Potty Training Diary - Days 3.5 - 4.5

Day 3.5 (after nap):

I knew it...she pooped again at nap! I ran in, changed her and told her to "Go.To.Sleep.". She's still in there talking. I purchased Elmo's Potty Time on iTunes, can't wait to try it out after nap!

Sat on potty after nap, no pee but did enjoy 5-10 minutes of our newly downloaded Elmo's potty time.

Sat on potty about 30 minutes later after having half a cup of juice. Reading her "Together at Heart" book from Gma and Gpa Bawk Bawk...I'm running out of new ideas to keep this fresh! No pee.

Mommy ran to target to get more toilet paper, flush able wipes, pullups and a new potty. While I was gone, Daddy was in charge. I got back to a little girl holding an ice cream cone with a BIG grin on her face. Apparently she was running around crying, Daddy knew that she had to go and tried on the little potty but he didn't want to. Then he took her to the bathroom to try the big potty. She started going on the floor and daddy quickly put her on the pot. After a little more coaxing, she went like a champ! This wasn't just a little tinkle...this was a full blown pee pee experience!! Daddy and Layla were so proud that they ate ice cream to celebrate. :)

Tried to potty before bath on her new potty...she seems to really like this one but no pee. Mommy is just excited to not have to run around the house holding a toddler toilet all day now that we have two.

Probably peed in the bath because she didn't pee before bed either. It was an early bedtime today since Layla didn't get a nap.

I'm so proud of the progress we made today! Let's hope we can keep this up!

Day 4 (morning):

We had a terrible night. Layla was wide awake from midnight to 3 am. They say when babies learn something new (rolling over, crawling, sitting up...) that they don't sleep as well because they want to keep practicing. Maybe this applies to toddlers and potty training?

Unbelievably she woke up at 8:30am. I feel like I've had 3 minutes of sleep. In that 3 minutes I had 2 dreams. In one, Layla pooped on the potty. In the second, Will Smith came to our house to potty train her. Apparently this is going to take an effort of Men In Black proportions. I'm expecting Tommy Lee to ring our doorbell at any moment.

Layla sits on her potty without a fuss while I make breakfast but doesn't "make any pee".

I'm staring to recognize Ls potty patterns. She really only goes once before lunch. So we have a big glass of milk for breakfast and a 1/2 glass of AJ/water. My guess is in 30-40 minutes we'll be running around crying because she has to pee.

It has now been 30 minutes and I can tell Layla is exhausted from our long night. I have a feeling this isn't growing to be a very productive potty day. I sit her on her potty to watch some Little Einsteins while she screams "I want ice cream". Thanks for starting that last night Daddy...I decide to never leave the house alone again. I watch as no pee is produced and Layla stuffs her clean underwear in and out of her shirt.

I have never in my life prayed for something so stupid as for my child to pee in her potty. I have no shame.

10 minutes later she starts running around and crying. I tried to get her on every potty we own but she just wanted me to hold her. Finally she started peeing standing up and I rushed her to her potty. Lots of pee made it in the pot after some screaming and fit throwing. An LOTS of pee made it on Mommy. Thankfully the floor was spared. But this is great! Second success in a row where more than a few drops made it in. I just hope she starts to realize that it's okay to go on the potty...she's really starting to get ticked when she has to hold it.

I've learned that dressing in layers is an absolute necessity when potty training...less clothes for the toddler, more clothes for the Mommy. While Layla was still on the potty, just in case, I start peeling a layer off to get cleaned up. I take my eyes off her for TWO SECONDS and turn around to her putting her hands in her pee and then shaking them violently. The is pee on the dogs, floor, back of the couch, all of her and her potty, and several books. I am going to light a match, burn the house down and rebuild when this is all over.

As I'm making lunch accident #2 happened. I didn't catch this one at all so no pee in the pot.

Finally naptime....she sat on the potty for almost 30 minutes watching cartoons. I have a feeling that we need to switch our strategy. She's obviously holding it and knows not to go in her pants, but she's having a hard time understanding it is ok in the potty. After nap I'm just going to read her signs for having to go and stop forcing her to sit to hopefully reduce both of our frustrations. We'll see how that goes.

As I'm typing this, I can hear L's monitor flicking on and off. I run in there to find her unplugging the monitor (it is right behind her crib) and what do you know...she pooped. Ugh, she will not be pooped trained until she's in Junior High if she keeps this up. I'm now back from starting laundry and she is SCREAMING bloody murder in her room. She has to be tired....I am exhausted.

People that say they potty trained their kids in one day and it was "no big deal" are liars and I hate them. Man, I need a nap.

Time again to reflect on our success:

*Day 1- Getting her acquainted with the potty and repeating the concept of "pee goes in the potty" 1,000 times. Plus she's learning to hold it. CHECK! Lost count of accidents but had 7 successful tinkles in potty.

*Day 2 - Getting her more comfortable sitting on the potty than she was on Day 1. Getting more pee in the potty than on Day 1. CHECK! Had 7 accidents and 4 successful tinkles in potty.

*Day 3- Getting her even more comfortable on the potty and getting more pee on the potty. Also, recognizing Layla's "gotta go" signs. Getting her to pee in the pot without having an accident right beforehand CHECK! Had 6 accidents and 5 successful tinkles in potty.

*Day 4 (so far)- Reduce the amount of time L is on the potty by reading her "gotta go" signs. Get more pee in the potty. So far we have had 2 accidents and 1 successful GOOD potty experience.