Potty Training.....

So, I've been meaning to post on this for a few weeks, but that whole big trip got in the way! I've thought for many months that this summer we would embark on potty training.....for a few reasons. #1 - I would really like to only have one little one in diapers at a time. #2 - she has been doing both numbers on the potty for months, like since she was 18 months, at bath time & sometimes other random times during the day. #3 - the summer was supposed to have more "down-time" at the house so we'd have more time to work on it! HA!!! #3 turned out to be totally NOT true. We are barely home this summer!!!

Anyways, about 2 weeks before our trip to Florida, I figured I'd give it a go. So, on a Sunday afternoon, after her nap. I put her in training pants & told her what we were doing. I asked her about every 15-20 minutes if she needed to go. Sometimes she said yes, sometimes no. She managed to stay dry for about 3 or so hours & did all of her business on her potty until it was time to take her bath. I thought, "She's totally learning!".

The next morning we had swim class. So, she was in her swim diaper for that, of course. After class I dressed her in a pull up for going home & asked her if she needed to potty. She said yes - so she sucessfully had her first public potty experience. I thought (correctly!) that this is going too easily! We went home. That's when it started to break down. She started being not as interested in going potty, even for an M&M. She started saying no when I asked her if she needed to go.....having an accident almost immediately after I asked. I thought, maybe she's having issues with the training pants feeling like a diaper (I've heard that can be the case) so we tried the bare bottom approach. Well, those accidents are just too messy for my preference. Frustration was building. By the next day, I decided to stick with pull-ups! She was really getting tired of being asked all the time to potty, I think & didn't like leaving her toys so frequently.

Fast forward to our trip, we were in diapers the whole time, and she didn't want to sit on her potty AT ALL..... I thought I'd ruined what a good thing had started by pushing it too early. BUT, when we got home, she has been sitting on the potty again (whew!). We're currently on the non-stressful method - when we're home for a while, I put her in pull ups since they're easy to get up & down. I offer her to go whenever I need to go - which isn't as often as she needs to go, but frequent enough for her to go a few times a day. And if she goes other than that, it's in the pull up! I think I'll do this for a little while and let her increase how often she goes on the potty each day before we try it again. Ah.....the joys of potty training!