Potty Training, Take Two

That's right—we've been diaper-free in this house for one whole week now! Woo hoo! I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it again, but what a difference a few months makes. I know that should be obvious when you're talking about a two-year-old, but holy cow.

We decided to start potty training a week ago, kind of spur-of-the-moment. There just weren't many other weekends coming up that would work, especially with all of our Halloween events. So on Thursday, Claire and I made a big trip to Target while Elsa was at art class. Claire picked out new underwear (Tinkerbell and Hello Kitty), and several rewards: M&Ms, stickers (Disney princesses), and an Ariel dress from dress-up-clothes aisle.

Claire had two accidents on Friday morning, when we first started. And on Saturday, I think she had one dribbly accident where she just didn't make it to the potty on time. But other than that, no daytime accidents whatsoever. Basically, it took all of about 4 or 5 hours to train her this time around. By day 2, I already felt like I had a fully-potty-trained kid. By day 4, we were running errands and taking Elsa to her activities per our usual schedule, and Claire was 100% fine. One time, we were on our way out of Walgreens when Claire said she had to go potty. "Can you hold it, just for a few minutes, until we get home?" I asked her. She said she could, and sure enough, that's exactly what she did. She also kept reminding me periodically, "I'm holding it, Mommy!" with a big, proud smile on her face.

I have been so proud of her, I could just burst! The difference between this attempt and the last one (when she was 2 years, 1 month old) is like night and day. In that first attempt, she seemed to know what she was supposed to do, and I think she really was trying, but physically she just didn't seem able to do it. Clearly, sometime in the last 5 months, that physical issue was resolved. It's interesting, because the potty training book I used for both Elsa and Claire ("Potty Training in Three Days") puts way more emphasis on a child being mentally/emotionally ready, and hardly even discusses the physical aspect. In fact, it goes so far as to suggest that if your child shows signs of being emotionally ready, but then can't be trained using this method, she may have some sort of disability! I still like the training method used in this book, but I'm not sure it's correct when it comes to identifying the right time to train your child. It seems clear to me there's a lot more to it than this book suggests.

We are still having issues with staying dry at night, but I'm not concerned about it—I think that will resolve itself as she gets better at holding it during the day. She has stayed dry during most of her naps, and she had one night when she was dry all the way through, so I think we're on the right track there as well.

Claire is as proud of herself as can be. She laughs so happily every time she goes! She's been so interested in Elsa's school, dance class, and other activities, and she knows she has to go potty like a big girl in order to start those things herself next fall. So here she is wearing her Ariel dress, which was her reward for three accident-free days in a row. Great job, ClaireBear! We love you soooooo much!