I can't believe it was a year ago today (Monday) that I woke up and decided to potty train Reagan. I usually don't make rash decisions like that, but I did on that Monday morning! Reagan caught on to the pee part fairly quickly. Of course, he still had accidents, but it was great to have him learn so fast.
However, the poop part took a little bit longer to train. I knew that was likely, but around this summer, I was at my wits end trying to get him to poop on the potty. He just resisted like no other. Then, it finally clicked!!! It took a lot of various types of bribing (and some nakedness if I knew he needed to poop!) and it was like a light bulb went off and he just started pooping on the potty.
Back in July, he was potty training at night also. He only had one accident at night after he stopped wearing night time pull ups and was night time trained very quickly.
I'm happy to report that I have one completely diaper/pull up free child!!!
Monday, November 24, 2014
Friday, November 21, 2014
Potty Training Kyleigh, Round 2
As I was nursing Rylan on Tuesday morning (November 18th), Kyleigh walked into her room and announced to me that she needed to go pee pee on the potty. I told her to take off her diaper and sit on the potty. I didn't expect her to actually go pee, but she ran back into Rylan's room enthusiastically stating "I went pee pee on the potty, Mommy!!!!!" I checked and sure enough, the water in the toilet was slightly yellowed (sorry for the graphics!). I gave her a treat and thought nothing of this one time incident.
Later that Tuesday, I asked her several times if she wanted to go pee pee on the potty again and she had virtually no interest. I admit, I was a little bummed, but wasn't going to push her.
Wednesday morning after she woke up, I suggested she try going potty again and she willingly walked into the bathroom and stripped off all her clothes and successfully went pee pee again. Again, I thought nothing of this. That is until a few minutes later she ran back into the bathroom, ripped off her fresh diaper and began going potty again. She repeated this a few times on Wednesday morning. I think she had 3 successful trips to the bathroom. Since I still had pull ups from our last go around, I decided not to use a diaper the rest of the day so attempting to use the potty would be easier. I did notice that after naptime on both Tuesday and Wednesday, she had no interest in trying to use the potty.
Then Thursday came. She again had successful trips to the bathroom in the morning prior to leaving for preschool. However, we spent a significant portion of the morning away from home, so I put her in a pull up before leaving the house. She never told me she needed to go potty while we were out and about, and she definitely peed into the pull up at least once, if not more. After naptime on Thursday, though, she was more interested in using the potty. I told her about wearing "big girl" underwear and that if she needed to go, she had to use the potty. She very much seemed to understand what I was saying. She did have her first accident (on her bed, of course!) shortly after I put the underwear on her. She was very apologetic, "I'm sorry, mommy, for going pee pee in my underwear." I reassured her I wasn't upset, but that next time she needs to go to the bathroom. She had a few more successful trips before heading to bed on Thursday night.
Here I am typing this post half-way through Friday. Once again, Kyleigh had a very successful morning - at least four or five trips to the bathroom and only one accident right before lunch. She did have her first poop accident this morning, and she was again very apologetic about it. And I again reassured her I wasn't upset with her for the accident. At this young age, she is fairly predictable with her BMs, so I'll need to keep a close eye on her around the time I think she needs to go.
If you would have asked me at the beginning of the week what my plans were, potty training would NOT have been a part of it! I find myself in the throws of potty training again, but that's okay. I wouldn't have picked this week, but Kyleigh did. And she's doing a fantastic job!
If there is one thing I've learned from potty training, it's that you can't expect one method to work for every child. You might be saying "you're just now figuring that out?!" but I really thought I could approach potty training the same with all of my kids. I tried what worked with Reagan on Kyleigh and initially, it did work. However, it didn't stick. Kyleigh just needed a little more time and that's fine. She's learning now and I'm so excited for her!
Later that Tuesday, I asked her several times if she wanted to go pee pee on the potty again and she had virtually no interest. I admit, I was a little bummed, but wasn't going to push her.
Wednesday morning after she woke up, I suggested she try going potty again and she willingly walked into the bathroom and stripped off all her clothes and successfully went pee pee again. Again, I thought nothing of this. That is until a few minutes later she ran back into the bathroom, ripped off her fresh diaper and began going potty again. She repeated this a few times on Wednesday morning. I think she had 3 successful trips to the bathroom. Since I still had pull ups from our last go around, I decided not to use a diaper the rest of the day so attempting to use the potty would be easier. I did notice that after naptime on both Tuesday and Wednesday, she had no interest in trying to use the potty.
