Potty Training On-the-Go 31 Style!

It's that time again!!!  POTTY TIME!!!  My youngest turns two and the current question of those inquisitive of my motherly training, "Is she potty trained yet?  I trained mine in three days!  I didn't train mine at all, they trained themselves, mine were born trained."  I've heard all the great ways to potty train  my girls, but in the end, they are two normal girls who take a normal amount of training.  So now that we've got that straight, I got some cool tools to help you get through the madness if you don't have a little Einstein of the potty room.

Being a ThirtyOne Director, I'm never at a loss for bags, the fun part is finding a use for ALL of them.  So for one of my favorite little Mini Zipper pouches, I came up with the Potty Tools to go!

All you need is a Mini Zipper Pouch, Purell Wipes, germ-X wipe, M&M and/or sucker(for reward for going), Mint Alcohol in small spray bottle to clean down toilet and extra set of undies, you can purchase the mint alcohol at Walmart.  I also pack a mini-doggy bag(dollar store) for soiled undies and keep a clean pair of clothes in the car.  This is just my grab and go!!  The strap is great to hang in bathrooms to!

**Potty Training Girls**

A few tips I have learned my second time around.

  1. Go slow! Pressuring your child will delay the process(I speak from experience) HA! 

2. Make it FUN-stickers, M&M's, Dance, Silly Song, Hi-fives!

3. Make it EASY-practice makes perfect

4. Purchase Large Jug of White Vinegar(cleaner for carpet and undies, kills the smell)

5. Accidents happen everywhere, your carpet and sanity will survive

6. In the Car- A travel Potty, Jug of Water, Wipes and toilet paper(you will not always

have access to a public bathroom, I have stopped on the side of the road many times)

7. Buy a Fels Naptha Bar at Walmart/Ace Hardware(looks like a bar of soap, but

will get all those stains out from a uhoh accident)

8. REWARD your child with something BIG once they are accident free for a month!

                                    www.mythirtyone.com/christinatremblay

Potty Training #4

Today Madison did something new, she decided to christen Chic-fila and Target.  My rule is to always take her when something changes, for instance, driving, then getting out of the car to go eat.  Should have gone straight to potty, I know her little bladder won't last.  Well, in the middle of lunch she stood up and gave an "uhoh" look.  Yep, right there all over the seat and floor in Chic-fila.  I should have learned my lesson then, but I decided to run to Target for a few things, and right in the middle of the big aisle, she yells, "mommy, peepee now!"  We started running...looking quite humorous to other shoppers as pee runs down her legs..we finally made it to the bathroom as I stack all my items on the floor outside the door, so not to be accused of stealing.  She finished, changed clothes and off to check out...yep....some days are just better than others!  HA!  We have made it almost a week with no accidents, just to have a crazy day of a few accidents.  Soon, I shall make this a book of potty training woes, for all the people who can't potty train their child in a day.  Someday I will look back and laugh at these moments, but for now, I will still turn beat red every time I'm running through a store following my 3yr old screaming, "PeePee mama!! NOW!"  While humbling telling a Target associate...."ya might wanna clean up on aisle 10.  My daughter left a little surprise." 

