The big change from my last post about potty training is that Eleanor is actually telling us she has to go, instead of us always asking the question.As you can see, we decided to go with stickers as potty reward; I'm trying to avoid food rewards as much as possible. What cracks us up about her Potty Board is that she now has, I don't know, maybe 30 stickers on it? But never fear—there's still plenty of white space. She puts all of the stickers on top of the letters. She doesn't really like to put them on the blank whiteness in the middle. Maybe it's too pretty to cover up?!?
When we first started, I said, "We'll see how it goes. I'm not saying it has to happen, just that we're going to try and if it doesn't happen we'll stop and try again later."
Now that it's been a couple weeks, I think it's really happening except I still can't get my head around it. She's so old! Are you really telling me I don't have to change diapers anymore? Or wash and fold the cloth diapers? It's such a huge change and it's been accomplished so gradually that I just don't believe it.
Of course, there are a few caveats. She's still in a diaper at night. We don't "change" diapers in that the diaper comes off in the morning and the big girl underwear goes on, never straight from one diaper to the next. Naptime has been pretty hit and miss (we've been washing a LOT of sheets), so I'm not sure what to do about that. I like that she doesn't want to be in diapers anymore, so I'm hesitant to stuff her into one for the nap. But when she wakes up from a nap soaking wet, nobody's happy.
We did make it through our first potty-trained trip to Kentucky very well. On Keith's suggestion, we took a little potty in the back of the car which was VERY IMPORTANT. Between driving to my parents' to drop off the pets, doing some shopping, and then driving to Kentucky, she used that little potty 4 times in one day. Times where, if we hadn't been able to open the back of car and plop her on the portable potty, we would have been in deep .... trouble.
I've been so worried about potty training for so long, I don't even know what's the next Big Thing. Reading? Counting? Learning a foreign language? All without any diapers!
6 comments:
I'd say the next Big Thing should be Calculus or massage therapy.
I think reading and writing have been the big magical thing in our house - both for the children, and for us to see them do it.
The pride little Miss 6 has had in being able to pick up a book and read it has been fantastic.
Yeah to Eleanor! and Yeah for Mom and Dad!
Will still wore a diaper for naptime for another 3 months or so after he was potty trained. And he still wears a pull-up at night. He wakes up wet most mornings, but then we have dry stretches and try undies at night. After I have to change sheets at 3am 2 days in a row, he's back into pull-ups. Then again, boys often have nightime potty issues. :-)
Ooh, massage therapy! We have been working on her giving foot massages:)
Jonathan: It makes sense that reading is the next big thing, but it's SUCH a big thing that it boggles my mind to even consider it. As much as I love reading, it will start the process of independence that all parents love/hate in a very big way. I do look forward to the day when we're both curled up on the couch with a good book. Or the first time she reads the goodnight story to me.
Andrea: This is definitely starting to reveal itself as a slow process, so it's nice to be reassured that you and Bob, whom I view as very capable and caring parents, also took your time. Of course, I always hope that she'll quit diapers tomorrow;) but I'm not holding my breath, or letting our supply run out ....
Great job! Potty training is definitely not a destination, but a journey. Melrose just last week started with the no diaper during naptime and it has been going great. So we started daytime potty training about 3 weeks before her 2nd birthday and naptime about 3 months later. Someone told me it can take up to 6 months after daytime to master naptime, so I took that nice a slow. Nighttime is in the future, although I'm not sure how soon we are going to try that. Our ped said 1/3 of 3 yr olds wet the bed at night, 1/4 of 4 yr olds and 1/5 of 5 yr olds.
Isn't it wonderfully liberating to be diaper-less?
Kristen: It makes me feel a lot better to know that Melrose took awhile with naps, too. I knew that nighttime was a ways away, but I didn't realize naps could take so long, too.
We're getting ready to come over to your house, and it feels weird not be bringing a diaper bag!
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