Potty Power

OK, nobody cares about this but Rick and I, but I'm going to blog about it anyway!

Our little baby isn't a baby anymore! After a couple half-hearted attempts at potty training, we decided to get serious and address it a little more aggressively. It has worked like magic!

My sister-in-law, Audra is a genius, and has her own business doing autism consulting. She gave me some great tips on potty training and I decided to go for it! If she can potty train an autistic child, I figured her methods should work with Gwen. I followed her advice to a "t". This was the plan....

First, I cleared my schedule. You can't plan anything for a few days if you want success. Then, we went to the store one evening and bought tons of underwear. I let Gwen pick out everything- even the Thomas the Tank Engine underwear for boys.

The next morning I told Gwen that she was a big girl and didn't need to wear a diaper anymore. (At least not during waking hours) For the next few days, we stayed home, drank lots of juice (the more they drink the more opportunities they have to practice), and used the potty a ton. I set a timer for every 20 minutes. Whenever it went off, I told Gwen it was time to try and use the potty. She hardly resisted at all, because I had plenty of incentives (ie: candy and toys) to bribe her with. As soon as she was sick of one incentive, I had another one up my sleeve.

Whenever she had an accident, I first took her to the bathroom to finish up. I then had her help me clean up the mess. Then she would take off her messy clothes, put them in the washer, and then get clean clothes on. I wasn't mean when she had an accident, nor was I overly forgiving. I just matter-of-factly would say something like, "Uh oh, we better clean it up. Remember to go in the potty next time so your pants don't get wet."

Audra told me that they important part of this method is to not put Gwen in pull-ups no matter what. (Except for naps and bedtime) So, on Saturday when we had to go on our first outing- a wedding- we were very nervous. But, we came prepared with several changes of clothes, and a travel potty. It worked great. We were also nervous for church, but again, we had no problems.

Here is a a look at how quickly this worked for us...

Day One- Wednesday: Five accidents (one of them was poop). Fortunately, all of these accidents happened on hardwood floors or at the table, so clean-up was a breeze. I noticed that when she peed, she would empty her bladder completely in her underwear.

Day Two- Thursday: Three accidents (and none were poop!) On this day, when Gwen had an accident, she would stop herself before completely emptying her bladder. When she would start to go in her pants, she would tell me, and then we would quickly run to the potty where she would finish the job.

Day Three- Friday: No accidents! Although Gwen didn't have any problems, I had to nag her constantly about going potty. I was wondering if she was really making progress, or if I was not giving her a chance to have an accident because I was putting her on the toilet so much.

Day Four-Saturday: One accident. I was gone for several hours in the morning. Rick took Gwen to the park and they had no problems. Late in the afternoon, Gwen had a lot of Gatorade and did just a little in her pants before catching herself. She finished it off on the potty. Later that night we went to a wedding and had no problems. We put a waterproof pad down on the car seat just in case, but were glad that we didn't need it.

Day Five- Sunday: No accidents! We went to church in underwear and had no problems! Gwen loved using the little mini-toilet and tiny sink in the nursery.

Day Six- Monday: No accidents!

Day Seven- Tuesday: We even went out in the morning to a cute little cafe. Later in the afternoon, we went to Albertsons and then to Costco. She held it the entire time!

Day Eight- Wednesday: No accidents- so far!

Here are some photos of our successes....

After Gwen did her first poopie, we celebrated it a lot and took photos to show Daddy. I wanted to make sure that she knew it was a big deal. She also wanted to pose for a picture of her and me with the poopie. Unfortunately we couldn't fit us all in (good news for you!)

Another attempted shot of us with the poopie

I finally told Gwen to just take a photo with her and the poopie..
A mini-cupcake. One of the many reward options for going #2
Gwen also gets stickers on a potty chart to track progress
The first time Gwen completed a chart, I took her to Toys R Us and let her pick out anything. She wanted tools just like daddy. Fortunately for me, she has inexpensive tastes!
For those that are interested (which is probably 1% of you) here are a few other things that have helped with the process. I linked all of the items for your convenience...

1. The Potty Book for Girls (Gwen read this over and over)
2. Potty Power DVD (Gwen probably watched this 20 times. She loves it! The songs will haunt you in your sleep)
3. Baby Emma (She comes with her own potty and bottle. She actually pees!)
4. Potty on the Go (This tiny little potty can go anywhere. It fits in our diaper bag and is great if you are out and don't have access to a potty!)
5. Thomas. This girl loves trains. Many of her rewards for completely the chart have been a new train for her set. I think I'm spending almost as much money on rewards as I did on diapers!