Potty training!

Just three days ago, Coral was terrified of the potty. She wouldn't go near the potty and would run when you asked if she wanted to sit on it. Today, she is almost potty trained. I have heard plenty of times that Coral will be potty trained early. I didn't think so though, mostly because of her fear of the toilet, and she seemed to be still wetting a lot of diapers (a sign that she wasn't learning how to control her bladder and hold her pee). But the other day, she just simply refused to put a new diaper on. I told her that's fine, but she better not poop or pee on the floor. To my amazement, she held her pee for almost two hours, and when she started to go , she said oops and stopped herself and asked for a new diaper. Ah ha! So she CAN hold her bladder and she is smart enough to understand that she can't pee or poop on the floor. It's time to get potty trained. First we went to the store to get a little seat for the potty. I wanted her to learn to go on the big potty rather then on the little ones designed for toddlers, simply because big toilets are everywhere....little ones are not and I do not want to carry a mini potty around with me everywhere.


Coral picked out a seat with Elmo and cookie monster on it. Then she got to pick out her very own stool to help her get on the potty. She was quite proud of her new purchase. Next we had to decide when we would potty train. I wanted to give her a few days where I knew we were not going anywhere, and our time could be completely potty focused. We started yesterday. My game plan was to just let Coral go completely naked all day, and when she asks for a new diaper, I would know that she has to go. I had my stain remover, and was ready for lots of accidents. Next I made a smoothie for Coral, and put ground flaxseed in it. I normally would never give her an extra amount of fiber, but I also know that for most toddlers, getting them to poop on the potty is the hardest, and I wanted her stool to be softened to make it easier for her. Then I gave her salty crackers, which made her thirsty, but gave her apple juice to drink (which is high in sugar, so it doesn't quench your thrust, making you want to drink more). I wanted her to drink lots and have her little bladder full so she had lots of opportunities to use the potty. Next we played with her doll.


Her baby sat on the potty, and I would squirt water from a bottle behind the baby's back, making it look like the baby was going potty. Coral was impressed. She was even more impressed when baby got a candy for going potty.


She kept asking to sit on the potty, but wouldn't pee. From 8 till almost 11 yesterday morning Coral held her pee. She was squirming. She was crossing her legs, and every now and the she would let a little drip out, but quickly stopped herself. As soon as she did I would scoop her up and put her on the potty. I kept repeating over and over that she couldnt go potty on the floor. Finally the poor girl couldn't hold it any longer and she gave in, and went potty for the first time on the toilet. We called daddy right away to tell him the news. Coral then got to put on her first pair of panties. I told her once we put panties on there are no more diapers. I wanted to go straight to panties, skipping pull ups (naps and bedtime being the exception where she wears a pull up with her panties over top of it since they don't have control while they sleep yet). I felt using pull ups would only make the process so much longer. It feels like a diaper, it looks like a diaper, really what's stopping them from just using it like a regular diaper. Nope, cold turkey was my method. Once Coral had that first pee on the potty , she caught on very quickly. The rest of the day she had five pees in the potty and two poops. She had two tiny accidents in her panties, but both times she stopped herself and ran to the potty. She woke up in the middle of the night and screamed for the potty, and had a pee before going back to sleep. Today I have given her some space, and have been letting her tell me when she has to go. She says " sit on potty" or "its potty time" whenever she has to go. So far today we are 100% accident free, so she is doing great, but we haven't gone anywhere or seen anyone. The real test will be when are out doing errands, or on a long drive to my parents house, or at Sunday school, or play dates with friends. Will she still tell me that she has to go potty during those times? Today we are very proud parents. I am very thankful that Coral caught on so quickly. Yesterday was one of the most exhausting parenting days I have had in a very long time. Potty training is a lot of work, and takes every second of your attention. I really can't imagine what other parents go through when it takes their child a long time to catch on. I have heard that girls are easier to potty train then boys...Crystal, I will be bringing you a bottle of wine when it's time for Kaden to tackle the potty. This new excitement also brings new fear of the unknown. We have never known parenting where our child is out of diapers. I am sure grocery shopping will be three times as long now, and I don't even want to think about taking Coral swimming (getting in and out of the pool for potty runs? No thank you). Little miss Coral, we love you and are very proud of you.