Mission Potty Training Accomplished! 

It has been precisely one month since we first began ‘mission potty training’ with our Little Princess. I am proud to report that our little lady has mastered the art of using the potty and even better, the toilet too! E no longer requires nappies during the daytime which has already saved us a small fortune and a ton of bag space, which meant that I could finally treat myself to a new handbag, cheers Princess!

Starting Out

The first few days were difficult in all honesty, we asked E whether she needed the potty every ten to twenty minutes and I was beginning to feel like a broken record. E wasn’t really sure whether she needed the potty or not and at one point I began to wonder whether or not she was actually ready for potty training. We used a sticker reward system, E would bend over backwards for a Frozen sticker and so along with the occasional chocolate button, stickers became our main method of rewarding E for each time she used the potty.

Oh Pants!

We used ‘Bright Bots Training Pants’ with E when she first began potty training as they are ideal for catching and soaking up the odd accident. However, we found that they irritated her skin, just as cloth nappies had years back which was a real shame. We therefore switched to ordinary cotton knickers and prepared ourselves for ‘puddles on the floor’. E seemed far happier and thinking about it now we should have gone with cotton in the first place.

We bought a range of knickers suited to E’s taste including Frozen, Minnie Mouse, My Little Pony and Peppa Pig, E seemed far happier wearing these as she could look at the ‘people on her pants’ each time she used the potty.

The Perfect Potty

We have tried a few different potty’s but found the BabyBjorn potty chair to be the best of the bunch. E was able to sit up comfortably, the potty itself is really sturdy and best of all, it’s really easy to empty as you can remove the centre of the potty and easily flush the contents away rather than having to lug a large potty to and from the bathroom each time.

After a few days E became more aware of when she felt the physical urge to use the potty. This was a turning point for us as we became less like broken records and were more able to rely upon E on telling us when she needed to go, making the whole process far less stressful for all.

When You’ve Gotta Go, You’ve Gotta Go!

After a day or two I began taking E out and about as I wanted to continue life as normal with trips to the park, grocery shopping, appointments and such like. We took our ‘Carry Potty‘ along with us wherever we went and whenever and wherever E felt the need to go, we did just that because when you’ve gotta go …you’ve gotta go! I have to say the Carry Potty was a game changer and we couldn’t live without it these days.

When The Shizz Hit The Fan

After a few days we hit a rough patch, or should I say a ‘s*** patch’? When E was a baby she suffered with terrible constipation and she began holding back from going for ‘a number two’. To make matters worse, she began regularly holding herself from going therefore making the inevitable even more difficult when the time came. She would cry, scream and was literally terrified of pooping, the situation became so severe that we resorted to using Lactulose to ‘loosen things up’. This seemed to do the trick along with increasing her liquid intake and filling her full of fruit. E seemed to grow out of the issue and would proudly tell you when she had filled her nappy with a full description of the contents, I won’t go into details but the words “rock pooh” still make me laugh out loud to this day.

E was happy to use both her potty chair and her carry potty. However, she had once again began holding herself from going for a number two. I was aware that this may be an issue but wasn’t expecting it to be as problematic as it turned out. E would tell you that she needed the potty and would then jump up seconds later with a terrified look in her eyes, we tried all sorts of things to help her, we tried offering more stickers, reading books and letting her play on the iPad whilst sat on the potty, blowing bubbles together, singing and at one point I even resorted to holding her on the potty until she actually went! I rewarded her endlessly with cuddles, stickers and even a Freddo in the hope that she would remember the positives and try to do it again.

It had obviously been a fluke as two days later when E once again ‘needed to go’ she was terrified all over again and was literally shaking with fear. I mentioned to my husband about perhaps trying the toilet rather than the potty as I had stored away a Kids Kit 3-in-1 toilet seat from when J was toilet training. Paul agreed that we should give it a try, hell anything was worth a shot at this point! After Paul brought the new toilet seat down from the attic, we gave it a quick clean and showed it to E who looked rather impressed.

Let It Go!

We talked to her about being a big girl and using the toilet just like her big brother and her Mummy and Daddy. Low and bleeding behold she sat happily on the toilet seat and after having ‘Wer’e going on a Bear Hunt’ read three times in succession E finally ‘let it go’. Bless her she looked so proud of herself and after waving Goodbye to ‘Mr Poop’, E got the chance to flush the toilet for herself and from then on has had no issues whatsoever.

What’s Next?

Transferring To The Toilet

Thankfully E is now able to tell us when she needs to go and is able to hold it for a minute or two giving her ample time to get to the potty or to find a toilet. We use the toilet seat when upstairs, the potty downstairs and the carry potty or nearest toilet when out and about. I will shortly be purchasing another toilet seat for the downstairs toilet so that we can say goodbye to the potty other than when out and about and at night times when we use it for a ‘sleep wee’, by which I mean that we lift her from her bed and put her onto the potty before we go to bed ourselves. This may sound cruel but it ensures that E stays fairly dry overnight and it prevents her from waking during the night upset by a wet nappy. We have tried using the toilet seat for this once or twice but she woke up and seemed fairly upset, I must admit that the idea of having to sit on a cold toilet seat mid-sleep isn’t to my preference either.

Dry Nights

Technically most children aren’t ‘dry at night’ until at least the age of three to four years old. For some children it can take years beyond this especially for deep sleepers. Staying dry throughout the night is an actual physical development milestone rather than something which is learnt.  I have noticed that E is beginning to wake in a dry nappy and so give it a bit more time and I will invest in a waterproof mattress cover and give it a go. I don’t think that she is ready just yet and I don’t want to upset the apple cart by asking too much of her. Give it a year or so and I think we will try to ditch the night-time nappies.

Potty Pride

I am so proud of our little Princess for perfecting the art of potty training and I am even more impressed by her upgrading to the toilet so quickly. It seems like such a huge thing for us, it’s a massive milestone when you think about it and E took it all in her stride and cracked it like a boss! I would also like to make it clear at this point that the products featured within the post have not sponsored nor requested a mention/ review upon my blog, they are purely products which I have chosen to share with you as it we couldn’t have done it without them!