Jump ahead to Sugarplum, nearly 2 \u00bd.\u00a0 I decided to jump in with the New Year and just get it done.\u00a0 Mostly because I knew if we didn\u2019t do it now, we\u2019d have to wait until after the arrival of baby #3 before trying again (I am in no mood for her deciding to go back to diapers when baby arrives).\u00a0 So we did it.\u00a0 The first few days were awful.\u00a0 Pee accidents all the time, nothing going in the potty and maybe I should have given up but was willing to try harder with the deadline we have.\u00a0 I took the same approach as with Honeybun\u00a0and took the\u00a0underwear\u00a0away, letting her spend her time at home with just a dress or skirt on.<\/p>\n
By a week she was doing great, we even had a stretch of 4 days without a single accident (around day 12).\u00a0 She still struggled with the poo side of things but that\u2019s normal.\u00a0 I started taking her\u00a0underwear\u00a0off in the morning when she usually pooed and didn\u2019t given them back until she went in the potty (or when we had to leave the house).\u00a0 Usually this meant her walking around with just her pajama top on.\u00a0 But it was just me and her home so I didn\u2019t worry about it too much.<\/p>\n
Then it all went haywire.\u00a0 A 4 day weekend with Honeybun\u00a0and Daddy home somehow put a wrench in the whole thing!\u00a0 A pee accident while out shopping followed by a poo accident at home and the next day a poo accident while at the children\u2019s museum.\u00a0 The third day she had 5 pee accidents in a span of a few hours ultimately resulting in Sugarplum not only having her\u00a0underwear\u00a0taken away but also her shirt when she somehow got pee on it too.\u00a0 Cue completely naked girl walking around the house (which also necessitated some quick, makeshift curtains going up in the kitchen!)<\/p>\n
So, here\u2019s what I\u2019ve learned about beginning potty training (some of my opinion also comes from potty training children at work for many years):![\"Tips](\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/potty-training-tips.png\")
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—If you\u2019re gonna do it, you\u2019ve got to do it cold turkey.<\/strong>\u00a0 No diapers, no pull-ups (same as diapers anyways) and sometimes no\u00a0underwear\u00a0(with the exception of sleeping times, nap and night training takes longer)<\/p>\n —Be patient.<\/strong>\u00a0 It\u2019s a learning process for everyone. TRY to never make the child feel bad about accidents.\u00a0 As hard as it is to keep your cool when you child has their 5th<\/sup> accident in 2 hours or when you\u00a0accidentally\u00a0drop poo on the floor while trying your best to carefully get their soiled\u00a0underwear\u00a0off, getting upset won\u2019t help anyone.<\/p>\n —Have a stash of necessities with you at all times<\/strong> including: multiple pairs of clean\u00a0underwear\u00a0and pants, clean shirts, clean socks, clean shoes, wipes, plastic bags.\u00a0 It will be awhile before your diaper bag gets lighter or gets to stay at home<\/p>\n —If necessary, use a timer for constant reminders.<\/strong>\u00a0 With Sugarplum I would start with 1 \u00bd hours after she last went and make her go sit.\u00a0 If she didn\u2019t go then I would set the timer again for 15 minutes later, making the interval shorter until we were going every 5 minutes or until she actually peed in the potty (or had an accident).<\/p>\n —Kids won\u2019t go if they\u2019re upset, avoid power struggles.<\/strong>\u00a0 It may seem like a good,\u00a0consistent\u00a0idea to put your screaming child on the potty when it\u2019s \u201ctime\u201d or to make them stay there until they go, even through hysterics but really, this will backfire (trust me, I\u2019ve fallen into this one on multiple occasions and it never ends in my favor).\u00a0 If they are upset, make them sit and then let them get up when they want with the understanding they will be coming back in 5 minutes.<\/p>\n —Just because there was pee in the\u00a0underwear\u00a0doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s all out<\/strong>, it might mean they don\u2019t have the muscle control to hold it all in and little bits are getting out.\u00a0 Make them sit on the potty while you change their clothes (this is my personal take away from the 5 accidents in an hour we had).<\/p>\n —Do whatever it takes to make it work<\/strong> (within reason).\u00a0 If your child wants a stool for her feet and books to read while she makes a poo, help her out.\u00a0 It will be much easier than fighting with her or cleaning up the poopy\u00a0underwear.<\/p>\n —If it\u2019s not working, don\u2019t feel guilty about giving up and trying again another time<\/strong>.\u00a0 Just be consistent, if you\u2019re doing\u00a0underwear only do diapers when sleeping.\u00a0 If you\u2019re doing diapers, only do potty when they ask (don\u2019t force them to go).<\/p>\n