renamed "The Three-Day Miracle," because that's what it felt like. Yesterday, we were out running errands for more than two hours with no potty in sight, and Elsa was perfect. I am so relieved to have this process done with before the new baby comes, and I'm thrilled that I'm no longer buying or changing diapers.

Since then, naps and bedtime have been the biggest challenge. Try as we might, we just can't seem to convince Elsa that if she yells to us while she's in bed, we'll hear her and come running to take her to the potty. She also refuses to just get out of bed and go to the potty on her own, even though I know she's capable of it, since she's gotten out of bed by herself plenty of other times. But all things considered, I think she's doing well—she has never once wet the bed enough to soak through to her sheets. That's quite an accomplishment, considering that just last week, she was soaking through her diaper overnight. And I think nighttime dryness will come naturally as she gets more solid during the day. We did have a major setback this afternoon when she pooped during her nap—which you may recall was a very regular habit prior to potty training. So we'll just have to keep working on that.

And for now, I'm trying not to think about the fact that we're starting this whole process over again, from square one, in just five months. For now, I'm just going to enjoy the break!