We started ‘potty training’ Jaia a looooooong time ago. I highlight the words potty training here because that isn’t exactly what it was. Well, there was potty, but no training. At all. We never wanted to pressure her and we figured that when she was ready, she’d let us know. But to help the situation a long just a little bit we got the idea to buy a potty and just leave it in the bathroom for her to get used to. But there she was, at 16 months old (or maybe even earlier), checking it out, wanting to sit on it and the odd time even using it the way a potty should be used.
But then came the revolt – which happened to fall exactly around the time that we moved to a new house. ANY interest she had been showing over the weeks previous was *POOF* gone. She wouldn’t even look at the potty. It was like it was an old friend that had done her wrong. She wanted nothing to do with it.
So we waited. And every once in awhile she’d ask, sit, but she clearly wasn’t interested yet. And we didn’t want to push. And then, as soon as she’d start to show signs…..we’d go away on vacation. And after a few days of a messed up routine, the potty training fell off her radar again and we’d have to start fresh…again.
That is, until about a month ago. The regular morning pee in the potty turned into using the potty at daycare and some potty time in the evening. And over the past couple of weeks, she’s started to ask for it, even if it wasn’t directly in view.
And yesterday, we threw caution to the wind and went all out for a diaper-free day. No diaper at nap time, none when we took Humph on a long walk and none when we went grocery shopping. No accidents. And you should have seen her go. It was like she suddenly tasted freedom for the first time because she did nothing but run – almost all day long, reflected in her sleeping straight through from 7:30 pm to 8:30 am this morning.
I can’t claim that she’s officially potty trained. She could probably last most nights without a diaper, but I’m not ready to take that chance just yet. One small goal at a time. And for right now I’m just pleased as punch that our day and evenings together will soon no longer be spent changing dirty diapers but rather running around enjoying life without having to deal with them at all.
