Helpful Mom

Well I am Soooo excited to say that Mikayla has completely got the peeing part down pat.  She’s still working on the pooing part but come on it’s only been 5 days!  I am now completely sold on this potty party idea.  Even though it worked so well with Katrina I was still skeptical but figured I’d try with Mikayla.  If you know my girls at all you know that even though they look like twins they have completely opposite personalities, so that’s why I doubted.  But after going through it twice now I am amazed.  It’s not easy and it’s a long day but it’s worth it if it doesn’t take months to try to train a child.

I was talking with a friend today at the playground and I realized that I forgot to tell you about one more product I found pertaining to this subject.  It’s a toilet seat for your standard toilet that has childsized potty seat built into it, so it has one for adults And one for kids in one.  No separate seat to put on and off and have laying around, no extra potty toilet taking up space or having to empty buckets.  And this way after my kids are done using potty chairs we can still have one available when we have guests with kids. Potty Pal Standard Toilet Seat is available through Amazon or Target for $24.99

The good news of the day is that my living room floor is littered with dinosaurs.  Why on earth would a mess of toys be good news?  It means Mikayla is getting a hang of this potty training thing!  Not perfect but getting there.  I still can’t believe it.

The deal of the day is at Thrifty Shopper in Henrietta.  On Jefferson Rd in the plaza across from Southtown.  They have all their kids toys, books, and videos on sale 50% off.  I found boxes of books that are full of all sorts of books for only $0.05 which on top of that are half off and I had a coupon!   So I got a whole stack of workbooks for my future homeschooling endeavors for pennies.  In case you’re interested they are going to be having a back to school sale this weekend-50% off kids clothes-August 16.  If you go to their website you can print out coupons that you can use in addition to their sales.   Thrifty Shopper

Well it’s been two days since the potty party and I think it’s been fairly successful.  Mikayla does not want to get back into diapers at all and she no longer says she’s a baby.  She understands what is expected of her and wants to do it.  I think what the problem she’s having is being able to consistently identify that feeling that tells her she has to go.  Yesterday morning Joel got the girls up and by the time I came down she’d already had two accidents.  By noon Joel was saying we should go back to diapers whenever we left the house!  I say we have to give her a few days at least before we throw in the towel.  She’s willing and understands so she just needs practice.  Well that afternoon she was playing and all of a sudden gives me this look and says I have to pee!  And she did in the potty.  Yeah!  And since then she’s been doing fairly well, I’d say it’s 50/50 right now.  I remember with Katrina that it wasn’t till two weeks after the party that I officially called it a success so I’m praying it will about the same for Mikayla.

It’s not all roses though because it’s a party concept it involves presents and treats.  So now Mikayla is present crazy and her sister wants gifts and treats too so I have to be creative in being fair.  Instead of giving Mikayla her finale gift, since it is a tub of dinosaurs, I wrapped them each individually and told her that for each time she successfully makes it to the potty and goes she will receive a gift.  I let Katrina open it for her because Mikayla can’t rip through the paper herself and they can share as the set grows.  And for trying to go or practicing when she’s had an accident they each get one skittles candy.  My hope is that by the time Mikayla earns all her dinosaurs she will have mastered potty training.

Some of my favorite products to use during potty training are the piddle pad, which is a waterproof liner for your car seat so if they have an accident you don’t have to tear your car seat apart to wash it. $8 on Amazon A waterproof picnic blanket to put on your couch or other such furniture while your little one is learning.  That way they can sit and cuddle without you stressing out over if they are going to ruin the couch.  $9.99 on Amazon And our absolute favorite is the travel potty by cool gear.  It’s on Amazon for $21 It folds up like a briefcase with a handle for the kids to carry it around.  When it unfolds it has two legs that also serve as pockets to store changes of clothes, pullups, treats, stickers, and extra plastic bags.  They use gallon sized Ziploc bags that you throw away after use.  I love this product because it’s so portable and if you saw it folded up you would have no idea I was carrying a toilet and it’s so convenient.  I can pull off the road anywhere and the girls can use it right inside the van.  I take it to the playground and parks, you know how that is lots of parks have no bathrooms or it’s too far away for your kid to make it, or if your kids are like mine they are afraid of full size toilet seats.  We use it so much we finally bought a second one for my husbands car for when he takes them disc golfing, that way wherever they are on the course the girls can go without panic and I don’t end up without mine ;P

This weeks big event was the potty training of my 2 ½ yr old. She is going to preschool this fall and has to be potty trained, or at least started. So I knew the day was coming…A friend recommended the book Potty Train Your Child in Just One Day by Teri Crane. We were skeptical when we tried it with our older daughter last year, but after trying it and giving it two weeks we were sold. It totally works! So the last two weeks I’ve been rereading the book (cramming you might say) and gathering my supplies for our “Potty Party”.

Today was the day. And it was a long day. I got up early to get dressed and get Katrina ready to go with Grandma for the day. Then bracing myself I got Mikayla up. She was so excited about her potty party. We spent the morning teaching her new doll how to use the potty, that way she’s learning by teaching and all correction goes towards the doll not the child. Throughout the morning we also watched various potty videos and ready potty books and played games, etc. After lunchtime I gave her big girl panties wrapped up. We threw out her diapers and dressed her in her panties. And we spent the rest of the afternoon watching more videos, reading more books, and practicing going potty over and over and over til it was naptime and a break for mom. I have to say it wasn’t perfect but she is definitely getting it. Before the party when we’d talk about the idea she’d insist that she was a baby not a big girl. But when I told her she could have the dolls treat if she promised to use the potty when she became a big girl she immediately declared she is a big girl. She even wanted to practice using the potty when the doll did. And once she got her panties she threw a fit when she realized that I wanted her to wear pullups for naps and bedtime. We compromised she wore pullups with panties on top. The first time she had an accident it was a total loss, but the second time she realized what was happening, stopped and ran and finished on the potty! Thank God for small victories. It gives me hope that a potty party may actually work as well for the second kid as the first!