First Thoughts on Potty Training

Way back at Lissie's 18-month checkup, her pediatrician said that she was showing potty training readiness signs. Of course this had to coincide with Xavier's homecoming, so even though we bought a potty and showed it to her, we didn't really stress using it nor did we care enough to correct her when she started play-eating out of it as if it were a bowl. After a couple of days, we just nixed the idea altogether and put the potty away.

Fast-forward to now. A few of Lissie's like-aged friends have already started full-on potty training and, as if I don't already have enough on my plate, I decided that it was time to go at it again ourselves.

We started by bringing the potty back out from the closet. I took it as a good sign that she wasn't as interested in taking it apart and pretending it was a drum, so we trudged on to the next step.

And that would be sitting on it with clothes on. Getting her to sit still for any reason besides watching Elmo or Dora is a challenge, so I took the few seconds here and there that I could get. Simultaneously, we checked out several potty-themed books from the library. Her interest had successfully been piqued.

Now the fun began: naked time galore. As soon as she needed to go, we ran to the potty and began ridiculous clapping, praising, and hugging. It only took a few days for her to run to it herself, use the potty, and then with her classic shy, pleased grin hold out her hand for a high-five.

We are now deep in the midst of the next step of the process: pull-up training pants. We have a few cloth ones and a few disposable. When we first used the cloth, she was so excited about it that she kept pulling them on and off while pointing to the page in her potty book with all of the cool underwear and saying "uh-dees, uh-dees!" with delight. Unfortunately, she would also miss her potty cue and soon enough we'd hear an "uh-oh" and find her in the midst of a puddle reminiscent of those movies where a pregnant woman's water breaks in a grocery store aisle. So, I decided to nix the cloth for now and we've moved to the disposable kind even though I was worried that it would feel too diaper-like for her. Thus far, the verdict is mixed. She's pretty successful with #1, but 0-2 for #2....however, she prefers to just take them off altogether and run around without clothes on at all.

Which leads me to the point of this post. I, in my ignorant inexperience at potty-training anything other than my dog, had no idea how many darn steps there would be. Who knew that you not only needed to get them aware to go in the potty...but you need them to do it with clothes on...and then go in an actual toilet...and then eventually take them out and about and use a public restroom or (yikes) a port-o-potty...and I don't even want to think about the night-time training.

Oh, boy. We've only just begun this new phase in parenting and, while I'm thrilled that we've gotten the successes that we've had so far, I am beyond overwhelmed with all that's left to do. Hmmmm - that previous sentence can apply to just about anything a parent goes through, not just potty training :-)

And, of course, a handful of embarrassing and incriminating Lissie photos.