potty training 101 with khloe heinrich

She's ready!  Am I?

Let's be honest ... I never would have attempted potty training with Colton when he was this age.  But then again, I had a two month old who I was trying to get to sleep through the night.  I was adjusting to life with two little ones in the house.  It was Christmas time, and let's face it ... who is excited about potty training?  Not this Mom!

Last winter, Colton successfully completed my potty training "course".  It all began when he was 26 months old, and he saw some undies purchased for him by an Aunt (thanks, Brenda) for Christmas sitting on his dresser.  He pointed to them, and he said that he wanted to wear them.  I laughed ... and then quickly realized that he was serious.  So, not wanting to discourage the little guy (even though, I was quite happy changing those yucky diapers ... I feared the unknown!), I told him that if he wanted to wear them, he could only pee in the potty.  He seemed okay with that ... I wasn't too sure he really got what I meant.  It didn't take but a few pee accidents and about a week of my fear that he would pee everywhere in the house and everywhere we went ... when I realized, I think this kid has a handle on this "potty" thing.  Now, poo was a different story.  Colton only did that at nap and bedtime ... and since I wasn't night or sleep training, yet ... I never had to deal with poo ... until I realized, he was never going to poo in the potty, if he could help it!  But last winter, he braved the unknown, and he learned that pooing in the potty wasn't so bad.  Night training was a cinch, and we've been done with his potty training ever since!

I was thrilled and so ready to be done with that.  Then I realized ... I would have to do that again.  Khloe was still pretty young at that point ... only 15 months old.  So, I didn't feel pressure, but I haven't been looking forward to starting her training at all.

Then I got pregnant ... again.  So, I decided I better get a jump on this thing while I still have plenty of time to make sure it sticks!  Sometime ago, maybe last winter or early spring, Khloe grabbed my hand and said, "Potty, potty, potty!" while she dragged to the toilet in the bathroom.  Not too long after that, I bought a potty chair.  Since about late April/May, I have sent Koki into the bathroom to use the potty whenever I change her diaper here at home.  She is excited to go, and uses the potty chair ... but she never had a dry diaper!  She was always using her diaper, as well.  Also, I had my huge 6 week trip this summer, and I wasn't about to do the potty training or go through learning while we were driving so much and at other people's homes for such a long stretch.  I waited until all of that was over.

As I thought more about it, I decided I would wait until she turned two.  Then last week, I started to run out of diapers.  I had only a few left, and I didn't want to make a big SAMs Club run until this coming week.  So ... as I stared down into her drawer where a few diapers lingered next to about twenty pairs of panties, I changed my mind and decided now was as good a time as any to see if she is ready to be potty trained.  22 months ... not exactly when I wanted to begin, but here we are.

So far, it's been 3 1/2 days.  Usually, I would like to stay home for those days.  However, we have gone to a frozen yogurt place, to a restaurant, to church, to a food truck fair, to someone's house for a few hours, to the store several times, and to the park ... she has stayed dry for ALL of those outings.  I was so very nervous on Sabbath when we were at church and she held it for an hour and a half!  (She will not potty in the big toilet.) She has had a couple of potty accidents at home, but a couple isn't half bad.  Absolutely no accidents on Saturday!  I have been very happy with her progress, and even though, it looks like she may turn into Colton with her poo activity ... I'm only worried about her daytime pee progress at this point.  We'll jump into night training later ... when she moves to a big girl bed ... as long as I can hold out!  Ha, ha!