Potty Training with Elise

Elise has seemed ready to potty train for a while now. She would run and sit on the potty at random points in the day and actually potty on it, she would wake up from naps dry at times, she could pull her puts up and down on her own, and she could verbalize her need to go to the bathroom. I was just dragging my feet a little bit because she would get so darn mad when I asked her to sit on the potty and if I ever just physically tried to sit her down on it, she'd straight leg it while screaming. When at home I've been letting her run around nude on the bottom half for months and she'd have accidents on the floor at times but for the most part would use the potty. When we were out and about she'd want to go potty almost anytime Carter and I used a public bathroom. Anytime I tried to put her in undies, she'd scream and cry and say, "I wanna die-py." And to be honest, after the brutal struggle of potty training Carter I just wasn't interested in a fight. So we didn't. I just waited and figured when the timing seemed right, we'd go for it.

Our big girl using the potty chair! She uses both the toilet and the potty chair.

Sunday, July 30th, I had a long tempo run in the morning so Ty took the kids grocery shopping while I was gone. When he got home I found out Elise had wanted to wear undies that morning so he let her and she'd gone potty when he asked multiple times while out and about. She had an accident as she was walking into the house but that was it. I figured it was time so that week I decided to make the switch to undies. Monday morning I went to put Elise in undies and she started crying for a diaper. I told her, "No, Elise, you are a big girl. You are going to wear undies now," and she stopped crying and had no problems with the undies. I went ahead and put her in a swim diaper while we were at an aquatic center, for a playdate we had scheduled before I made the switch to undies, because I didn't want to ruin everyone's morning with a pool pooper. But while we were there Elise came over to me and said she had to potty. We high tailed it to the bathroom and she went! She was wearing a diaper but wanted to use the potty instead! Not what I've ever experienced before! I was so excited that we went to the store that evening so Elise could pick out whatever undies she wanted. She picked princess undies, bypassing Poppy from Trolls as well as Paw Patrol which surprised me! She was so excited about them she hugged them to her chest and wouldn't even show Carter which ones she picked for fear of him taking them from her. Wednesday, August 2nd, she went on her first outing in undies for storytime at the library and I was so proud of her. She didn't have any accidents and went when I asked her to. Then as we were leaving the library I had unlocked Carter's bike and we were getting ready to head home when she said she had to go. We rushed back inside and she wizzed up a storm! I was so proud of her for telling me she had to go and holding it until we got back inside.

She's been in undies for a little over a week now and will have an accident every once in a while but for the most part stays dry. She's only pooped in her pants once and that was when we were driving in the car. We got called out on a Meals on Wheels route last minute on Friday because someone didn't show up and they couldn't find anyone else to deliver. If I hadn't done it, the meals wouldn't have gone out. It wasn't exactly what I was wanting to do with a newly potty trained child, but we made it work. Two hours in and out of the car was a recipe for disaster but she did pretty darn well (we did make a couple stops at restrooms between houses). After that I bought some puppy pads to put in her car seat so if she does have an accident, her car seat won't get soiled. This round of potty training has been pretty uneventful and easy. I think that is mostly due to just waiting until she was ready but having Carter also helps. He is a great motivator and will actually ask her to go potty. What is amazing is that when he asks her to, she does! One day he was sitting on the toilet and she was messing around in the bathroom. He told her she should go sit on the potty too while he was going to the bathroom so she did. He also offers her things sometimes so we had to talk about what he is allowed to offer her for going on the potty. His most creative was a bubble bath and the most self-interested was ice cream.

Little Miss has been using the whole pottying thing to her advantage as a way to get out of bed at night so we've had to limit her to getting up to potty once at night. She was getting up 3-4 times in a row after we put her down for bed saying she needed to potty. She'd only go the first time she came out. I was impressed this morning when I discovered she woke up dry! She's still wearing a diaper for naps and bedtime because she's such a hard sleeper and I don't want her to miss out on sleep because she's waking up wet. For the most part it seems like she can hold it for a decent amount of time though. I was trying to get her to go about every 30 minutes but when we're home I let her go on her own unless we're leaving the house, then I ask her to go before we leave. I'll remind her at times or ask her if she has to go, but at home pretty much just let her do her own thing. She's had a few times where she went over an hour without needing to go! I am so thankful that potty training Elise has been a different experience from potty training Carter and I'm so proud of what a wonderful job she has done as well as what a supportive helper Carter has been throughout! Oh, and a side note, Elise doesn't respond well to food bribery but I can entice her to get on the potty by letting her look at pictures on my phone! Read about our adventures potty training Carter with a learning theme here and a potty training update here. The rest of the information about Carter and potty training can be found in his monthly updates.

It all started with an interest because her big brother was doing it!