Isabella has been showing signs of readiness for a while now, like interest in the potty, wanting to wear underwear, and saying she wants to be a big girl like her cousins who are a few months older. So being a first time mom, I wasn't exactly sure how to go about the whole potty training business, so I decided to try my sister's method. On Monday morning we got up, and I had Isabella throw away all her diapers (I later packed them away, they're too expensive to just throw away!). She then put on a pair of underwear, she was SO excited about it! Basicly with this method you NEVER leave their side for the three days, and when they start going in their underwear you immediately take them to the potty. by 10:00 Monday morning (just three hours after we started) she had already been through 7 pairs of underwear, and the whole house smelled like carpet cleaner! But she remained ecstatic about being a "big girl". We also used a sticker chart that she is very proud of. On Tuesday, she already didn't have any major accidents on the floor, but LOTS of little ones in her underwear. I could see why the method uses regular underwear because she did not like the feeling of having her underwear wet. Wednesday morning pretty much went the same as Tuesday, but that afternoon and evening she was dry the whole time. Yesterday she went the entire day keeping her underwear dry, and so far today she has not had any accidents either. I figure we'll take this one step at a time, and I'm not concerned with bed/nap time right now, so she gets Pull-Ups then. So here is my review of the 3 day method.
Pros- It focuses on LOTS of love and praise.
Since you devote 100% of your time over the 3 days to your child and NOTHING else, it makes it fun for your child to get to play with Mommy all the time, during a time that normally could be a little scary.
If the method works for you, it doesn't take very long.
Cons- Although you're spending all your time with your kid, that also leaves NO time for anything else. No cooking, housework, etc. We ate a lot of junk over the 3 days, and the house was a disaster by the end.
I felt like I HAD to have her trained in exactly 3 days or else I would be a failure. It caused a lot of stress and frustration for me. I did not handle it well at times!
I'm not sure how you would take care of your other children, if you have any.
I would not say that she is totally potty trained after 3 days. She is trained to go #1 at home, but has yet to go #2 in the potty. Also, she is not comfortable going potty anywhere away from home, as we learned yesterday at Bible Study. I put a Pull-Up on her since we were gone, but she didn't want to wet her Pull-Up, and she didn't want to use the potty at church, even though I got one of these to keep in my bag. So the poor girl was in misery by the time we got home. But I know that these things will come with time.
The author guarentees your child will be trained in 3 days. I don't know how you can guarentee and be so confident about something like this. Every child is different. I found a couple of on-line forums of moms who had tried this, and it didn't work at all for them. They felt exactly like I felt, frustrated and like they were failing.
The author also says the best age to potty train is 22 months! What?! Once again, I'm certainly no expert, but I say every child is different. While one child might be ready at 18 months, another one might not be ready until 3. In my opinion, I would think waiting until the child shows at least some interest would be best.
She also suggests using a potty chair, but we realized Isabella will not go on a potty chair, she only likes the "big potty".
With future children (hopefully), I will take the things that I liked from this method, and leave out the rest. I'm really glad this is behind us, and we are SO proud of Isabella for all she's accomplished this week.
5 comments:
Seems like all my online friends are doing it - potty training, that is. But I don't think we're quite ready yet over here. He does show some interest and sits on the pot from time to time, but I'm in no hurry with no plans to rush it.
Wow, what a week! I think we all learn a lot potty-training our first child. I know I did. I wanted to believe that his first cues at age 2 meant he was ready, but he was NOT. I have heard it from lots of people that they'll train when they're ready, and I know that next time, I'll not stress about it so much. At age three, he was ready, and he just did it. He's not dry at night yet, and I'm not pushing that one. We have enough things to stress about as parents!
Good job Isabella (and mommy)!
I think an extended version of what you did sounds good, although i'd freak that my house was a wreck and pee everywhere:)
Pull ups kind of seem a waste of time and money since they absorb like diapers I'm guessing so the big girl panties sound like a good job. They learn they don't like being wet and icky!
I dread this. I really, really do!
Ugh, potty training. M has been going on the potty for several months but is not yet totally trained. I packed away all her cloth diapers and she is in pullups when we go out and big girl underwear or naked at home. She does perfect at home- never has an accident. However when we go somewhere it's hit or miss. After her being in cloth diapers and NEVER buying any, it just makes me sick to keep buying pullups... I just keep thinking "this MUST be the last package..." I was hoping to have it done before her bro gets here in 9 weeks. Maybe I should try your method!!
Thank you for the link! I think I read it, but just couldn't remember. It sounds so awesome! Goose just hasn't shown *any* interest - none of the things that you mentioned for Isabella. On one hand, I want to just relax and not worry about it, like others say, they train when they're ready. On the other hand, I don't want to miss the boat and try to power through it when she's really in the NO stage!!!
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