[potty] Train a Child in the Way She Should Go...

I did not plan to potty train Langley this week.  Here's the story...

I've noticed that she has not had any accidents at school in at least 2 weeks.  I know this because she wears a pull up to school, but they have a stash of diapers there for her, and she was coming home with a dry pull up.  They take all the kids to the bathroom several times a day and apparently through peer pressure she got the hang of it.

For a month or so I would know for a fact that she needed to pee then I would put her on the potty and wait her out.  She loved the celebration stickers and candy that came from the reward, but sometimes she would sit for 10 minutes.

Anyway, Thursday morning she had taken off her pull up and peed in her bed.  I was over it, so I promptly sat her on the potty and she peed!  This is what started it all.

I knew I had no plans and we would be home for several days, so I put her in panties.  I sat her on the potty every hour.  There were zero accidents.  None.  I was amazed and SO EXCITED!  I put a pull up on her at naptime and explained that she needed to keep her pull up dry like her panties, but sometimes it's hard to hold our pee in our sleep. She was dry after nap time and we had success the rest of the day.  We even left the house to get Sonic for lunch.

So that was Thursday and now it is Saturday night.  She's had ONE accident. Praise God! 

Yes, I force her on the potty each hour, but just today she has told me twice that she needed to go and, in fact, did.  It's all finally clicking.  Praise God!

We've gone through 2 sheets of stickers.  And, at least four packs of fruit snacks.  Yes, my child thinks fruit snacks are candy and I give her one piece at at time.   Not feeding her a lot of crap is really paying off during this time of bribery.

Every child is so different.  I'm sure this "method" would not work for many other kids, but maybe it's encouragement if you've tried and (miserably) failed the whole 3 day bootcamp thing like we did when she was 22 or 23 months old.  Langley will be 2 1/2 next week, I feel like her verbal skills and the fact that I'm not pregnant have been our main factors of success.  Oh, and preschool.  Praise God for our part time preschool!

Also, TODAY we changed her crib to a toddler bed.  These are two huge changes this week and I'm so proud of her, but it also hurts my heart a little. Naptime today was the first time she slept in it.  I laughed til I cried watching her on the monitor.  I had to go in her room 3 times, but she fell asleep after 25 minutes.  We put her to bed about 20 minutes ago and she appears to be asleep and did not get out of bed. 

These are two big milestones that I've worried about for months.  I am in no hurry to make her grow up faster than I have to. I just knew they would be horrific changes and adjustments.  I felt like she was "behind" or too babyish.  Not so.  Not so at all.  When it's time, it's time and your child gives you cues. Will there be regression and some long nights ahead?  I'm sure.  But, she has reached these milestones like a champ!

I'm going to spend the rest of the night looking at pictures from when she rolled over, sat up, and took her first steps - because wasn't that just yesterday?