Potty Training Part 3

We made it to March 1st and we are not accident free.  I tried my hardest and darnedest.  It just wasn't going to happen.  She does well staying a dry a half a day, while we run errands and occasionally a night or two, but mostly still has accidents pretty much all the time.  Usually change undies 2-3x a day.  I take her every time I go, I take her in between when I go.  We talk about it all day long.  She still gets treats and stickers.  It seems like though, last week and this week she has completely regressed and going more than the normal 2-3x a day.  I ask her and she emphatically says, "NO! No potty right now mom."  Then goes in her pants.  It's really exhilarating and fun for me to clean out dirty undies all day, its one of my hobbies now.(insert sarcasm)
The funny thing is, my trip to Walgreen's and Ross the other day took awhile and we had 30min. to and from the area and she stayed completely dry.  I have full confidence that she knows how to potty.  She is a very smart little girl.  I think she is just choosing not to do in the bathroom which is so frustrating.  Three months of this and I'm ready to throw in the towel.  I don't need another book, or another, "you should have done this....you could have tried that....."  "My daughter potty trained in a day...mine was in a week, mine was in 2 weeks... you must be doing something wrong."  All the comments are annoying and bragging how easy it was to train your child makes this process even more exhausting.
The current plan is start wearing panties day in and day out for another month, like we did for Jan. and Feb. and see where we go from there.  I hate to do this, but I'm just going to have to bite the bullet by more plastic pants to wear over her panties and buy more panties to get us through an entire day or two before doing laundry.

Elmo's Potty Time: Sesame Street

Tinkle, Tinkle Little Star (To the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle")
Tinkle, tinkle you're the star.
You're a big girl; yes, you are.
Use the potty; yes, you can
Then you know to wash your hands
Tinkle, tinkle you're the star.
You're a big girl; yes, you are.
Tinkle, tinkle you're the star.
You're a big girl; yes, you are.
No more diapers. No more mess.
Use the potty. Yea! Success!
Tinkle, tinkle you're the star.
You're a big girl; yes, you are.
Tinkle, tinkle you're the star.
You're a big girl; yes, you are.
Use the potty; wash your hands
Wear the big girl  training pants
Tinkle, tinkle you're the star.
You're a big girl; yes, you are. 

We love to sing this song! :)

For all my friends that are potty training, I thought you might appreciate these potty helpers. 

Here's another youtube video that makes Madi crack up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y-W-_8c2n8

Potty Training, one of my New Years Resolution!

My 2011 New Years resolution was to Potty Train Madison and hopefully do it as quickly as possible.  So I decided to try the 3 Day Potty training method, I had a few friends that swear by it.  So off we went with the 3 day event.  Well, it didn't work so well, although it did get her jump started.  Our first day was Jan. 1 and I bought more undies, a potty calendar, a valentine sweet-tarts.  The treats and calender work great and she is going pretty well.  The only problem is we are still having tons of accidents, so after banging my head against the wall and running out of ideas from friends, families, books, the internet, I caved and we went to pullups.  She is still going potty everyday...LOTS of times during the day, but still having accidents.  I think some kids are just harder to train then others.  She does know what to do, she is just either playing to hard or just gets sidetracked and goes in her pants instead of running to the bathroom when she actually needs to go. We are now a month in..and fingers crossed, lets hope by March 1st I can finally announce we are accident free.

Potty Training Part 1

Yesterday I decided I was going to bite the bullet and start to introduce Madison to potty training. We have already been talking about it for months and I have even put her on the big potty just to try it out when she needed to go number 2. She has gone a few times for me, but very reluctantly and it was more of being made to do it then wanting to.
We live in a two story house so from all the Potty Training books I have been reading at the library they insisted you needed more than one potty, so I went and bought the cheapest one at Target to cover both floors. I had Madison pick it out, and I even had her pick out another pack of girly undies since I know we will be having lots of little accidents. She was thrilled and even wanted to sit on it while we were at Target, so I let her...fully clothed of course! haha Well, since last night, she has ran to the bathroom, said, "Potty, Potty!" And insisted I take her diaper off. Today we did the same thing, I let her go with me each time I went and she sat as long as I sat. And it was until late this afternoon before dinner, she finally went "tee tee" for me, but unfortunately, she was standing up and not sitting down, but I cheered for her and told her next time we would do it in the potty, but I gave her lots of praise for running in there, taking her diaper off and trying at least. So I think she is starting to get the hang of it, and right now its so fun for her so I'm hoping I can keep my patience and not make a big deal about the accidents, and overly praise her when she finally gets it right. And for my sake I'm hoping this process goes faster than slower to keep my sanity!