1. I would take sleep training over potty training any day. In fact, if you prefer potty training, let's trade. You potty train my kids and I'll sleep train yours.
2. We decided that once we decided to day-time potty train, that was it. Potty trained. No more diapers except for when sleeping. (I know there are different opinions on that...) Therefore we waited until we really felt like she was ready... talking about potty all the time, excited to sit on the potty, told us when she went in her diaper and wanted to be changed, stayed dry for longer periods of time during the day, expressed the desire to be a 'big girl' in other areas, was excited to be in big girl undies, etc... And then we picked our readiness based on a time in life when we could set aside a week and tackle it head on.
3. Second to a smushy sleeping newborn, there is almost nothing cuter than diaper clad 2 year old buns. (We tried 'naked' for a day. She hated it and was highly motivated by the undies. Plus she reacted strongly to having wet undies and that seemed to make sense to her.)
4. I was somewhat attempting the "one day" method based on a book from the 70s. Lots of people who potty trained one or two or 7 kids successfully recommended it including my mom who potty trained both us kids around the age of 2 with it. (I've also read intense this-method-failed-me-and-is-the-biggest-lie-ever opinions. #momsareintense. This leads me to believe potty training is different for every kid.) I was all for this method & was using most of the techniques from it. I was optimistic because of Addie's seeming readiness but aware that it might take her longer than a day. I was surprised how disappointed I was at the end of day one when I felt like we'd made zero progress.
5. She can hold it for 4 hours. While I've found a zillion suggestions about poop-holding, I have yet to read anything helpful about pee-holding. Almost everything I can find talks about filling the kid up with snacks and drinks so they have to pee often and can learn the sensation. We did this 2 days in a row. And by fill up, I mean she drank 6 8-oz glasses of water or juice in an hour and then held it for four. While we might be breaking 2 year old bladder control records, we are not potty training in a day at that rate. She peed 4 times yesterday. Thus, I am accepting all advice from people who've had a kid who will hold it for this long. She will sit on the potty happily every 10-15 minutes for several hours before peeing or even having an accident. When she has to go, she'll get extra squirmy and grumpy and ornery until she can't keep it in anymore. If she's standing up when this happens, she'll just let it out (because it's so intense) and say 'pee pee' and try to find the potty. If she's sitting on the potty, she'll let the bare minimum out until she can hold it more. So the 2 times she had a lot of pee in the potty (where it seemed like she really fully eliminated what was in there) today were like 5 minute potty sessions where she kept allowing a little more to come out at a time... almost nervously. AND we could tell this was happening because she had to poop... she managed to hold in the poop but had to release the pee. Is this normal?
6. Potty training will make you want to pull all your hair out.
7. Don't though, because while potty training won't last forever, you'll be glad you still have hair next week or in 5 months or whenever the kid is potty trained.
8. This too shall pass. She won't be peeing on the floor when she's 12 and I probably won't be on the edge of my seat looking for pee cues and exhausted from it by the end of the day for the next 10 years. So, eventually she'll get it.
9. Get some wine and ice cream and a good show to binge because you won't want to do anything else once they're in bed.
It's better if your wine cost $5 and is a potty pun. #iswearthatwasanaccident
10. Except write about the 2 days of
11. Plan to go to the gym with your potty trained toddler, when they're potty trained, because all the ice cream and cookies and wine will not do anything for your two-babies-in-17-months-figure
12. Oh, and when your husband gets home, run out the door with your younger child in a stroller and walk by yourself in silence reminiscing back to the days when you thought one teething child was hard. And then remember that one day you'll barely remember potty training and laugh at yourself for thinking it was hard.
One season at a time, folks.
One at a time.
