26 October 2009

Let The Fountain of Joy Begin

Ok.

We decided that it's finally time to attempt to potty train our daughter. Again. We tried briefly before we moved. We decided to strip her down to her naked butt, let her feel the pee dribble down her legs and she won't like it, right? Um... not quite. It didn't work too well, mainly because we felt she was too young to grasp the idea yet. WE got the clue that she wasn't ready when, right after sitting on the potty to try unsuccessfully to use it, she ran down the hallway toward her room and proceeded to squat and drop a smelly load of joy on the carpet.

Since then we've gotten various ideas on what has worked for other parents and I'm still open to suggestions, but I feel the best one is still to let her uncomfortably spread the warmth down her legs. So, starting Sunday afternoon, we put her in big girl undies and let her run around. We dutifully asked her if she needed to "go potty", and invariably she'd say no, and we'd drag her to the toilet. At first she thought it was a novel idea, but more and more she has begun to resist. We DID manage to get her to use the toilet 4 times with NO accidents!

Today was almost the exact opposite. Almost. Momma got her up and asked her if she needed to go, and with the usual answer momma put her on anyway, just to be sure. No dice. kept checking, nothing. Then, just before I got home from school, someone flooded her pants. "Wet... WET!" came the cry. Momma put her on the pot, but she had already created the dark butterfly pattern in her pants. (*$^&*!!!) Oh well.

So, on through the morning we kept trying to get her to go without ANY progress. We put her in Pull-ups for her nap (which she pee'd in OF COURSE), and refused the bathroom after getting up. Then while we were cleaning up after dinner she was playing behind the chairs, and then came the cry, "WET! WET!" again. So I immediately grabbed her and got her to the bathroom as quickly as possible where she let a small tinkle in the toilet and gave a big, bright, happy "I DID IT!" type smile. Unfortunately, she did pee her pants a bit, but she ALSO knew to hold the rest of it til we got to the toilet.

Maybe there's hope for this potty business yet.....

4 comments:

Katscratchme said...

Makes me tired just thinking about it...

Anonymous said...

I know it is frustrating, but DON'T GIVE UP! It may take a little while, but if you stick with it, you will be so glad you did. I almost gave up with Josh. The problem with giving up when it gets tough is the kid doesn't think you are serious, and if you try again, it will be all that much harder. If you really want her potty trained, don't stop! It took Josh two weeks before he stopped peeing all over the place.
Oh, and buy a plastic sheet for her bed, if you haven't...you will be glad you did.

leafhopper said...

I believe it to be one of the most frustrating jobs. (I envy those who have children that train themselves). Just a suggestion I did with Jacob. Put pullups on over her underwear. Then she will feel wet but it won't get all over the floor. Also, the breaking point for me was a treasure box with a lock and key. (He was trained after a week of this). Don't let her know what is in it and put one small toy, candy, whatever. When she goes on the potty she gets the key. The suspense killed him so he forced himself to go several times a day. Lol. But it worked for me.

Jen said...

Peeroy was here.