It's Potty Time!

Potty training has officially started around our house and I couldn't be more excited. It may just be me, but do you have those times when you start to doubt yourself as a parent? When it came to potty training that's how I felt. As soon as Olivia turned two people were telling me, "it's time for her to start using the potty." So since these were seasoned parents that were telling me this, I tried to start getting Olivia to use the potty. It was AWFUL!!! She would scream and cry every time I set her on the potty. We bought all the fun potty chairs, the one that sings, the one that has the comfy seat, one that goes on the toilet. Everything that we tried she hated! Too stressed and ready to throw in the towel, I started reading online about how your not supposed to push your child. They will give you cues letting you know when their ready to go to the potty. So, it's been almost six months since Olivia turned two and just over the weekend she started showing interest in the potty!! YAY!!! Yesterday was her first day to pee in the potty. I was so excited! Someone posted on my Facebook page, "it's the small things." That's so true. Olivia peeing in the potty wasn't just that she was peeing in the potty, but to me, it confirmed that I'm not an ill fit parent and that with enough guidance and prayer, we'll get through this too. :) Obviously I don't have all the answers. I'm usually the one with all the questions, but here's what's worked for us so far.

She loves her Dora potty seat. It goes on the regular toilet. I figured she'd rather use her singing potty chair, but nope, she likes this one the best.

It's all about the "praise" around here and this chart does just that. I found this potty chart idea and made it my own. I love the free printables that they have, but I didn't have any foam board around the house, so I just pieced card stock paper together and went from there. I love the way it turned out and it's been a huge hit! I take Olivia to the potty every 15 minutes. (I'm hoping to add 5 minutes more a day or every two days so tomorrow it will be every 20 minutes. Yesterday it was every 10 minutes). When she "gives it a try" she gets to put a pair of panties on her chart. When she pees in the potty she gets to put a pair of panties on the chart and so on.

I also have a bag of goodies. (Mainly items for the dollar store). When she pees in the potty she gets to pick an item from the goodie bag. If she has an accident in her panties then she has to give me her item back and then when she pees in the potty again she gets her toy back and so on. So far this has worked great too. I don't plan on giving her "treats" forever, but probably for the first week she will get a prize. I'm so proud of her. :)

Here's the end result. Pure bliss. She's been so proud of herself too. When she gets done she will jump up and down and clap and say, "I did it, I did it." It's so sweet! Life with toddlers is definitely about the small things. If you're in the midst of potty training and it's not working, take a break. Who cares what everyone says. That's what we did and now she's done it in her own time and she's so excited about it. If you've had luck with potty training what did you do that made potty training such a success? I'd love to hear about it.