When I first heard that out loud by a couple in our new ward, who was trying this 3 day method of potty training their daughter who is Kate's age, I thought NO WAY!!! But I can honestly say it can be done.
I was wanting to get Kate potty trained by the end of the summer so that I could put her into a tumbling class or dance class this fall. Most classes require that your child be potty trained, and frankly I have taught kids who have diapers hanging out of their leotard and just think the two don't mix. I had completely forgotten how I potty trained Zach and was open to anything that would work. So, two Sundays ago, I asked the mom, of the little girl in Kate's nursey class, how she was doing this 3-day method, and by Monday she had emailed me the electronic book. On Tuesday I read over the jist of it all, but was still hesitant to give it a try on Kate.
Well, one week later, this past Monday, Zach, Kate and I set out to Babies R Us to get "Big Girl" underwear. Kate's only request was that they were to be purple. We picked up 12 pairs of Disney Princess and Dora underwear, and Kate cuddled with them the entire ride home.
So Tuesday started the process. Kate woke up, I put the "Big Girl" underwear on her and followed her around all day helping her recognize the signs and teaching her to tell me when she needed to go to the bathroom. Accident after accident I was more frustrated with myself for wanting to even try. She did have two successes, one #1 and one #2, so there was a glimmer of hope. Plus she woke up dry from her nap!
The book I read said to never put them in diapers again. Well I broke that rule and put her in a pull-up for the night. I was plesantly surprised when she woke up dry the next morning. Then we started it all over again. Same thing though, accident after accident and I was getting more frustrated. By the end of the day though she was starting to recognize the feeling of needing to go and was at least heading to the toilet before she had her accidents. I was pretty much ready to give up at this point, thinking she was just never going to catch on. She did however make it to the toilet earlier that day to go #2, but the rest were all accidents.
I would ask her where she should go potty and she would say, "In my underwear!" I was ready to give up, but thought the book did say to give it 3 days and to be consistant. Again, I put her in a pull-up for the night and was happy day 2 was finally over. I went to bed thinking just get me through day 3 so I could at least say I tried it and then I could finally get her back to diapers. But seeing that I was to do this for another day I decided to add my own twist to the whole potty training thing...CANDY! Kate loves candy and so I thought if a little treat couldn't help her to use the toilet, then she just wasn't ready.
Well, the next morning she woke up completely dry again. So again I put her in "Big Girl" underwear and she surprised me. She had NO accidents ALL DAY! I could not believe it. The darn 3 day method worked. Started Tuesday, potty trained by Thursday.
I am happy to report that we have not had one accident since and we even got through church. I am definitely hoping that this is the end to diapers for Kate. I will still put her in a pull-up at night, at least until she wakes up dry for several days. I am still in awe that she did it! Way to go Kate!
And thanks to Grandma for your sweet package. It came at a perfect time to reward Kate for this great accomplishment. She loves Purple! And loves her bandaids.
