My Success at Potty Training

Might as well watch a little DVD if I'm going to sit her for awhile.

We’ve all heard how difficult it is to potty train our little ones. For the most part, children will just figure it out when they’re ready because (as one lady friend informed me), have you ever seen a grown woman not know how to use a bathroom? True, but when you’re trying to get your 2-year old potty trained for preschool the following year, the pressure is on! Fortunately for me, my experience wasn’t bad at all. In fact, I am warning you now… you probably don’t want to read about how easy I had it.

I started potty training Miranda at 18 months. It was more of introducing her to the potty. When she woke up each morning, I would sit her on the toilet and see if she would go. Sometimes she did, sometimes she didn’t. She didn’t make the connection but I was persistent. (Hey, anything to save a diaper!) We consistently read “Once Upon A Potty” and also watched the video just to introduce her to the concept. Throughout the day I would ask her, “Do you need to go potty?” (No). We’d go to the store, “Do you need to go potty?” (No). We’d go to the park, “Do you need to go potty?” (No). Naturally, every time I checked her diaper, it was wet.

Shortly after (maybe a month or two), when I asked her, “Do you need to go potty?” She said, “Yes. I need to go poop.” I was ecstatic! “Of course you may go Number Two! Let’s go!” And that was that. I’ve heard that Number Two was more difficult because children tend to be ashamed of doing that particular task, so they would go in a corner and poop (in their diaper) in privacy. I guess I lucked out. She easily figured out when she had to poop and I was happy with that.

Weeks went by and our progress with “Number One” hasn’t gone anywhere. I asked other parents what they did to get their children motivated. I tried all these ideas except for the last one because I think it’s cruel AND UNSANITARY:

• Reward. Reward. Reward. (Of course!)
• Use Pull-Ups. (Easy enough)
• Buy a musical potty so when it gets wet, music will play. (She figured out that she could just pour water in it. Smart girl!)
• Let them run around in underwear so they can feel the wetness. (Yeah, that was a nightmare on our carpet!)
• When she pees in her pants, make her clean it up. She’ll get tired of cleaning it up that she’ll pee in the potty. (Cruel and disgusting, right?)

The best reward that I heard came from Miranda’s swim teacher. She rewarded her daughter with M&M’s.

1. Sit on the potty = 1 M&M
2. Pee in the potty = 2 M&Ms
3. Poop in the potty = 4 M&Ms

I admired her reward system, but I wasn’t ready to give my daughter chocolate so I changed my rewards. I have a “girly girl” after all, so the prize was simple. Since she already knew how to poop in the potty, I only had two levels:

1. Sit on the potty = Put lip gloss on lips.
2. Pee in the potty = She got to keep the lip gloss in her pocket all day.

Sadly, we never advanced to Level 2.

One evening (sometime when Miranda turned 2), we were watching a movie at the park. Miranda said, “Mommy, I need to go pee-pee!” We were in the park, at night, in the middle of the field, and the nearest bathroom was a 2-minute walk. So we got up, ran to the bathroom, and made it just in time! After that night, things just clicked for her. She knew when she had to go and refused to wear diapers anymore. I guess it was just her time.