I hesitate to say we're really *there* because as soon as I do, she'll lose interest or have multiple accidents. That's just the way things often go.
But at the same time, it's really exciting to have a little girl wanting to wear undies, asking to go on the potty and when she's on it, actually going. We've been through the "want to wear undies" phase before, but the body control wasn't there yet. Now it seems to be. Hooray!
Two weeks ago (because she began showing interest again) we started with a sticker chart for motivation and it worked really, really well for about a week. Now going on the potty and wearing undies is the reward in itself. So much the better. We've been on the go every morning for nearly a week and I haven't yet let her wear her undies to someone else's house. But at some point soon that will have to change if she's ever going to completely give up the diaper.
After talking to some potty training experts (moms with experience) I've been cutting back on the water she gets near bedtime and in the water bottle she takes to bed. We'll see how naps continue to go and eventually switch to undies at night too. I don't want to keep the night diaper thing going for eons if we can avoid it.
The nicest thing about potty learning (as opposed to potty training, which I tried several times to do before she was ready, on *my* timetable) was that suddenly she was just... ready. She suggested wearing undies. She knows when she has to go, she asks to go, and she actually goes when she gets there. Many people told me "they'll train when they're ready" and so far that seems to be true. It's also fairly hassle-free on my part. I welcome any advice, by the way, if you're a potty training expert yourself.
1 comment:
Yay for Clare! Ellie was the exact same age when she trained herself. It was the February before she turned three in May! The dry at nap time took just a little longer and the dry at night took until she was almost 5. It didn't matter how much or how little she had to drink at dinner and she got nothing to drink after dinner. It was more that she was such a heavy sleeper that she had no bladder control at night whatsoever. She wanted to wear underwear to bed in the worst way but every time we tried it we were changing sheets in the middle of the night. The key was helping her understand that it was nothing to be ashamed of and that her body just wasn't ready yet. Wearing a pullup to bed really wasn't a big deal, and on the rare ocassion that it stayed dry, she could wear the same one again the next night.
If Clare isn't having accidents at home, I say head out and about with underwear on and a spare pair in your bag. We only waited three days before we went for it and never had a problem. It really is as easy as "when they're ready, they're ready." I'm not gonna push Ez at all. He has shown no interest so far but I'm not too worried. :)
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