Potty Training Progress

YEY!!! Potty training ... it's a process. Taylor started showing an interest in the potty around 14 mos. We bought her a potty chair. She went "poopy" on the potty once around that same time. She went through a phase in which she was obsessed with the potty but she never did anything productive. For the last few months the potty has become a game. And, it's been a game that's been wearing very thin on our patience. She got into a routine of going in her diaper, then telling us she needed to go potty and then having fun playing on the potty. OK. She had the whole thing backwards. So, a few weeks ago, John had had enough and said you only get to go on the potty before you go pee or poop. If you've already gone in your diaper, then you simply get your diaper changed and that's it. Well...apparently that was the right move because in the last 2 weeks she's gone poop on the potty 3x!!! Tonight for the first time, she came to me and told me she had to go potty & I scooped her up, ran to the bathroom, plopped her on the potty and she went "poopy" almost immediately. This is so different from the hiding in the corner in embarrassment. And the 2x before this, in which she actulaly went on the potty, we basically took her against her will. She was crying. Actually tonight, when I was putting her on the potty she said "I cry, Mommy. OK? I cry".

Yes, we have some interesting conversations around the whole potty activities. Even when she poops in her diaper I flush it down the toilet. I've read that toddlers have psychological issues about losing a part of themselves, so for the last year or so, I've just done that so she knows it's separate from her and she flushes it, herself most of the time. There was the time awhile ago, in which she flushed it, looked into the toilet & waved saying "Bye, bye poopy. See you tomorrow!".

Lately she's been saying "I'm gonna make a big one, Mommy". Oh, and my personal favorite..."I'm gonna make a new one, Mommy".

So, potty training is a process, requiring an immense amount of patience and I think all of us need the reinforcement that we're making progress. I need to think of a way to entice her more with rewards. The thing is, most of her favorite things we do on a daily basis (ie, coloring, stickers, etc). Oh, maybe we could do a potty chart. a star sticker for each potty and then so many stars = a special reward. Now we're onto something.