Then Thursday came. She again had successful trips to the bathroom in the morning prior to leaving for preschool. However, we spent a significant portion of the morning away from home, so I put her in a pull up before leaving the house. She never told me she needed to go potty while we were out and about, and she definitely peed into the pull up at least once, if not more. After naptime on Thursday, though, she was more interested in using the potty. I told her about wearing "big girl" underwear and that if she needed to go, she had to use the potty. She very much seemed to understand what I was saying. She did have her first accident (on her bed, of course!) shortly after I put the underwear on her. She was very apologetic, "I'm sorry, mommy, for going pee pee in my underwear." I reassured her I wasn't upset, but that next time she needs to go to the bathroom. She had a few more successful trips before heading to bed on Thursday night.
Here I am typing this post half-way through Friday. Once again, Kyleigh had a very successful morning - at least four or five trips to the bathroom and only one accident right before lunch. She did have her first poop accident this morning, and she was again very apologetic about it. And I again reassured her I wasn't upset with her for the accident. At this young age, she is fairly predictable with her BMs, so I'll need to keep a close eye on her around the time I think she needs to go.
If you would have asked me at the beginning of the week what my plans were, potty training would NOT have been a part of it! I find myself in the throws of potty training again, but that's okay. I wouldn't have picked this week, but Kyleigh did. And she's doing a fantastic job!
If there is one thing I've learned from potty training, it's that you can't expect one method to work for every child. You might be saying "you're just now figuring that out?!" but I really thought I could approach potty training the same with all of my kids. I tried what worked with Reagan on Kyleigh and initially, it did work. However, it didn't stick. Kyleigh just needed a little more time and that's fine. She's learning now and I'm so excited for her!
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
A Date with Kyleigh
I couldn't work out this morning because there was a Fall Festival planned at Reagan's preschool that started at 10a. So I had about 45 minutes of time to kill before needing to get back to the Y for the festival.
What better way to spend the time with Kyleigh than get a treat (aka cookie) from the bakery at Mariano's? I did have Rylan with me, but she's still in the infant carrier and didn't make much of a fuss. It was a short, but very special time for me to spend with Kyleigh.
I try very hard to prevent her from feeling like the middle child, but at this point, I think some of her negative behavior stems from not getting enough attention. She can keep up with Reagan, but isn't allowed to do everything he does (preschool, AWANA, etc). And she's older than Rylan, but Rylan gets a lot of attention for the new skills she's learning. Enter middle child syndrome. I am acutely aware of this and do my best to make sure Kyleigh doesn't get the shaft just because she's the middle one.
Even though Rylan is with us on Tuesday mornings, I would like to continue this date hour with her. She's not competing with her big brother for my attention or for conversation. It's just the girls and for now, at least, Kyleigh's the only one who can do the talking with me! This is a great time of bonding that I intend to do throughout the remainder of Reagan's school year.
What better way to spend the time with Kyleigh than get a treat (aka cookie) from the bakery at Mariano's? I did have Rylan with me, but she's still in the infant carrier and didn't make much of a fuss. It was a short, but very special time for me to spend with Kyleigh.
I try very hard to prevent her from feeling like the middle child, but at this point, I think some of her negative behavior stems from not getting enough attention. She can keep up with Reagan, but isn't allowed to do everything he does (preschool, AWANA, etc). And she's older than Rylan, but Rylan gets a lot of attention for the new skills she's learning. Enter middle child syndrome. I am acutely aware of this and do my best to make sure Kyleigh doesn't get the shaft just because she's the middle one.
Even though Rylan is with us on Tuesday mornings, I would like to continue this date hour with her. She's not competing with her big brother for my attention or for conversation. It's just the girls and for now, at least, Kyleigh's the only one who can do the talking with me! This is a great time of bonding that I intend to do throughout the remainder of Reagan's school year.
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Reagan and Kyleigh - October 2014
Notes from last month
Reagan:
Reagan:
- Prefers reading princess books
- Comes to talk to me with a "sad" face when things happen
- Starting to see an introverted side (mostly when he's over tired)
- Very concerned about others (needs to tell me everything about other kids)
- Showing competition with Kyleigh
- Still having difficulty when I leave him at preschool
- Doing great with letter recognition (R is a letter in my name; L is a letter in Kyleigh's name, etc)
- Gives me a kiss on the cheek immediately after I give him a kiss
- Obsessed with pumpkins (aka punkins)
- Says everything needs to be done with a happy heart
- Kisses her own boo boos
- Pats her own back if she's "choking"
- Picks her nose constantly
- A very sweet side is coming out, especially with Rylan (talking to her, giving her toys if she's upset, etc)
- Throws things across the room if she's upset or doesn't get what she wants
- Walks backwards away from you if she's in trouble
- Fighting naptime-will come out 4-5 times before giving in and falling asleep
- Becoming a daddy's girl
- Refers to Reagan's bed as his "boy big bed"
- Loves to undress herself
- Trying to become independent and do things Reagan does (like wanting to dress herself)
- Says "Watch this, Mom" several times a day
- Competes with Reagan for my attention
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