Yes, this is just the start of it, but as of 7 days ago, we have a "mostly" potty trained two year old! She is still in her disposables for nap and bed, but NOTHING during the day!! I literally mean nothing. She is going to be bare bottomed for the next month or so whenever we are at home.
I have been testing the waters with her in regards to potty training about once a month for almost a year now. She was VERY interested in going in the potty when we first bought one when we move to Oregon last fall. I used the "excuse" of having a dislocated rib to not take advantage of potty training then, and have been regretting it. She lost interest in the potty for a long time, and wouldn't sit on it for more than a minute, and sometimes not even that long. I had heard, read, and been told multiple times that if we tried and she wasn't making any progress in getting it after 3 days that she just wasn't ready.
This past couple months, I decided that we would get more serious about it. I watched for signs that she might be ready. Finally, after stumbling upon a potty training boot camp website, I decided it was time. As soon as I watched the videos on that site, I scrounged up salty snacks, juice (watered down melted otter pops?), and a little candy left over from last Halloween. I decided we would lock ourselves in the basement, and I would only come up to get her food for meals. I took both little potties down, set them up with Kaylee's help and prepared for war. Really, I was expecting it to be really difficult and involve a lot of tears.
The first thing I did was have a serious talk with Kaylee. I kindly, but firmly, explained to her that it was absolutely NOT ok for her to pee or poop on the floor and that if she needed to go, it was her responsibility to go sit on her potty. Then I explained that if she had an accident on the floor she would be responsible for cleaning it up. Last of all, I let her know that if she went pee or poop in the potty she would get a candy. She had the first meltdown of the day after I said the work candy. She figured she could have some right then, and didn't understand that she had to wait until she went potty.
For the first and second day, I reminded her of what she was supposed to do just about every 15 minutes for the whole day. The first time she went in the potty, I did a happy dance, gave her her piece of candy, and explained that that is how a big girl goes potty and she needed to keep doing it. I think that was a major light bulb moment. She had one pee accident that day and one poop accident the first day, both of which she cleaned up. I think the second accident really made her realize what was going on. On day two she had one accident first thing in the morning because I hadn't set up the potty stuff for the day. I had the "genius" idea to lock us in the kitchen for the day and that lasted all of 1 hour. Then she started saying she needed to go potty and asking to go downstairs even though her potties were in the kitchen. We went back downstairs and she immediately started taking herself to the potty for the rest of the day.
We are now on day 7 and she has only had 2 accidents in 5 days. She is now free to roam the whole house (still bare bottomed) and has been wonderful about either going on her own or coming and telling me she has to go. We have been out shopping, to church, and on walks with her in underwear, and she has stayed dry! She is even ok with using public bathrooms, which is something I hope she stays ok with.
I can't believe how easy it has been so far. Yes, I know it could fall apart any day and we could have a battle on our hands, but I truly think she enjoys being so grown up and responsible for her potty stuff.
I haven't decided if I want to post her potty pictures on here yet. If I decide to later I will add them.
Seriously, I can't believe I have a potty trained two year old!
